Shareholders sent companies a clear message this proxy season: anti-DE&I proposals do not have their backing. At 30 of the largest US companies, together worth over $13 trn, every anti-DE&I proposal was rejected, with most receivingless than 2 percent supportfrom investors, according to nonprofit Impactivize.
These proposals, which aimed to roll back corporate DE&I efforts, made upabout 40 percent of all DE&I-related proposalsthis year, a sharp increase from 23 percent in 2024.
Despite growing political pressure against DE&I and ESG initiatives, shareholders stood firm in support of inclusive business practices.
Major companies like Apple, Disney, Costco, Coca-Cola and Goldman Sachs saw overwhelming opposition to anti-DE&I measures, with most votes siding almost entirely with company leadership.
In Coca-Cola’s case, it was the activist group National Legal and Policy Centre (NLPC) thatsubmitted a proposalurging the company to review both its executive compensation structure and its DE&I hiring goals.
In a letter to the SEC, Coca-Cola defended its approach, stating that it aims to reflect the diversity of the markets it serves and that its workforce representation is intended to align with US census data. The proposal advanced to a shareholder vote but received just 1.1 percent support.
The NLPC was also responsiblefor similar proposals at Goldman Sachs, targeting the firm’s diversity goals and executive incentive programs.
‘We believe that diversity, including diversity of thought, experience and perspectives, is important to our commercial success,’ Goldman Sachs noted inits proxy filing. Shareholders overwhelmingly disagreed with the NLPC’s stance and 98 percent voted against the proposals.
Similarly, the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), another activist shareholder group, submitted a proposal to Apple’s board seeking to end all DE&I-related initiatives, including its efforts to diversify its suppliers. That measure was also firmly rejected, with98 percent of shareholders voting against it.
Costco was the first major company to receive an anti-DE&I shareholder proposal in 2025,also filed by NCPPR. The proposal challenged Costco’s ongoing DE&I efforts, citing the continued employment of a chief diversity officer, the existence of a supplier diversity program and DE&I-linked hiring and promotion practices, despite some recent rebranding of its policies.
In its proxy response, the company wrote: ‘As our membership diversifies, we believe that serving it with a diverse group of employees enhances satisfaction. Among other things, a diverse group of employees helps bring originality and creativity to our merchandise offerings, promoting the “treasure hunt” that our customers value.’ Only 2 percent of voting shareholders supported the NCPPR’s resolution.
At Disney, anNCPPR proposal requested that the company withdraw from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. It, too, failed decisively, garnering just 1 percent shareholder support.
According toglobal law firm Cooley, support for proposals calling for racial and gender equity audits, civil rights reporting and related workforce policies fell to an average 15.1 percent, compared to 23.4 percent in 2024. This information focuses on companies in the Russell3000 index and is based on data from ISS voting analytics.
At the same time, support for anti-DE&I proposals, such as those seeking to roll-back DE&I programs failed to garner support with only 1.5 percent of votes compared to 1.9 percent in 2024.
Similarly, the number of DE&I proposals was up this season to 110 submissions from 100 in 2024. Notably, 50 pro-DE&I proposals were submitted compared to 42 last year.
Withdrawals also increased, with 30 overall – 20 on the pro‑DE&I side and 10 on the anti‑DE&I side – reflecting a willingness to engage and negotiate on the part of companies.
In an op-ed for Fortune, Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, said that shareholders are following the evidence.
In the organization’sDiversity Dividendreport, which analyzed 1,641 US companies over a period of five years (2016 to 2022), results showed a significant correlation between diverse management teams and better financial outcomes.
‘Results were so conclusive that investors would have been in breach of their fiduciary duty if they supported proposals to end DE&I,’ he said in the piece.
The results show that, even amid political debate, investors continue to see DE&I as good business.