I saw this story on Fox News of all places: Sponsors flee from National Association of Black Accountant recruiting event: report.
Fox grabbed their info from a Bloomberg newsletter published a few days ago that almost slipped past our radar: DEI Backlash Turns Recruiting Event Into Litmus Test. Bberg had this to say:
Does sponsoring an event for Black professionals count as DEI?
The annual gathering of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA) is one of corporate America’s flagship diversity recruiting events. This year, it was also a litmus test of the impact of Donald Trump’s executive orders attacking what he calls “illegal DEI.”
By and large, the convention’s traditional backers showed up. For four days in June, signage from employers — Deloitte LLP, Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. among them — lined the halls of the swanky Aria Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, where 3,300 convention goers mingled and networked. Accounting giant PwC had more than 100 representatives in neon pink shirts with the slogan “Leadership. Business. Inclusion. You.” Even the Internal Revenue Service had a presence, with a booth wedged at the rear of the conference’s career expo.
But in the shadows, there were hints of unease.
It goes on to say that attendance at SOAR — “the all-inclusive, premier event for Talent, Innovation, and Culture,” per NABA — was down to about 3,300 this year from 4,000 in 2024. It’s hard to say definitively if that’s due to “anti-DEI” sentiment or simply how expensive everything is these days combined with firms tightening up the purse strings. Oftentimes one can get their firm to pay for conferences like these — we all know that — but one regional NABA chapter leader told Bloomberg his employer declined to pay for his entry to this year’s conference, on top of declining the opportunity to sponsor the event. “He turned to his chapter for help affording the $1,250 ticket and said he was considering looking for a new job,” wrote Simone Foxman in the newsletter.
Do it, my guy.
As for the sponsors NABA did get, Bloomberg had this to say about a familiar name:
Deloitte, the title sponsor, kept press out of the sessions it underwrote and declined to make featured panelist Lara Abrash, the chair of Deloitte US, available for interviews. And more than two dozen named sponsors from previous years, including American Express Co., Meta Platforms Inc. and Walt Disney Co., were missing from the list this time around.
We’ve grabbed the full sponsor list, posted in order as they appear on NABA’s expo website. You’ll spot many more familiar names from top to bottom with Big 4 leading the list:
2023’s conference had 72 sponsors listed while 2024 had 75. There were 41 organizations for 2025.
I’d love to hear from the peanut gallery if your firm or industry employer has cut down on conference expenses this year. Give me a shout and let me know. Anonymously, of course.
More firms and corporations have seen the light. The racist DEI leaders have caused businesses to suffer, many of which are people who DEI exploits. MAGA stands up for everyone and not just those deemed inept by the DEI fascists.
Contrary to your belief, dei has nothing to do with racism and everything to do with giving females more and more opportunities. Check your facts man, dei didn’t help me as a black American and I have a 140 IQ. Despite being in the top 1% I still get passed over continuously for leadership positions by white and Asian applicants many of them female
Typical response by a woke radical. Women do benefit the most but they are not the poster child of your racist DEI leaders. SMH!
So we’re replacing DEI with WEI-white, entitled and incompetent. As we have always been taught we have to be twice as smart and professional to get half of what you WEIs get. Besides DEI benefits white women, veterans, etc more than it does ‘the Blacks’. Do some research. Anybody dumb enough to listen to trump certainly can’t be too bright!
Wow, so in your mind you equate being White as superior over all races. You need to take off the shackles from your mind. We are all created equal and should be treated as equals. Trump has tirelessly worked to kill such DEI racist mindsets.
BTW, Trump is POTUS. It’s time you and others show him the respect he deserves.
Give respect to get respect. Think on that.
There’s a solution here. And it’s not “woke”.
Look at the CPA pass rates at most of the HBCUs. They are deplorable. Embarrassingly bad.
Get more minorities into good accounting programs at good schools. Then you won’t need DEI programs.
We should not pay one cent of tax money to HBCUs until they get their act straight! The pandering Democrats who act like Black people are dumb won’t allow a cut in funding. MAGA has the numbers and they need to destroy the racist woke mentalities. SMH!!!