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In 1995, a familiar experience sat at the center of many peoples first experiences with the dial-up internet: the chance to create something for themselves. Along with the access to the World Wide Web, Telnet, and Usenet newsgroups, many users were given a few megabytes on their ISPs FTP server to share whateverrecipes, pictures, creative projects, any weird thing that came to mind. Other people created personal sites using third-party providers such as GeoCities, AngelFire, and Tripod. If you knew a little HTML, you could suddenly express yourself however you wanted. It was the personal home page era of the internet, a slice of life that feels quaint in an era of constant social engagement and monetization. Most of these sites are forgotten to history, too obscure for even the Internet Archive. But a lucky few made it to the present day. Tom Fulp owns one of those pages. You might have heard of it. Today, its called Newgrounds, but it started life as a site called New Ground Remix. When Fulp, a one-time zine-maker who got online in 1995 landed on an ISP called Fastnet, he found its hosted website feature to be the most appealing part. This story is part of 1995 Week, where well revisit some of the most interesting, unexpected, and confounding developments in tech 30 years ago. I thought it was awesome that you could make a page full of stuff and anyone could come see it, he says. It was a little rocky getting goingthis was the era when Netscape and Internet Explorer often rendered pages wildly differently. Nonetheless, he jumped in with both feet. Newgrounds as it appeared in 1996, when it was still known as New Ground Remix. Even knowing how they worked, there would still be unique challenges that kept cropping up while trying to get everything to look how you wanted it, he says. Newgrounds Flash of success At first, it wasnt a particularly serious thing. Fulp went off to college, where he didnt have access to his hosting space and therefore couldnt update it. But when he got back to it, he made the most of his site, which he used to create point-and-click web games using his budding HTML skills. And those games started to gain attention. One of them, Assassin, became a huge hit. Essentially, the idea of the game was that you could let off steam by killing a celebrity you didnt like. All the popular-to-dislike celebrities of the eraBarney, Britney Spears, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, the Backstreet Boysmade appearances. But some of them were completely off the beaten path. Hate Bil Keane, the creator of newspaper comics staple The Family Circus? So did Fulp, apparently. There was no plan to promote it, people somehow found it, he says. One of those people was a producer for the TV show Inside Edition, which was considering doing a story about the Assassin game and reached out to Fulp. What could have been problematicwhile the games many variants are clearly satirical, this was notably during an era of high awareness of school shootingsturned out to be a blessing in disguise. They wanted to feature the site on TV, at which point I knew I had to get a domain name, so people could remember the web address, he says. Newgrounds never ended up being featured on Inside Edition, but once it had a domain name, it started spreading even faster. The final missing piece of the puzzle for Newgrounds to become a cultural phenomenon? Macromedia Flash. When Fulp picked up the animation technology in 1998, I knew I was on to something. By 2000, Fulp had incorporated Newgrounds and hired a friend, Ross Snyder, to build a portal that allowed other people to easily upload Flash animationsan innovative feature at the time, predicting the later success of YouTube. Quickly, Flash animations like 2001s Xiao Xiao No. 3, which featured dozens of stick figures in a seemingly never-ending kung fu battle, came to dominate internet culture. Later animations built by groups of creators extended the concept even further. On Newgrounds, you could find people to collaborate with and create something bigger than you ever possibly could on your own, said Roger Barr, the founder of the humor site I-Mockery and a longtime Newgrounds member. And that was the real draw to me, because I’ve always been a collaborative person. I love working with people. I find it exciting. I find it elevates any project if you have people who are genuinely interested in it. A great example of this is The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny, the most popular Newgrounds video of all time. The animation had music from Neil Cicierega, who developed the surrealistic Animutation style as a teenager and later became a popular comedy musician. Meanwhile, the animation itself was developed by Shawn Vulliez, who worked on it when he was just 14. But there are many, many animations and Flash games on the Newgrounds site. And while Flash may be long gone, Fulp said the platform put in the work to keep the animations working. When asked about Flashs influence on the platform, Fulp is careful not to lean too hard on where it eventually led. Flash was the tool, but the real point of Newgrounds is that its fun to make and share things on the internet, he says. Weve been working to hold