Policy Update – February 28, 2025

Hello friend,

You may have seen the Chronicle of Philanthropy article identifying the foundations that could face investigations into diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in the wake of President Trump’s executive order last month. We understand that you may be worried or uncertain about how to respond. For now, we believe that the best strategy is not to proactively comment, but we do recommend preparing to receive inquiries from press or other stakeholders.

If you’ve already discussed a response internally, we would be glad to hear your approach. If not, feel free to start from our suggested talking points:

Our foundation has always operated in the best interests of our mission and the community we serve.
We have never engaged in illegal discrimination – and in fact, we remain committed to doing the opposite: working to level the playing field so that everyone has access to opportunities to thrive, no matter their identities, viewpoints, geographic location or lived experience.
If we were investigated, however, we would cooperate with full transparency. We are confident that any investigation of our work would turn out to have been a waste of precious time and resources that would have been better spent on helping American communities.

The Council will provide additional resources to support you and your work in the coming weeks. We’ll also continue to monitor this space and engage with Congressional offices to ensure they understand how philanthropy is supporting organizations and causes important to their communities. For more information: