Corporate Board News, May 2025: Responses to DEI Backlash

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In the midst of the federal government-driven organizational turbulence, corporate boards in the U.S. have responded to the flurry of change in a diverse manner (pun intended).

From the DEI backlash to the usual large personalities that can sometimes cause upheaval in the corporate board world, there have been plenty of unsurprising reactions, along with a few that have raised eyebrows.

Let’s take a look at a few of the corporate board-related items that crossed news desks recently.

Companies Take Mixed Approach to DEI Backlash

The Trump Administration and conservative politicians’ efforts to quash DEI programs have brought about a variety of responses from corporations and their boards. In some ways, they’ve acquiesced to Washington’s demands, but they continue to support DEI in other ways.
Goldman Sachs shareholders took the advice of its board and resoundingly voted against two anti-DEI proposals — by a 98% margin.
Goldman Sachs also removed its diversity and inclusion section from its annual report, and purged mentions of its “Black in Business” program, suggesting that the reference to “Black” now mean profit, i.e. “in the black.”
The approach mirrors similar strategies by companies such as Pfizer, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola, all of which successfully recommended shareholders vote down anti-DEI proposals at their annual shareholder meetings, the article says. That said, other companies such as AutoNation and John Deere, have voted down or withdrawn DEI measures.

More Women on Corporate Boards

An MSCI report shows women held 25.8% of board seats in at-large and mid-cap companies in 2023, up from 24.5% the previous year. At the same time, while women only 9.1% of board chair roles, that figure represents a near-doubling of the percentage just four years earlier.
The report also states, “Boards were more diverse than executive suites, both in terms of gender and ethnicity. Gender diversity was greater than ethnic and racial diversity for both boards and executives, according to the limited U.K. and U.S. data available.”
18.8% of CFOs were women, up from 12.5% in 2019; while 6.5% of CEOs were women in 2023, up from 4.3% four years earlier.

What Should the Harley-Davidson Board Do?

After a rough first quarter that saw Harley-Davidson report significantly lower year-over-year sales and profits, opinions are split on the board’s next move.
Activist investor H Partners wants to remove three veteran board members, citing concerns in SEC filings with how the company was executing its strategy and heaping much of the blame on Board Chair Jochen Zeitz.
Proxy firms ISS and Glass Lewis differ on what the board should do. ISS claims H Partners hasn’t made a compelling case to remove the three board members in question. Glass Lewis said the board members had “overseen starkly suboptimal shareholder returns” and predicted that removing them from the eight-person board likely wouldn’t create problems.

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About The Author

Adam Wire: Adam Wire is a Content Marketing Manager at OnBoard who joined the company in 2021. A Ball State University graduate, Adam worked in various content marketing roles at Angi, USA Football, and Adult & Child Health following a 12-year career in newspapers. His favorite part of the job is problem-solving and helping teammates achieve their goals. He lives in Indianapolis with his wife and two dogs. He’s an avid sports fan and foodie who also enjoys lawn and yard work and running.