WASHINGTON—The Heritage Foundation today called upon leaders at IBM to remain steadfast in their recent commitment to end the company’s DEI policies and practices that undermine merit and instead advance a company culture that celebrates American values—especially viewpoint neutrality. This move by IBM is the direct result of The Heritage Foundation’s efforts to restore merit and equality in hiring.
Andrew Olivastro, chief advancement officer at The Heritage Foundation, commented on the developments at IBM:
“Leaders at IBM have taken a critical step in restoring equality, transparency, and commitment to merit in the marketplace. We’re grateful that the company listened to the voice of shareholders like us. The company now has a real opportunity to make good on this commitment and take the lead in setting the tone for the rest of corporate America.
“IBM needs to make it clear, to shareholders, employees, and customers — that there is no area of its corporate policy in which immutable characteristics like race and gender are prioritized over merit. Full stop.”
Heritage —an IBM shareholder—filed a proposal with the company asking for a report on its discriminatory “diversity, equity, and inclusion” (DEI) policies used in hiring and recruitment. “IBM ought to be recruiting employees without regard to race, gender, religious beliefs, or political affiliation, and empowering its many managers/executives to make decisions regarding recruitment and promotion in the same nondiscriminatory manner”, the proposal read.
Following this filing and pressure from Heritage, IBM updated its corporate policies, as seen on its website, to state that “IBM's media-buying and content policies are audience-centric, aiming to reach all consumers authentically, and are viewpoint neutral with respect to political or religious status or views.” Heritage has since agreed to pull its proposal.
Earlier in April, renowned conservative advocate and Heritage Visiting Fellow for the Capital Markets Initiative Robby Starbuck threatened to expose the company’s discriminatory practices. In turn, IBM agreed to end its DEI department, discontinue its participation in Human Rights Campaign’s woke social credit scoring, eliminate its diversity council, stop allowing men into women’s private spaces, end preferred pronoun usage, and more.
Starbuck praised IBM’s recent efforts and encouraged its leaders to continue this path:
“IBM is again doing the right thing after facing pressure to get rid of this crazy ideology that has infected corporate America. What this proves is that, together, we can eliminate DEI. My message to all corporate executives at every company is to have the courage to get rid of DEI and save your companies. We know what makes America great and it is not DEI.”
IBM will host its annual shareholder meeting tomorrow, April 29, where Heritage hopes the company will voice its commitment to fair and equitable hiring and recruitment. As a shareholder, Heritage believes focusing on business and not politics will generate stronger revenue and earnings and will position IBM—and therefore its employees and customers—to enjoy more robust performance and create more innovative product lines which will lead to greater short and long-term growth.
BACKGROUND:
This effort is part of a campaign by The Heritage Foundation to highlight the risks corporations face when ideology overtakes accountability. By calling for transparency, fairness, and neutrality, Heritage is rallying Americans to demand that businesses prioritize merit and ethics over divisive agendas. This years-long commitment began with convening and developing robust coalitions, working with our sister organization, Heritage Action for America, on model legislation, awarding targeted grants to spark innovation, and now aligning and leveraging Heritage’s investment portfolio.
