From Performative to Transformative: The New DEI Playbook for 2025
Shane Windmeyer on How Companies Can Lead With Integrity, Not Optics In 2025, organizations are facing a reckoning—not just from external stakeholders, but from within. Employees are no longer satisfied with hollow statements or performative allyship. Customers demand values alignment. Gen Z professionals, now firmly embedded in the workforce, are choosing employers based on purpose, representation, and impact. “DEI is not a marketing strategy,” says Shane Windmeyer , a nationally respected DEI strategist. “It’s an integrity strategy. If it’s not embedded in who you are, it will eventually expose what you’re not.” As companies adapt to this new era of accountability, Windmeyer offers a fresh blueprint for what truly transformative DEI looks like. This isn’t just about doing better; it’s about being better. 1. Go Beyond the Optics It’s easy to craft a slick diversity statement. It’s harder to live it. “Representation in a brochure is not the same as representation in the boardroo...