on to that culture and maintain a focus on art made by artists. It was a hub of Flash animation, sure, but it was also a community. And the nice thing about communities is that youre never really alone. Popular, but edgy The early 2000s were a Renaissance period for ground-up content sites like Newgrounds. It was part of a group of humor sites founded in the 90s that had an outsize impact on internet culture. Some of them faded into history, but othersNewgrounds, Fark, Something Awful, and I-Mockeryremain online decades after their key period of relevance. Each started in similar waysas, essentially, larks by their founders that accidentally turned into real businesses. (I-Mockerys Barr, for example, registered his domain after constantly running into storage limits on GeoCities, while Fark, a domain registered because for-letter domains are rare, initially featured a provocative image of a squirrel.) And they all kind of succeeded together. Fark in 2000 A key reason for that is that they cross-promoted one another. It was common to see Fark link to Newgrounds, for example, and Barr was so associated with Newgrounds culture that Newgrounds acquires I-Mockery was an April Fools’ joke one year. Fark founder Drew Curtis said it became something of a symbiotic strategy, and even led to unusual situations where his site gained a large Swedish audience because he frequently linked to a Swedish site. Anytime we did that, we actually ended up growing each others audience, Curtis says. And these site owners knew one another personally. When I talked to him for this piece, Curtis regaled me with stories of his long-ago interactions with Richard Lowtax Kyanka, Something Awfuls late founder, for example. Barr and Fulp, meanwhile, went to the same school at different times, reconnecting later in life thanks to their respective online presences. I-Mockery in 2000 These sites werent corporate, which kind of cut both ways. Newgrounds most popular Flash videos were often cartoonishly violent, which did not make it easy to win over advertisersor keep them. Ill always remember this one day [when] I got notified we were being dropped by our ad company, right before I left for class, Fulp recalls. I had to sit in a lecture hall for an hour thinking about how I was going to pay the next $1,000 bill. (Fulp ultimately teamed with an ad network run by the independent film studio Troma Entertainment, though the ad network concept didnt last forever.) It wasnt a unique problemboth Curtis and Barr expressed similar challenges related to advertising and their content. Curtis noted Fark was on difficult-to-shake advertising block lists, but the situation improved over time. Oddly, what was edgy in 2005 doesnt feel so off-kilter in 2025. Whats funny now is like, we really havent changed, but everybody else here has, he says. I mean, they went flying right past us. The roots of community While lots of people found Newgrounds thanks to popular Flash animations like Salad Fingers or the Animator vs. Animation series, what kept them thereand at many similar siteswas the power of community. If you put the effort into the community, there was a real chance it could give back in a big way. There has always been a strong emphasis on collaboration, which has brought a lot of people together over the years and strengthened the bonds of the community, Fulp says. Those connections proved essential to both Fulp and Barr, both of whom now work professionally in the video game industry. Fulp, who started his platform by creating a series of point-and-click games using just HTML, accidentally created a farm system for a generation of indie game developers. We’re really for the fun of it, but Tom started like sponsoring people, Barr recalls. And he would put up money for monthly contests, where you would win money and just getting any kind of payment for something that you created. I think that kind of put the little a little seed in people’s minds that, Hey, maybe I could actually do this for a living later on. Newgrounds users later developed hit games such as Super Meat Boy and Among Us. Reflecting this, Fulp won a Pioneer Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards in 2021. Newgrounds success inspired real-life friendships and interactions that go deeper than your average social network. Fulp says Newgrounds fans became a major fixture at San Diego Comic-Con. This inspired an annual party at the NG office, with hundreds of artists making the trip each year, Fulp says. I stopped doing the parties, because they were gonna get out of control if they kept growing. But they have always stood out as special moments, where Id step back and realize how many amazing people were touched by the site. From a social media perspective, it was almost as if sites like Newgrounds and its friendly competitors had cracked the code for how to build online communities. The business model for Something Awfuls forums, for example, which required banned users to pay money to rejoin, still stands out as one of the more intriguing online-community business models. (Imagine having to do that on X!) In Farks case, Curtis says, his knowledge of how to build a long-running community has led to friendships with leaders at modern community platforms like Reddit. One of