With the rollback of certain federal protections under Executive Order 14173, how can DEIB professionals proactively safeguard their initiatives and maintain momentum without fear of legal repercussions?

If their organization has an in-house Legal Department, partner with someone in the department to help navigate legal issues. That department’s only client is the organization itself. Legal’s job is to be proactive and avoid problems.

Legal should be able to review DEIB initiatives and recommend any necessary modifications. If they don’t have expertise in this area, they can engage outside lawyers to help them.

If the organization does not employ legal professionals, the DEIB professional should utilize the organization’s process for engaging outside counsel. This varies, but a good starting point is to ask the head of Human Resources. They are likely to have either worked with outside lawyers or can direct the professional to someone who has.

The outside firm should be able to review DEIB initiatives and recommend any necessary modifications. If the existing firm or firms don’t have expertise in this area the DEIB professional should encourage the organization to engage outside lawyers who do.

Partnering with Legal (internal or external) shows that the DEIB professional is using Organizational Intelligence to involve the necessary people from across the organization to carry out their job responsibilities. It also demonstrates a broader business perspective by taking risks to the organization consideration in performing what is often perceived to be an isolated or siloed role. All in all, this should bolster the DEIB professional’s credibility among leadership.

Whether or not the organization employs its own lawyers DEIB professionals should undertake self-education to understand what Executive Orders are and how they work more fully.