Demand Diversity
Urban League Fights for You
The America 250 Guide
This is the culmination of everything the Demand Diversity Roundtable has built. Released in March 2026, America 250: A Guide for Defending Democracy is a nonpartisan civic resource developed by the National Urban League and more than 35 coalition organizations that equips individuals, community leaders, and civic organizations with the questions they need to hold leaders accountable to their constitutional responsibilities.
Grounded in the Constitution, long-standing civil rights law, and democratic norms that apply to officeholders regardless of party, the guide gives every American a structured framework to assess whether their leaders are upholding the nation's foundational commitments to liberty, justice, and equality under law. It is the Demand Diversity movement in action, turning advocacy into accountability.
Who We Are
The National Urban League launched the Demand Diversity movement in January 2025 in direct response to a sweeping federal assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion across government and the private sector. What began as an emergency convening at the National Press Club has grown into a sustained, coordinated national coalition of more than 35 civil and human rights, democracy, business, and advocacy organizations representing over 100 million Americans and more than $5 trillion in collective consumer spending power.
The Demand Diversity Roundtable was organized to confront the systematic rollback of civil rights protections and equal opportunity policies across government, the workforce, and public life, and to respond through advocacy, civic mobilization, and legislation.
How We're Pushing Back
The Demand Diversity Roundtable has responded to the assault on diversity, equity, and inclusion with a coordinated strategy across multiple fronts, convening leaders, engaging Congress, organizing the public, and developing accountability tools.
January 22, 2025
The First Demand Diversity Roundtable
Within days of a new administration issuing sweeping executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion, the National Urban League convened an emergency national response at the National Press Club. More than 20 civil and human rights organizations gathered to confront the disinformation campaign against diversity, equity, and inclusion, expose the myths used to divide communities, and reaffirm their commitment to equal opportunity for all. The first Roundtable launched a coordinated, cross-coalition defense and a nationwide effort encompassing congressional engagement, corporate outreach, and civic mobilization.
February 12, 2025
Letter to Congressional Leadership
The Demand Diversity Roundtable sent a formal letter to congressional leadership calling for legislative action to protect diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and push back against the administration's executive overreach. The letter put Congress on notice: this coalition represents more than 100 million Americans, and it expects elected leaders to stand with them.
February 25, 2025
Meeting with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries
Coalition leaders brought the Demand Diversity Roundtable to Capitol Hill, meeting with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries to develop a joint legislative and advocacy strategy against the administration's attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Jeffries responded directly: "The attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion are about denigrating excellence and elevating mediocrity. We look forward to partnering with the Demand Diversity Roundtable in the righteous struggle to push back against far-right efforts to turn back the clock." The meeting marked a critical step in translating Roundtable advocacy into congressional action.
January 22, 2026
The Second Demand Diversity Roundtable
A year into the fight, the attacks had intensified. So had the response. The National Urban League reconvened the Roundtable at the National Press Club with an expanded table of more than 30 leaders representing civil rights, faith, business, media, and academic institutions alongside groundbreaking new polling that challenged the political narrative head-on. Research from Hart Research found that 71% of voters rate diversity, equity, and inclusion positively and 89% view equal opportunity favorably, undermining the claim that rollbacks reflect public will. Marc Morial framed the moment plainly: "This is not theoretical. It's showing up in paychecks and classrooms, in courtrooms and communities."
March 2026
America 250: A Guide for Defending Democracy
The Demand Diversity Roundtable released its most consequential resource yet: a nonpartisan civic guide that gives Americans the tools to hold leaders accountable on constitutional commitments as the country marks its 250th year. Backed by more than 35 organizations, the guide represents the movement's evolution from emergency response to sustained electoral accountability.
What We're Fighting For and Why It Matters
DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. These aren't buzzwords; they are the operational principles behind programs that have measurably expanded access to education, careers, and leadership for communities that were deliberately excluded from both.
| Diversity
Ensuring that different people, backgrounds, and perspectives are present in the spaces that shape our lives — our workplaces, schools, governments, and institutions. Diversity is not charity. It is a prerequisite for institutions that actually reflect the communities they serve. |
Equity
Fairness in access, treatment, and opportunity — accounting for the uneven starting points that history created. Equity is not about giving people more than they deserve. It is about ensuring that systemic barriers don't predetermine who gets the chance to succeed. |
Inclusion
Creating environments where everyone is genuinely valued, heard, and empowered to contribute. Inclusion is the difference between having a seat at the table and having a voice that shapes decisions. |
Today, these programs are being systematically dismantled not through democratic debate, but through executive orders, legal threats, and pressure on corporations to abandon public commitments. Diversity, equity, and inclusion programs opened real doors: to careers, to college, to the rooms where decisions get made. Their removal reverses that progress across every front.
We are still fighting against:
- Racial discrimination in hiring, promotions, education, housing, and contracting
- Wage gaps that keep communities of color earning less for the same work
- Lack of representation in leadership and media that reinforces marginalization
- Educational barriers that limit access to quality schools and resources
- Unequal healthcare access, housing discrimination, and criminal justice disparities
- Corporate rollbacks of diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments made in the public square
- Executive overreach targeting equity programs with no democratic mandate
The Coalition
The Demand Diversity Roundtable is not a single organization; it is a coalition of civil and human rights groups, faith organizations, legal advocates, media leaders, and civic institutions united behind a single principle: equal opportunity for all.
| National Urban League | Arab American Institute | Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC) |
| African American Policy Forum | Asian American Journalists Association | Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies |
| Black Economic Alliance Foundation | Color of Change | Common Cause |
| Congressional Black Caucus Foundation | Global Black Economic Forum | Human Rights Campaign Foundation |
| Interfaith Alliance | Jewish Council for Public Affairs | Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law |
| Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights | Legal Defense Fund | League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) |
| Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund (MBELDEF) | Multicultural Media & Correspondents Association | NAACP |
| National Action Network | National Association of Black Journalists | National Bar Association |
| National Coalition of Asian Pacific Americans | National Coalition on Black Civic Participation | National Council of Jewish Women |
| National Council of Negro Women | National Hispanic Media Coalition | National Newspaper Publishers Association |
| National Organization of Minority Architects | National Partnership for Women & Families | National Women's Law Center |
| Southern Poverty Law Center | UnidosUS | U.S. Black Chambers of Commerce, Inc. |
To demand diversity is to take a stand in your workplace, your school, and your community. Here is how to get involved today.
Download the Guide Get Updates
Return to Urban League Fights For You