the massive mistakes we made early on was so you create the site, you create the community, and they’re like, We got some bad actors, didnt expect this to happen, Curtis says. So you kind of built it as an afterthought. But the real problem here, and we all screwed this up. This moderation is actually the product. And I didnt even realize that until 15 years down the road. (Side note: Curtis ran an ISP during the late 90s. Fark turned out to be his soft landing after the dial-up internet business fell apart.) Part of what might have made these communities stickier might have had something to do with the fact that nobody was making money, except maybe, after vast amounts of work, the people who owned the sites. In 2025, theres a genuine expectation that when you build something, its likely to come with a business model. That leads to things like peacocking on social media on the hunt for additional followers or traffic. That wasnt true with these earlier online communities. Curtis says the lack of internet points really stands out to people who use Fark, to the point where Gen-Z users read it as an alternative to social media. And, according to Barr, all the great creations on I-Mockery and Newgrounds came from people who had no real expectation of even getting paid. There wasnt influencer culture or anything, where studios are sending all kinds f freebies, in hopes that theyll promote it, or paying them ungodly amounts of money and stuff, Barr says. Disrupted, but still hanging on This is likely the least controversial take in tech history, but things change, and the disruption can leave even online stalwarts at a loss. Newgrounds is no exceptionand it got disrupted in multiple directions. It was weakened not only by the decline of Flash, which made it difficult for the site to find footing in the mobile world, but by the rise of YouTube as a sustainable lifestyle. Creators started to care more about making money from their work. Worse, an open-source tool Newgrounds had created made it easier for those users to leave. By the time things began to get messy, Newgrounds had started to support its creators financially. It added support for Flash-based ads in 2008, and even a revenue-sharing program. But the combination of disruptions, mixed with a cratering ad market, ultimately left the platform struggling to stay afloat. When asked if he ever felt any motivation to take a break, Fulp noted that when he felt that tug to stopsay, a big life change, like having a kidhe always felt the desire to keep the site he built online. He knew he would miss it if it wasnt there. I kept going, but it often felt like the world didnt care, he says. Over time, it started to feel like people cared again. Maybe not the world, but enough to keep going! Likewise, Roger Barr has kept I-Mockery online, but a personal loss ended up sidelining him, something he has been transparent about on his website. But he noted that one thing that differentiates sites like Newgrounds and I-Mockery from most of their contemporaries is that they never sold out. Sure, the acquisition offers were always there. Newgrounds was prominent enough at its peak that it could have sold for millions of dollars. But many sites that werent, says Barr, likely sold for tens of thousands of dollars. Yeah. Those sites are gone, all those articles, everything, The only thing we have to look up now is the Internet Archive. You can look back on those things. The sites themselves are gone, and that’s a sad thing that people would sell out for that. In other words, the reason we can celebrate the 30th anniversary of Newgrounds is because Cracked or College Humor never owned it. Instead, the guy who founded it on some random server space in 1995 does. But Fulp feels that pressure. He says he still receives periodic offers for the site, which hes been running at a loss, but funding through sales of his various games, such as the forthcoming Nightmare Cops. He admits that, while hes avoided the temptation so far, staying independent isnt easy at this juncture. Depending on how things go on my end, there might come a day where I need to either close it or sell it out of personal desperation, he says. Im trying to avoid that outcome, though. Fark, which long ago diversified its revenue streams, has held on better than most other legacy platforms of its nature. (Helping things: the site is famously based in Kentucky, where Curtis once ran for governor, and benefits from a lower cost of living.) But Curtis understands the pressure. He has some simple advice that applies to Newgrounds, but also to every other site you might love. Everybody needs to subscribe to them immediately, he says. Newgrounds will live another 50 years if literally a thousand people go and subscribe right now. Its not easy to keep a thing alive forever, even one as fundamental to the rise of the internet as Newgrounds. But godspeed for trying.
