Mark Zuckerberg—Chan Zuckerberg Initiative eliminated its DEI team and scrubbed inclusion references from website, weeks after reassuring staff DEI would continue
On February 18, 2025, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative disbanded its diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility team, just 39 days after reassuring concerned staff on January 10 that Meta's DEI cuts would not affect CZI. CZI COO Marc Malandro cited 'the shifting regulatory and legal landscape.' CZI also canceled its $1.5 million Science Diversity Leadership Awards, ended its Diverse Slate Practice for hiring, scrubbed all DEI references from its website, and laid off staff working on affordable housing and economic inclusion. The move followed Meta's own DEI rollback and Zuckerberg's $1M Trump inauguration donation.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEI Programs | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Racial Justice | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.725 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.64)
Evidence (2 signals)
Guardian reported CZI eliminated DEI team weeks after reassuring staff it would continue
The Guardian reported on February 19, 2025 that CZI COO Marc Malandro emailed staff informing them the DEIA team was being disbanded, citing 'the shifting regulatory and legal landscape.' This came just 39 days after CZI told concerned staff on January 10 that Meta's DEI cuts would not affect CZI's programs.
TechCrunch reported CZI U-turned on DEI, ended Science Diversity Leadership Awards and Diverse Slate Practice
TechCrunch reported that CZI canceled its $1.5 million Science Diversity Leadership Awards, ended its Diverse Slate Practice for hiring, scrubbed all DEI references from its website, and laid off staff working on affordable housing and economic inclusion.