Stacey Abrams knows the value of DEI . But rather than limiting it to the workplace, the former politician and current activist says it’s woven into the very fabric of our democracy.
“We got it right on paper, but really wrong in every other way,” Abrams told Fortune reporter Diane Brady at the Impact Conference in Atlanta. “We’ve spent 248 years in active engagement in righting the record—we call it diversity, equity and inclusion .”
Previously serving as a minority leader for the Georgia House of Representatives, and widely credited with turning the state blue in a major upset during the 2020 presidential election, went on to say that DEI has been pivotal in removing barriers to education, the economy and elections in the U.S.. Abrams cited the Voting Rights Act , the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Title IX as examples of DEI initiatives.
“We have to talk about it because people don’t understand how they benefit,” she said.
And she went on to warn that focusing on only some elements of DEI, like race, was limiting and potentially destructive—undoing the race components of DEI affects the empathy for every other protected class.