Marriott International’s leadership has reaffirmed its commitment to championing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), maintaining its stance even as President Donald Trump announces opposition to such initiatives at the federal level. On April 10, 2025, Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano spoke at the Great Place to Work For All Summit in Las Vegas, NV, according to Fortune. The three-day event gathered thousands of executives from over 800 companies, and Capuano discussed how Marriott plans to navigate the changes to DEI. He shared that his initial response was to meet with his executive leadership team in Bethesda, MA, where they decided to take a week to research and deliberate before reconvening. Shortly after, while attending Americas Lodging Investment Summit in Los Angeles, CA, Capuano faced numerous questions about Marriott’s future approach to DEI. In response, he thought of conversations with his mentor and former chairman, Bill Marriott. “The winds blow, but there are some...

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has revealed his thoughts amid the ever-changing landscape of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices. In a shareholder letter shared via Axios, Dimon reiterated the bank’s commitment to DEI, noting its programs that include resource groups for Black, LGBTQ+, and employees living with disabilities, as well as other initiatives, including a fund geared toward helping entrepreneurs of color, investing efforts in rural communities, and recruiting at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Moreover, Dimon revealed that the $30 billion racial equity commitment made by JPMorgan Chase in the wake of racial unrest and turmoil in 2020 is “nearly completed,” with plans to make the initiative a permanent program. “We’re thoughtfully continuing our diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts,” he wrote. Dimon also confirmed that the initiatives will adjust as laws continue to evolve around these issues. His statement comes at a time...

A Black venture capital firm, Fearless Fund, has been sued by a conservative activist. The man, Edward Blum, played a role in the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 2023 decision to reject affirmative action in college admissions. According to Reuters, American Alliance for Equal Rights, a nonprofit led by Blum, alleges that the Fearless Fund is practicing unlawful racial discrimination. The claim states that the firm is “violating Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act of 1866, a U.S. law barring racial bias in private contracts, by making only Black women eligible in a grant competition.” Blum’s Affirmative Action Stance Another group led by Blum had brought forth a lawsuit opposing affirmative action, which had initially been struck down by a lower court, per Reuters. The group appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, and the resulting ruling in June found race-conscious student admissions policies used by Harvard University and the University of North Carolina to be unlawful.   View this post...

Charles Barkley is playing his part in supporting Black scholars amid a drastic change regarding academia.

When it comes to matters of mental health, this woman wants us all to live well! Toni Jones is a loving, creative, trailblazing artist using the power of music to continue her work as a mental health advocate for women. “I use my platform in a way that is nourishing to me first,” said Jones in an interview with AfroTech. “The platforms that I use feel good to me because when you are in a place of service or innovation or anything like that, you can find yourself being all over the place and so it’s important for me to use platforms that make it easy and seamless for me.” For her, that tool is music which she distributes through DistroKid in order to avoid going through all of the streaming platforms to upload her music. It actually wasn’t until last year that she turned to music to help not only herself but others along the way.   View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Toni Jones| Affirmation Music (@iamtonijones) After experiencing burnout from the one-on-one sessions with...

If you’re blessed to experience love, you’ll experience grief. Karega and Felicia Bailey’s unique love story began in high school and continued when they left their hometown of South Sacramento to attend Hampton University, an HBCU located in Hampton, VA. The evolution of their love story persisted after they became angel parents when they suffered the neonatal loss of their daughter, Kamaiu SOL following a radiant 41-week pregnancy in their seventh year of marriage. In an effort to begin their journey toward healing, the Baileys discovered that the world’s approach to grief not only needed a facelift but the way in which we even treat the practice of grief should be revisited. Together they’ve taken Karega’s book, “SOL Affirmations: A Tool Kit for Reflection and Manifesting The Light Within” and created an album. It provides an audio experience that creates room for them to use their experience with grief to make room for others to do the same. They sat down with AfroTech to talk...

Editorial Note: Opinions and thoughts are the author’s own and not those of AFROTECH™. A recent study released by Lending Tree revealed that a lot of Americans are using buy now, pay later (BNPL) loans from companies like Klarna and Affirm to buy groceries (25%, up from 14% in 2024). As economic fears mount and uncertainty about the economy continues, people are turning to financing their everyday necessities. But using BNPL loan services is a mistake, especially for those who struggle with debt. BNPL is an interest-free loan, allowing consumers to split their purchase into smaller payments. For those who have an issue with credit cards or deal with debt, this could be an alternative. But if you begin making late payments, you can be charged high fees, which is a problem for those who have multiple loans. While the existence of BNPL loans isn’t necessarily a problem, how they’ve come to be used is concerning. Recently, DoorDash announced its plans to accept BNPL financing through...

The Office of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at Harvard University will now be called the Office of Community and Campus Life. Sherri A. Charleston, previously Harvard’s chief diversity officer and now the chief community and campus life officer, shared this news via email on April 28, 2025, according to The Harvard Crimson. The announcement aligns with the Trump administration’s push to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion ( DEI ) programming at schools and universities nationwide. “In the weeks and months ahead, we will take steps to make this change concrete and to work with all of Harvard’s schools and units to implement these vital objectives, including shared efforts to reexamine and reshape the missions and programs of offices across the university,” Charleston wrote, per The Crimson. Charleston noted that in the 2024 campus-wide Pulse Survey, students, faculty, and staff reported feeling a strong sense of belonging; however, a significant number still felt...