Goldman Sachs defends its diversity work against anti-DEI claims

• Key insight: Goldman Sachs is defending its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, following allegations by a racial-justice advocacy group that the bank is pulling back on DEI.
  
• What's at stake: The accusations by the group, Color of Change, are part of a broader effort to hold corporations accountable for backing away from DEI pledges, the group said. 
  
• Forward look: Color of Change said it's planning to run digital billboard advertisements starting this week in Dallas, where Goldman has significant operations.

Goldman Sachs is facing new pressure from a racial-justice advocacy group that's accusing the bank of retreating from its diversity commitments to curry favor with the Trump administration.

The nonprofit organization, Color of Change, is using its social media channels to make claims against Goldman, saying the investment bank's employee charitable-giving fund, Goldman Sachs Gives, is "funding attacks on civil rights." Last month, the nonprofit accused Goldman of weakening some of the public commitments it's made around diversity, equity and inclusion programs and initiatives.

The allegations are part of a broader effort by Color of Change and other advocacy groups to highlight corporations they say have rolled back or abandoned diversity-related pledges made in the aftermath of George Floyd's murder in 2020. In March, 60 organizations, including Color of Change, paid for an advertisement in the New York Times, accusing corporations of "quietly retreating from longstanding commitments" to DEI at a time when "corporate mergers, regulatory approvals and political pressure have converged to create powerful incentives for silence, compliance and retreat from civil rights values." The ad did not name specific companies.

Goldman is one of several corporations whose DEI policies and practices have been scrutinized since President Trump returned to office in January 2025. His administration has been hostile to diversity and equity, including referring to DEI as "illegal" in an executive order signed by Trump one day after he took office. Weeks after the order was signed, several large and regional banks had already either dropped or watered down the DEI-related language in their annual reports.

In response to Color of Change's claims, Goldman said it remains committed to diversity, even as the legal environment around diversity-related recruiting and hiring targets has changed in recent years.

For example, the Supreme Court's 2023 decision on affirmative action, which determined that race cannot be used as a factor in college admissions, has had a ripple effect on the business world, with banks and other firms rethinking their DEI programs in order to abide by the law.

"We are strong believers in diversity," Goldman spokesperson Tony Fratto told American Banker in an email. "It's important to our business. It's important to our people. But we have to operate within the guidelines of the law in recruiting our talent and developing our programs."

In response to Color of Change's accusation about Goldman Sachs Gives, a donor-advised fund through which Goldman employees can recommend grants to qualified nonprofits that comply with IRS rules, Fratto said the bank "doesn't govern the politics or beliefs of its people."

Last month, Color of Change was among the participants in a press call that focused on how states could hold corporations accountable when they retreat from their DEI pledges. Representatives from Free Press and the National Women's Law Center also participated.

During the call, Ja'Bree Harris, senior director of campaigns and organizing at Color of Change, warned that the organization would target Goldman in the weeks ahead.

Public pressure

Color of Change, an Oakland, California-based nonprofit that was founded in 2005, has previously employed pressure tactics to raise awareness about racial justice issues. Civil rights activist Nadine Smith, the founding executive director of Equality Florida, joined as president and CEO in January.

The group focuses on online messaging and organizing. According to its website, it has run campaigns on economic equity, justice system reforms and digital safety for Black communities. Its 2024 Form 990, the document that nonprofits must file with the IRS, shows that the group's revenues totaled $15 million, of which $14.6 million were grants and contributions.

Digital billboards are a major part of the group's campaign. A series of rotating ads were scheduled to begin running April 1 on a billboard in New York City's Times Square, close to the Nasdaq tower, according to a redacted version of the contract between Color of Change and the vendor, Toronto-based Neutron Media, that was shared with American Banker.

The ads in Times Square, which are running on a double-sided screen located five stories above the northeast corner of the intersection at 1500 Broadway and West 43rd Street, are slated to run through the end of June, the contract shows. They are running at least six times per hour for 15 seconds.

Ads with similar messages are slated to start running this week in Dallas and later this month in Salt Lake City, Harris told American Banker. Goldman has significant operations in both cities.

A spokesperson for Color of Change declined to say how much the group is spending on the ad campaign, but said the campaign is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The foundation has made several whole or shared grants to Color of Change since 2016, according to its website. That includes a $1.3 million grant in 2024 to raise awareness about donor-advised funds that are supporting anti-DEI organizations, educate the public about such organizations and promote the use of racial equity audits at large corporations, the website said.

The accusations against Goldman by Color of Change are not the first time the group has targeted the bank. In 2024, it confronted Goldman about Goldman Sachs Gives, saying the charitable dollars were flowing to anti-DEI organizations, according to a petition-signing campaign. In September of that year, Color of Change, along with the National Institute for Workers' Rights, wrote a letter to the IRS, asking the agency to investigate Goldman's donor-advised funds for potential tax-compliance issues.

The two groups argued that because the funds are owned and controlled by Goldman, the bank has the final say about where the money is directed.

On Monday, a spokesperson for Color of Change said there is no public update or outcome to share regarding the joint request to the IRS.

In addition to tweaking or removing diversity language in proxy statements, some banks have also backed away from the practice of tying executive compensation to diversity goals. An analysis of 2024 executive compensation packages at 59 large and regional banks revealed that 8% of those banks included diversity-related formulas in their annual bonus programs, compared with 53% in 2023 that linked some portion of CEO pay to meeting DEI goals.

Goldman Sachs has made certain tweaks as well. The word "diversity" appeared 39 times in the bank's 2024 proxy statements. It appears six times in the bank's 2026 proxy statement.

It has also made changes to its One Million Black Women program, a $10 billion commitment with $100 million in philanthropic capital to support Black women in areas such as health care, workforce advancement and access to capital. Launched in 2021, the program was originally open to Black women only, but it is no longer exclusive to Black women following changes in the law around diversity.

Since it began, the program has deployed $4.1 billion in investment capital and $44 million in philanthropic capital, according to Goldman's website.

In addition to the billboard ads running in Times Square, Color of Change posted images last week on its social media channels that appeared to show their ads on a bus stop sign and a subway entrance in New York City. The Color of Change spokesperson said those images were not actual ads, but rather mock-ups to show the Time Square messaging.