Metro Detroit business leaders react to Donald Trump’s DEI order

Metro Detroit business leaders react to President Donald Trump’s executive order to wind down DEI practice.

Lori Lancaster is vice president of Dakkota Integrated Systems. She says Dakkota, one of the largest Native American women-owned and managed companies in the country, benefited from DEI practices.

Lancaster’s sister, the founder and CEO of Rush Group, started in the trucking business in the 1980s.

“As you can imagine, at the time it was very male-dominated,” Lancaster said. “You didn’t see women, you didn’t see Native Americans, and around the same time the government recognized that the playing field wasn’t level for companies like ours, and they were able to put programs in place that opened the door. a little bit.”

The crack in the door allowed Lancaster’s sister to dominate the industry. Ever since, their company has been a champion of DEI initiatives.

“You still have to do the work; it’s not a handout, Lancaster said.

However, the Trump administration sees it that way. Trump has called DEI practices “discriminatory.”

Business leaders like Carolyn Cassin, president and CEO of Michigan Women Forward, see it differently.

“I think that’s the wrong characterization of DEI,” Cassin said. “It’s not discriminatory, it’s really the opposite. I think it’s a way to give everyone an opportunity to have a seat at the table or at least have an opportunity.”

Trump’s announcement The end of the federal government’s DEI policies comes as major companies such as Meta, Walmart and McDonalds announced an end to their DEI practices.

Tanya Hill, the president of Forever Fresh LLC, said DEI only helps businesses.

“Research has consistently shown that diversity of thought in the workplace for people of different ages and ethnicities makes a business more profitable,” Hill said. “We know that, so I still think it’s something we still have to strive for.”