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Few traits are more celebrated than self-awareness, broadly defined as the ability to know or understand yourself. And yet, self-awareness is surprisingly rare. Perhaps this is why we worship and cherish it so much, precisely because it doesnt exist in abundance. Like punctual trains or humble leaders, its absence only seems to increase our collective obsession with it. In fact, evolutionary psychologists have a persuasive explanation: there are clear survival advantages to not knowing yourself, especially your limitations (or as corporate HR calls them, development opportunities). After all, if you truly knew how incompetent you were, you might never leave your bed, let alone apply for that senior leadership role. Consider this: if you are unaware of your shortcomings, you will convince others (and sometimes yourself) that you are better than you really are. Robert Trivers, in The Folly of Fools, showed how self-deception can be a social weapon: delusions of grandeur are not just self-fulfilling, they are contagious. Striking a balance Imagine Donald Trump interviewing for a job in a parallel universe where reality mattered. In a rational world, interviewers would calmly examine whether his self-belief is grounded in facts or fantasy. But in our actual world, we cant even agree whether hes a genius or a fraud: a branding visionary or a human Twitter thread. Similarly, a lack of awareness about actual risks can make you seem invincible. When you confidently stroll into a crisis like a contestant on The Apprentice saying failure was not an option, people might just believe you. We mistake certainty for competence all the time, which is why some tech founders get billions for half-built prototypes, while self-aware geniuses write brilliant Medium posts that no one reads. So yes, you can be too self-aware. Theres a fine line between humility and shooting yourself in the foot with a spreadsheet of your flaws. Worse still, in a world where everyone exaggerates their strengths, honesty gets mistaken for incompetence. Just like in a CV, even if you’re meticulously truthful, employers assume you’re inflating your achievements like everyone else. So when you list “basic Excel” under skills, they read “struggles with double-clicking.” Ironically, that means the only way to be taken seriously is to overstate, or risk being underestimated by default. So how do you strike the balance? The secret lies in cultivating internal self-awareness (a sober and honest assessment of your strengths and weaknesses) while externally projecting just enough confident swagger to not seem like you’re narrating your own therapy session. Think of it as executive peacocking with emotional intelligence. It is better to be internally insecure and externally overconfident, than vice-versa. That said, because others are only able to judge your behavior, what matters is the image you project, irrespective of whether it is authentic or not, a sincere reflection of your self-concept or not, and based on your actual self-awareness or not. To be sure, there are more opportunities to succeed when you show overconfidence than self-awareness in real-life interactions. Some examples? Job interviews: The self-aware candidate says, Im still learning how to delegate. The blissfully deluded one says, Im a natural leaderpeople just follow me. Guess who gets hired? Team meetings: The self-aware person says, Im not sure I have the answer. The oblivious one says, Lets pivot and disrupt the value chain. Guess who ends up presenting to the board? (Sad, yes, but true). LinkedIn bios: The self-aware write curious, collaborative learner. The deluded write visionary thought leader, growth hacker, empathy-driven unicorn wrangler. Guess who gets invited to speak at Davos? There seems to be no limits to the grandiosity of absurd titles people pick to describe their skills and roles on social media: Digital Overlord, Creator of Happiness, Change Magician, and Accounting Ninja. Ridiculous, yes, but if you go with the modest, accurate versions, namely IT Manager, Customer Service Representative, Organizational Change Consultant, and Financial Analyst, no one will care, remember, or be remotely impressed. Youll vanish into the LinkedIn void, right between results-oriented team player and passionate about stakeholder alignment. Can you fake confidence without deceiving yourself? Absolutely. In other words, you dont have to fool yourself to fool others. Thats the magic trick (and downfall) of the modern workplace. Ultimately, true self-awareness isnt about navel-gazing or confessionals. Its about calibrating your self-image with feedback, especially from people who arent your mum, your dog, or your Instagram followers. Its learning to see yourself as others see you, and then using that insight to pretend youre just a little better than you actually are. And if that sounds manipulative? Congratulations. You’re self-aware. Authenticity as performance In my forthcoming book Dont Be Yourself, I argue that success depends less on being authentic than on knowing which version of yourself to perform when the spotlights on. Of course, not everyone wants to perform. We live in a culture that fetishizes authenticity, as if our raw, unedited selves are always lovable, competent, and fit for public consumption. But the truth is that authenticity is a performance, too. Its just one thats more likely to make others uncomfortable, especially in professional settings. Imagine walking into a boardroom and sharing your unfiltered feelings about imposter syndrome, your recent therapy breakthrough, or your deep