No C-Suite executive has faced more headwinds in recent years than the Chief Diversity Officer. Not only has the term “DEI” been weaponized as a negative, but budgets have been slashed and entire departments have been laid off or significantly downsized everywhere from Meta to Google to Zoom.

It marks a rapid turnaround from just a few years ago, when in the wake of sociopolitical justice movements like Black Lives Matter, a majority of Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies hired for the role. By 2022, 74% of companies listed on the S&P 500 and 59% of Fortune 500 companies had a Chief Diversity Officer, compared to less than half in 2018.

But the frantic rush to fill the position was often accompanied without the necessary infrastructure to sustain the role for the long-term. “Many companies dove into the topic in a reactive way, frantically seeking to be on the right side of history in a highly visible moment,” says Nani Vishwanath, consultant at DEI firm Courage Collective. That often meant ensuring there was an executive responsible for DEI work — but many of those leaders were doomed to fail from the start.

“It was not uncommon for an organization to select a highly visible leader of color to transition into the CDO role — despite a lack of education or professional expertise in the DEI space,” says Vishwanath. “Many if not most of these roles were severely under-resourced, operating with small (or nonexistent) teams and limited budgets — leading to considerable limitations on impact."

Though many leaders have now had time to understand the job and how it fits into the structure of the company, the political environment appears increasingly hostile (especially in the wake of the re-election of President Trump, who has vowed to crack down on DEI initiatives). Walmart, the country’s largest private employer, recently announced the rollback of a number of its DEI initiatives, with automaker Nissan promising to do the same in wake of activist pressure.

“Chief Diversity Officers (CDO) positions are shrinking, though they aren’t necessarily losing power, as many never actually received it,” says Lisa Alvarado, Managing Director at DEI data firm Holistic. “This position has historically been overburdened, under-resourced, and unempowered within the C-suite.”

Despite the uphill battles now and surely into the future, the CDO will continue to play a vital role in shaping the C-Suite and driving the direction of inclusion and equity efforts. But leaders who step into this position need to navigate new metrics for success and be politically savvy in achieving and messaging business outcomes.

Redefining Success

Part of the problem CDOs faced post-2020 was that organizations expected to see quick results, when the necessary work required a long-term commitment and incremental progress. “It became easier for DEI to be deemed as lower priority and/or in conflict with other strategic initiatives that yielded more timely results,” says Vishwanath. CDOs also were rarely supported by other executives in the C-Suite.

That has to change for the position to truly be successful, with accountability being co-owned across the organization. CDOs can help by communicating how DEI impacts the company’s annual goals. “CDOs should connect success metrics and KPIs to people and business results — DEI is not just simply about belonging, but also about driving relevance amongst an increasingly diverse consumer base,” she says. “A holistic look at a DEI strategy (as opposed to HR-specific) will help uplevel visibility and long term impact."

Understanding where the organization stands with an initial audit and employee surveys can help home in on where to focus your efforts. “DEI leaders are consistently expected to prove the ROI on investing in DEI,” says Alvarado. “This can feel tough to do with regard to engagement, the employee experience, and cultivating inclusion, but having some metrics will help you better track progress and prove impact.”

When interviewing for the job, understand the expectations from the CEO. Those who expect quick year-on-year results aren’t likely to support the long-term nature of this kind of work. Also, the role is likely to have more power and influence if it is a part of the executive leadership team, and reports directly to the CEO.

“If the CDO reports into HR, CSR, ESG, or somewhere else, then their ability to influence others in the organization in the C-suite is made more difficult,” says Eddie Pate, co-author of Daily Practices of Inclusive Leaders.

The Road to the Role

While many CDOs start in “people-based” departments like HR or Operations, that doesn’t have to be the only path. Pate points to Alison Francis, Chief Diversity Officer at Costco, who started on the floor of a Costco warehouse in 1997, and managed a warehouse before transitioning into the C-Suite. Legal backgrounds can also be an advantage, as well as leading Employee Resource Groups or inclusion councils.

As attacks on DEI continue to escalate, flexibility remains a core skill for CDOs and those aspiring to the role, even if that means taking on a different title to make the work more palatable in the face of political resistance.

“Despite the visible attacks, DEI is not dead. A DEI rebrand may mean a position, division, or group take on a new moniker, but DEI professionals are agile,” says Alvarado. “Success looks like being able to persist and continue the work, regardless of what we call it.”