The Great Rollback: Are DEI Cuts Driving Black Women To Entrepreneurship?

Forbes

4 hours ago

African American young woman working in a bakery shop, looking at the camera.
Since DEI became a flashpoint in public discourse, a parallel revolution led by Black women entrepreneurs asserting independence and purpose has been emerging. This shift represents both a career pivot and a reallocation of talent and capital that has begun to reshape entire industries. Revelio Labs reports that DEI roles in corporate America peaked in early 2023, then declined by approximately 5% by the end of that year and dropped a further 8% into early 2024. Black women are responding by launching over 2.7 million businesses that now generate over $60 billion annually. Between 2017 and 2020, the number of employer firms owned by Black women grew by 18.1%, totaling around 52,374, 37.9% of whom hold advanced degrees.
DEI Job Loss Trends in Corporate America
Over the past year, leading U.S. corporations—from Amazon and Meta to Ford and Walmart—have drawn headlines for scaling back DEI efforts, often pointing to shifting political climates, legal scrutiny, or executive mandates as key drivers. This rollback has had real-world consequences for minority and women-owned suppliers. For example, programs launched in the wake of the 2020 Black Lives Matter movement have weakened. The retreat from DEI has especially affected Black female entrepreneurs, who already contend with capital access barriers and disproportionately high lending rejection rates—nearly three times higher than those for white business owners. The message this was sending was that DEI isn't a core investment but an easy target for cutting overhead costs. But what corporations see as a bottom-line win may very well become an existential loss.
Corporate America is shortchanging itself, or at least the companies that participate in the DEI rollback are. As seasoned DEI leaders step down from their roles, they're taking with them institutional knowledge, cross-cultural expertise and hard-won strategic ideas. That loss isn't soft but rather shows up in hiring, retention, customer engagement and brand perception.
The numbers tell a story that corporate boardrooms are missing. When Glassdoor surveyed job seekers in 2019, 76% said an inclusive culture would sway their decision to join a company. Fast-forward to today, and the appetite for diversity has only grown stronger—84% of employees want DEI initiatives expanded, not scrapped. Nearly two-thirds worry that rolling back these programs would drive people out the door and tank workplace morale. The business case is equally compelling. Gallup found that diverse companies see 22% less turnover, saving serious money on constant hiring and retraining. Boston Consulting Group discovered that diverse leadership teams generate 19% more revenue from innovation alone. Yet as corporations retreat from these proven strategies, they're inadvertently creating a massive opportunity.
Happy small business owner working at a flower shop.
Enter Black women entrepreneurs. They're launching businesses in healthcare and professional services, delivering culturally attuned products and services with inherently inclusive team cultures. These entrepreneurs are proving that inclusive business models drive sustainable growth—turning what corporate America sees as a cost center into a competitive advantage. For investors, these businesses aren't just socially responsible plays but high-ceiling growth bets.
Regardless of the political climate, companies that are ready to compete for top-tier Black talent must reframe DEI as business-critical, not elective, and that means:
While the timing of DEI rollbacks and entrepreneurship growth appears connected, experts urge caution in drawing direct causal links. According to Brookings Institution research, 'structural factors, rather than an equitable business environment, seem to be driving growth in business ownership among Black women.' This suggests that persistent barriers, combined with pandemic-era disruptions and now the push against DEI, may better explain the entrepreneurial surge than corporate policy changes alone.
As Black women continue to outpace other demographics in business formation, they are expanding their influence across industries and reshaping opportunities for themselves and their communities. Companies easing off on diversity commitments may inadvertently create talent shortages and opportunities for more proactive competitors to step in.