existential dread about the company’s mission. Thats honest. Thats authentic. Thats also a good way to get sidelined, labeled not a team player, or, worse of all, not executive material. Meanwhile, the person who polished their self-narrative, rehearsed their strategic humility, and remembered to nod empathetically at the right moments will likely be promoted. Why? Because they played the partand in most high-stakes contexts, playing the part matters more than being the part. Impression management This is not cynicism. This is the reality of impression management, which is not only a survival skill but a professional superpower. In line, meta-analytic research suggests that emotional intelligence is basically impression management or faking good! Your career is less about who you are and more about how convincingly you can simulate the traits others value. Charisma, gravitas, confidence, these are often more influential than competence. Especially if youre a man. Or tall. Or attractive. Or all of the above. It isnt fair, or rational, or beneficial to the world . . . but it is what it is. The good news? You can learn this. You can learn to observe how youre seen, to script your strengths, to soft-focus your weaknesses, and to curate the version of you that fits the room you’re in. This isnt selling out. This is growing up. Its understanding that success is not about being true to yourself, but about being true to your potentialand potential, like beauty, is always in the eye of the beholder. So yes, be self-aware. But not so self-aware that you become a philosopher when the job calls for a salesperson, an HR business partner, or a procurement officer. Learn which parts of you to mute, which ones to dial up, and which ones to save for your therapist. That, ironically, is the most authentic thing you can do. After all, the workplace isnt a confessional. Its a stage. As the great Erving Goffman noted, We are all just actors trying to control and manage our public image. We act based on how others might see us.
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While some companies quietly scale back their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs under the weight of shifting political tides or economic pressure, others are moving in the opposite directioninvesting more, not less. In todays volatile climate, doubling down on DEI isnt just a values-driven decision; its a strategic one. In this article, leaders weigh in on why meaningful DEI efforts remain essentialnot optionalfor building resilient, future-ready workplaces. Diversity Drives Innovation and Competitive Edge Something is brewing in corporate America, and it’s more complex than most leaders realize. Take Target; it’s a perfect case study of what happens when anti-DEI strategies go awry. Their recent struggles aren’t just about merchandise; they’re about fundamental misunderstandings of workplace dynamics. But here’s the twist: diversity isn’t a cost. It’s an investment. Companies like Delta and Costco understand this. They’re not just checking boxes; they’re building ecosystems where different perspectives create competitive edges. Shareholders are noticing, too. Look at Apple, Levi’s, and Disney, where investors are actively voting against anti-DEI proposals. That’s not activism. That’s smart business strategy. The numbers tell a compelling story. Gallup research shows engagement isn’t about perks or salaries. It’s about belonging. When employees feel truly seen, they don’t just work; they innovate. They transform. In today’s talent landscape, diversity isn’t optional. It’s survival. The talent shortage isn’t coming; it’s here. What will happen to companies that can’t attract diverse talent? They’ll become footnotes in business history. This situation isn’t theoretical. This is happening right now. Shareholders understand what many executives still don’t: Inclusion drives performance. It creates resilience. It generates value that goes far beyond quarterly reports. The future doesn’t belong to the most traditional companies. It belongs to those brave enough to reimagine what talent, teamwork, and success really look like. Vivian Acquah CDE, Certified Diversity Executive, Amplify DEI Showcase MultiLingual Staff for Inclusive Service As the CEO of an award-winning, woman-owned legal practice, I stand proud in advocating for the prioritization of diversity, equity, and inclusion in every facet of business operations. These principles are not mere buzzwords; they are the bedrock upon which successful and sustainable organizations are built. A beneficial and diverse initiative that we wholeheartedly encourage other business owners to adopt is the strategic showcasing of Spanish-speaking staff to effectively and efficiently serve the Spanish-speaking community. By doing so, businesses signal a profound commitment to being inclusive and proactively addressing the burgeoning demand for tailored services within this increasingly significant demographic. The demographic landscape of the United States is undergoing a profound transformation. With the U.S. Hispanic population approaching 19% and projections indicating continued growth, the imperative for bilingual professionals has transcended mere desirability and become an absolute strategic