“You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube,” said one current DEI executive about Hollywood’s tendency to make sure that DEI policies and departments are the first to go when it comes to budget cuts. Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and positions have recently come into the spotlight after several high profile people of color have left high-ranking positions at top media companies across the country.

The first executive to leave their position was Disney’s chief diversity officer, Latondra Newton, on June 20. On June 27th, Netflix’s ‘head of inclusion’ Vernā Myers also announced she would be leaving her position. Several more announcements of resignations and retirements followed, including Jeanell English, the executive vice president of impact and inclusion at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

A 2021 study from Russell & Reynolds that surveyed major companies, including Disney and Netflix, said that the average CDO (chief diversity officer) tenure is now under two years. 

“Hopefully no one person can stop momentum,” said one diversity executive at a major Hollywood company. “Efforts are not tied to one individual, so when one leaves, it doesn’t mean that the work should stop. The work can’t fit with one single person or department. It’s a collective effort, top down, bottom up.”