Corporate America’s anti-woke retreat is reaching its limits

Much of corporate America has spent the past 18 months second-guessing and editing itself.

Many diversity programs were renamed or eliminated entirely.

Sustainability language quickly disappeared from corporate communications.

Executives became considerably more careful about advancing or even discussing different social impact issues.

Under intense political, legal, and regulatory pressure from the Trump administration and conservative activists, companies reconsidered once-celebrated social impact policies and practices.

I have watched this upheaval from inside corporate conference rooms as an attorney and adviser who works in social impact.

My clients—many of whom count on me to keep our work private—range from global corporations, founders, and CEOs to their charitable and social impact initiatives, often including partnerships with their peers and other industry stakeholders.

The specifics of my conversations with clients are likewise bound by confidentiality.

But I can tell you that I’ve fielded questions—from executives, attorneys, and impact leaders everywhere from Fortune 500 companies to America’s largest law firms—that would have sounded ridiculous back in 2020: Which words create the most risk? Which commitments still belong in public communications? Which programs remain central to the business? How can we build social impact strategies that withstand a rapidly changing political environment? What will our talent, customers, and other stakeholders think? Several of the organizations I work with are in genuinely precarious positions at the moment.

One of them came close to being legislated out of existence by Congress.

Others have been bracing for years about growing scrutiny over inclusion initiatives. (Naming them in a national business publication could put a target on their backs, so I won’t.) At the same time, even as good corporate citizens navigate these turbulent waters, it feels like the tide is beginning to turn.

By that I mean, corporate America’s anti-woke retreat appears to be approaching its limits.

And a new model of corporate purpose is emerging in its wake: more legally disciplined, more closely connected to business strategy, and more measurable and designed to survive political change.

At its core, it is still deeply rooted in two realities: that caring about all people is inherently part of doing good; and that doing good is good for business.