necessity. Ensuring that Spanish-speaking clients can engage with legal experts in their native language fosters an environment of trust and comfort, particularly crucial during the inherently stressful circumstances often associated with legal matters. By resolutely enforcing, implementing, and actively employing Spanish-speaking staff, businesses can dismantle this formidable barrier, effectively guaranteeing equal access, diversity, and genuine inclusion for all clients seeking quality legal representation. This initiative is not simply a reactive measure; it represents a steadfast reaffirmation of a long-standing commitment to the foundational principles of diversity and inclusion. This intentional expansion of linguistic capabilities allows for the delivery of specialized and culturally sensitive services to the Hispanic community across a wide array of critical legal domains, including immigration law, family law, personal injury cases, and corporate matters. A nuanced understanding of the rich cultural context that informs the experiences of Spanish-speaking clients profoundly enhances an organization’s ability to craft and execute tailored legal strategies that are both effective and empathetic. This, we believe, should be a fundamental, nonnegotiable aspect of business standards for any company genuinely committed to serving its community. Gohar Abelian, Attorney/CEO, Abelian Law Firm Diverse Leadership Improves Decision-Making and Resilience We are witnessing an imperceptible unraveling in the upper ranks of corporate America. The once forceful push for boardroom and executive diversity is no longer gaining ground. According to recent reporting from Axios, the number of women, LGBTQ+ individuals, and professionals of color being considered for top leadership roles is declining, even as companies continue to issue the same polished statements about their commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Public promises remain unchanged, yet private priorities are quietly shifting. Scaling back on making employees and clients feel included and like they belong is a reputational risk that people-centered leaders should not gamble to take. Diversity brings different perspectives that improve decision-making, uncover risks, and identify opportunities others may miss. In today’s chaotic environment, companies need leaders who understand a range of communities, experiences, and markets. A diversified inclusion strategy from the top down changes how decisions get made. It introduces resistance to groupthink and insists on better questions; questions that challenge assumptions, dissect risks, and pressure-test solutions. Homogeneous leadership and boards tend to reward alignment and cohesion, but they often miss what they aren’t trained to see. Diverse teams bring lived experiences and mental models that don’t sit neatly within the norm. This makes organizations more capable of handling ambiguity and leading through uncertainty while continuing to maintain engagement and loyalty from their customers and clients. Dr. Erkeda DeRouen, CEO, Digital Risk Compliance Solutions LLC DEI Strengthens Risk Resilience and Brand Trust One compelling reason to double down on DEI today is risk resilience. In a climate where reputational, legal, and social expectations are shifting rapidly, organizations that treat DEI as peripheralnot foundationalare exposing themselves to unnecessary risk. I’ve observed this firsthand: when DEI is deprioritized, it doesn’t just impact morale. It affects how your brand is perceived, how talent evaluates your leadership, and how vulnerable you become to legal scrutiny. Regulatory bodies, courts, and advocacy groups are not stepping back. In fact, they’re increasingly scrutinizing performative or regressive corporte behavior, especially when tied to equity, governance, or social responsibility. The most forward-looking companies I’ve worked with don’t see DEI as just a hiring metric. They treat it as part of their core governance model, risk framework, and leadership accountability system. That mindset doesn’t just protect brand trustit builds it. In today’s climate, doubling down on DEI isn’t just relevant. It’s risk-smart, strategy-smart, and essential to building resilient organizations people actually believe in. Michael Ferrara, Information Technology Specialist, Conceptual Technology Attract Overlooked Talent by Doubling Down We’ve always talked about Balance and Belonging instead of DEI, but it’s the same work with different words. Doubling down on these efforts, especially in this climate, is business-critical. I used to work at companies that looked diverse on paper but were completely homogeneous in thinking. They had the same backgrounds, approaches, and blind spots. We’d sit in meetings congratulating ourselves on our “great culture” while making decisions that only worked for people exactly like us. I cringe thinking back. The compelling reason to double down is that your competition for talent just got easier. While other companies are scaling back or getting spooked by political rhetoric, there’s a massive opportunity to attract incredible people who’ve been overlooked or undervalued elsewhere. Historically, we’ve hired some of our best team members from companies that