Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) programs at companies and institutions have faced tremendous reversals due to newly elected President Trump’s executive order to end federal DEI programs. Trump’s intentions of “terminating radical DEI preferencing” aims to combat “(DEI) discrimination in the federal workforce, and in federal contracting and spending”, according to the White House’s Jan. 22 report. Because a domino effect has activated, and companies such as Target, Google, and Toyota have taken advantage of this liberty by firmly scaling back their prioritization on DEI initiatives, many Americans fear the future of fair inclusion practices. Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging, Taylor Kanemori, affirms UPrep’s dedication to DEIB work.
“Our school has a commitment to this work. [Head of School] Ronnie [Codrington-Cazeau] said that at the leadership level,” Kanemori said. “All of that is really meaningful, and not just to me and job security, but meaningful that this place is committed. I really feel that, and I’m really grateful for that.”
Though Kanemori is grateful for the school’s support of her work, she is mindful of the potential harm the federal executive order will cause to many Americans.
“I obviously really believe in this work,” Kanemori said. “The idea of this work not being formally allowed in institutions is, of course, saddening, especially thinking about a lot of people who are losing their jobs, and a lot of black and brown people and a lot of people of color are losing their jobs because they’re often brought into roles like this.”
Kanemori claims that critics of DEIB work often get caught up in the wording of the term, rather than the true purpose of the work. The terms “DEI” and “DEIB” have only been popularized over the last 10 years, but there is a long history of DEIB work that can be dated back to the civil rights movement and beyond, according to Kanemori.
“We’re trying to fix these broken systems, specifically to promote diversities of all kinds,” Kanemori said. “There are families who feel different ways about different programming that we have, and the thing that I can always come back to is the “B” of DEIB. Everybody wants to belong. Everybody wants their kids to belong. Everybody wants belonging to be a part of their experience in any place in the community they’re a part of. This work really is about that.”
She refers to the word “woke” as a term that has been demonized similarly to DEI. Language around DEI is in constant evolution, which Kanemori loves to educate herself about. Though DEI as a term has been mocked and the work is being threatened, Kanemori “foresees” the continuing of the work despite its backlash.
“We continue to evolve, we continue to change, and we continue to grow to meet the needs of where people are,” Kanemori said. “If we need to change the language around [DEI] to make other people feel more comfortable or less threatened by something, we’re gonna continue to do that.”
Kanemori is biracial. Growing up in a mixed household made her hyper aware of how different her family looked compared to her peers. This circumstance caused her to naturally apply aspects of DEIB work to herself her whole life, which inspired her to delve into the field long before the commercialization of the term “DEIB”.
“There was a class in its first year, my senior year [at UPrep], that was called Race and Ethnic Studies. I took that class, and it was mind-blowing,” Kanemori said. “I was finally getting language for all of these things that I was experiencing, or wondering about or questioning. I went and I studied [Race and Ethnic Studies] in college.”
Since college, Kanemori has occupied many DEIB roles in different institutions. In her 3rd year at UPrep, she has seen the approach to DEIB work progress from solely focusing on diversification to now accommodation work, so UPrep is a place welcoming all different kinds of people.
“We weren’t really thinking about why people didn’t want to join our institutions, or maybe why people weren’t sticking around our institutions,” Kanemori said. “We need to focus on ourselves for a little bit and see all this self work that our school needs to do before we can bring people in a way that feels good and natural to them.”
Exact restrictions for DEI in President Trump’s executive order have been somewhat unclear due to the newness. With this, parameters around DEIB work at UPrep have potential for change.
“UPrep is an independent institution. We do not receive federal funding,” Kanemori said. “In the idea around executive orders, I could see things changing in the sense of if things were to get scary for DEI practitioners or people with a title like mine, I could see titles changing.”
The circumstances of DEIB work, programs, and initiatives will continue to change in the upcoming weeks, months, and even years. Though fears around the future of DEIB work are prevalent, Kanemori is confident in the field’s longevity.
“There could be some setbacks here, and it could be a scary time for some folks, so I’m thinking about that,” Kanemori said. “But as far as the work that I do here, I’m very focused, and I’ve been told that I can continue to still do the work we do.”