Mark Zuckerberg’s charity eliminated the DEI program and effort a few weeks after ensuring staff continued to support DEI’s efforts, The Guardian reports.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), co-founded by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, has ended its internal DEI program and no longer provides “social advocacy funds.” In a staff email obtained by the Guardian, CZI COO Marc Malandro said the organization will instead issue a “biology and AI” grant.
CZI also cancelled the Science Diversity Leadership Awards, giving researchers $1.5 million, ending diverse slate practices, and mandating diverse applications to be interviewed for all open positions.
“Given the regulation of shifts and the legal environment, we no longer have the diversity, equity, inclusivity and accessibility teams for CZI,” Malandro wrote in an email to employees.
This is a complete reversal of what CZI said to its employees. After Meta announced the withdrawal of the DEI program, some employees were worried and were asked if CZI would continue to commit to its value, The Guardian reported early in February. Markgundacker, who heads HR at CZI, told employees that changes in the meta would not affect CZI operations.
But now, Malandro wrote in an email announcing the change that CZI was “in line with the focus of science as a philanthropy.”
The CZI did not respond to requests for comment.
Source link
