Today, June 29, 2023, the United States Supreme Court issued a ruling striking down Affirmative Action in colleges and universities. Fast Company stated “the court said that admissions programs that relied in part on racial considerations violate the Constitution, effectively ending affirmative action in the United States…colleges and universities will no longer be able to consider race as part of their admissions decisions. The ruling could also impact using race as a consideration in hiring.” Questions have also been raised in the wake of this decision on its potential effect on corporate DEI&B efforts more broadly.
We can’t know what the exact effects of this decision will be, or how it will reverberate into the future. We can know that NextUp remains just as committed to our mission of Advancing All Women as we always have been. We’re not backing down from our work to transform businesses for equity, and tackle the systemic, complex, and intersectional challenges women face every day.
No matter what the effects of this ruling may be, we will stay true to our core – an organization doing the hard work to change businesses from the inside out for equity, and a steward to our partners as they work to eliminate the systemic barriers to the advancement of all women in business.