America Runs on Diversity

Diversity is in the DNA of our country’s history- our founding fathers came here for the freedom of religion, which is just another way to say they wanted the diversity of their religious beliefs to be equitably included in society. Some of our most prominent leaders were representative of diversity: Alexander Hamilton was an immigrant. Franklin Delano Roosevelt had different accessibility needs. Our current Vice President, JD Vance, was able to attend Yale Law School because he represented socioeconomic diversity for their student body.

The growth of this country sprung from intentional investments in the diverse needs of our population. If your dad or grandfather funded his education from the GI Bill because of his service, he was part of a massive, targeted investment from our government into our future middle class. Anyone who has a 30-year mortgage has received the same benefit, thanks to the FDIC deciding to prioritize homeownership for families.

All of these investments in our diversity have made us the country we are today — and reflect our American values. No matter who we are or where we come from, we all deserve the freedom and opportunity to live a fulfilling life and build our own American Dream. That dream is made possible by ensuring access to pathways to success: access to quality education, the ability to participate fully in our economy, and the right to vote in a thriving democracy.

This diversity has been at the center of progress in our nation, allowing us to create policies and initiatives that expand opportunity and push our nation to live up to its highest ideals — from Reconstruction to movements for civil rights, labor rights, women’s rights, disability rights, and more. In short, America doesn’t run on Dunkin, it runs on diversity.

Now, unfortunately, the engine that runs our country is intentionally being slowed down. We are seeing that any programs or initiatives — in the public or private sector — with a hint of “diversity” or “equity” are being attacked. These attacks ignore the advances we’ve achieved together because of embracing our shared diversity.

Attacking efforts that embrace our diversity will only hurt us, especially now, as we face a massive shift in our country toward an even more diverse population with a variety of new and different needs. Millennials are becoming the dominant demographic in the market, with a purchasing power of $200 billion. This is expected only to grow as they are on the receiving end of a massive wealth transfer, potentially over $68 trillion in total.

This generation is more socially conscious and more diverse:

• Almost 90 percent of millennials are willing to switch their purchasing decisions to support a company that is committed to a social cause, and 42 percent say corporate responsibility is important to their purchasing decisions compared with just 35 percent of the general population.
• These trends are even more pronounced among millennial women. Consumer research from Merkle showed that more than 80 percent of millennial women said that a company’s sustainability practices influenced their purchasing decision, almost the same number said price was an influencing factor. They also found that millennial women make up the bulk of the purchasing power of their generation, about 85 percent of the total annual spending of the market.
• A little over half of millennials are white, as compared to two-thirds of those over 55. This means the growing millennial consumer market is going to look and behave significantly different from previous consumer groups.

Many major businesses understand this shift, as well, and the need to continue to invest in diversity. I’ve spoken to corporate executives, chief development officers, general counsels, and supply chain experts, and they all agree that diversity and equity remain a strong priority for their companies or organizations. My experience is not unique: A survey of 300 company executives conducted by Morning Consult and the Public Private Strategies Institute found that 82% say diversity is essential to their business strategy.

We need to recognize how diversity has fueled this country and continue to feed that fire, rather than tamp it down. Supporting diversity not only puts you on the right side of history, it also puts you on the right side of your ledger.