In the US, DEI is under attack. But under a different name, it might live on
In Union County, South Carolina, the sprawling cotton mills that once put bread on the table for many are long gone. Union is also what is termed a "food desert", where many residents live far from the nearest supermarket.
In Union County, South Carolina, the sprawling cotton mills that once put bread on the table for many are long gone. Union is also what is termed a "food desert", where many residents live far from the nearest supermarket.So in 2016, local non-profit director Elise Ashby began working with farmers to deliver discounted boxes of farm-fresh produce across the county, where 30% of the population is black and roughly 25% live in poverty.In the US, DEI is under attack.
NIn Union County, South Carolina, the sprawling cotton mills that once put bread on the table for many are long gone. Union is also what is termed a "food desert", where many residents live far from the nearest supermarket. So in 2016, local non-profit director Elise Ashby began working with farmers to deliver discounted boxes of farm-fresh produce across the county, where 30% of the population is black and roughly 25% live in poverty.
To fund this, Ms Ashby first relied on her own savings and then some small-scale grants. But in 2023, the Walmart Foundation - the philanthropic arm of one of America's largest corporations - awarded her over $100,000 (£80,000), as part of a $1.5m programme to fund "community-based non-profits led by people of colour"."I cried a little bit," she says. "It was just one of those times where, like, somebody actually sees what you're doing."
Two years ago, this was the kind of programme that attracted sponsorship from major companies across America, as the country grappled with racism past and present following the murder of George Floyd, a black man suffocated under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer during an arrest in 2020.But now, those same companies are pulling back. Walmart announced in November that it was ending some of its diversity initiatives, including plans to close its Center for Racial Equity, which supported Ms Ashby's grant.
