• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, April 24, 2025

Levi Strauss & Co. is the latest company to fend off conservative pressure to eliminate company policies that promote diversity, equity and inclusion, saying those values are integral to brand identity.

In results announced at the annual shareholders meeting, voters rejected the proposed elimination of DEI policies, submitted by the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank that has been systematically targeting large corporations.

Levi’s board had unanimously encouraged shareholders to reject the vote. “We’ve been committed to diversity and inclusion for literally decades, and it’s the core to who we are,” president and CEO Michelle Gass said in a recent interview with Women’s Wear Daily. “So our commitment remains unchanged. We will do what’s right for our people, for our business. And at the end of the day, building a diverse and inclusive workplace helps us deliver stronger results.”

Those sentiments echo leaders of Costco, which defeated a similar proposal from the think tank in January, with 98% of the vote in favor of maintaining the DEI policies the retailer says are core to its business success.

A Levi’s spokesperson tells Marketing Daily that less than 1% of Levi's shareholders voted in favor of the proposal.

Levi’s has long been a proponent of diversity. It integrated factories in the South before federal law required it, and was the first Fortune 500 company to offer benefits for same-sex partners in 1992. Today, it is widely regarded as a leader in LGBTQ+ inclusion.

The National Center for Public Policy Research, which positions itself as the “premier opponent of the woke takeover of American corporate life and defender of true capitalism,” is racking up losses. In addition to Levi’s, shareholders at Goldman Sachs, Apple, John Deere and Walt Disney have rejected its shareholder proposals, by similarly large margins.

And while some major retailers -- including Target, Walmart, Starbucks and McDonald’s  -- have scaled back DEI initiatives amid pressure from conservative groups, a growing number of companies are holding the line.

Still, companies with extensive operations in Republican-led states remain especially vulnerable to political backlash. Target, for instance, has seen a decline in foot traffic every week since its January rollback of DEI commitments, according to Placer.ai. In February, the overall decline was 9%, and in March, 6.5%.

Meanwhile, support for DEI remains high. Recent research from the University of Wisconsin found that 82% of Americans agree with statements like “Racial diversity benefits my country.”

CEOs are taking note. Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano, speaking at a recent industry conference, said, “The winds blow, but there are some fundamental truths for those 98 years. We welcome all to our hotels and we create opportunities for all—and fundamentally those will never change. The words might change, but that’s who we are as a company.” He received 40,000 thank-you emails from employees, Fortune reported.