retreated from these commitments or had toxic cultures. We also know that statistically, diverse teams make better decisions. When you have people who approach problems differently, who’ve had different life experiences, who process information in different ways, you catch mistakes before they become expensive. You spot opportunities others miss. You build products that work for more people. I think about all the AI tools clearly not designed by diverse teams that don’t work, like those automatic soap dispensers that only recognize light skin. That’s what happens when you don’t have diversity in your engineering team. The companies that are doubling down aren’t doing it because it’s trendy. They’re doing it because they’ve seen the results. Different perspectives lead to better outcomes, period. Call it DEI, call it Balance and Belonging, call it whatever makes you comfortable. Just make sure your team actually reflects the world around you. If you don’t, your competitors will. (Although, really, you should do it because it’s the right thing to do.) Amy Spurling, CEO/Founder, Compt Diverse Teams Fuel Innovation I view diversity, equity, and inclusion not as a moral add-on, but as an operational imperativeespecially in today’s climate. The most compelling reason to double down on DEI is that it directly fuels innovation and resilience, both of which are critical in our industry’s race toward digital transformation and personalized care. In healthcare IT, we develop systems meant to serve highly diverse populations. If the people building those tools don’t reflect the lived experiences of those they’re meant for, we risk reinforcing biases, excluding voices, or worsecausing harm. I’ve seen firsthand how teams with diverse perspectives produce smarter algorithms, more culturally competent patient engagement strategies, and stronger problem-solving under pressure. Embedding DEI in hiring and team structuring led to better accessibility design in one of our telehealth platforms, helping reach non-English-speaking and rural patients with higher engagement and lower attrition. Pulling back DEI now, especially when technology is evolving so rapidly, would be a step backward. The organizations that will thrive are those that make DEI intrinsic, not optional, to how they operate, build, and serve. In a world where trust, reach, and relevance are everything, inclusion is the only sustainable strategy. Riken Shah, Founder & CEO, OSP Labs DEI Builds Inclusive Cultures for Long-Term Success Organizations cannot afford to ignore the realities of a rapidly diversifying workforce and consumer base. The demographic makeup of the United States is shifting, and with that comes a growing expectation for workplaces to reflect the values, identities, and lived experiences of the people they employ and serve. DEI is not a side initiativeit is a business imperative. What many companies fail to realize is that the rollback of DEI does not exist in a vacuum. It sends a clear message about whose voices are valued, whose identities are protected, and whose growth is prioritized. And in a labor market where talent is more discerning than ever, that message matters. Younger generations (Gen Z in particular) are actively seeking out companies that align with their social values. They are paying attention not just to what companies say, but to what they do. DEI done well is not performative. It is not about corporate virtue-signaling. It is about building systems that mitigate bias, foster belonging, and ensure everyone has a fair shot at success. That is good for morale, innovation, retention, and reputation. It is also just the right thing to do. Choosing to double down on DEI is a choice to lead with integrity, to invest in long-term sustainability, and to recognize that inclusive cultures do not emerge by accidentthey are built with intention. Daniel Oppong, Founder & Lead Consultant, The Courage Collective Neurodiversity Shapes the Future Workforce Landscape Diversity is a fact, whether organizations (or the government) choose to acknowledge, embrace, and leverage its advantages or not. I’ll use as an example the aspect I focus on in my workneurodiversity, or variations in the way our brains and nervous systems are wired and function. 53% of Gen Z identify as neurodivergent. 62% of millennials identify as neurodivergent. Experts predict this could reach 70% or higher with Gen Alpha. By 2030five years from nowthese three generations are projected to make up 7580% of the workforce. They tend to be much less hesitant to ask for what they want and need than many of their older colleagues. Companies that don’t make an effort to cultivate a neuroinclusive environment will soon find themselves unable to attract some of the best and brightest talent, who will actively search out more welcoming and flexible workplaces. Successful organizations understand that policies, approaches, and systems that benefit neurodivergent employees actually benefit everyone. Given all the research and data on diverse teams generally outperfrming homogeneous teams in innovation, productivity, and effective problem-solving and decision-making, doubling down on DEI clearly benefits everyone as well. Rachel Radway, Executive & leadership coach, facilitator, speaker, author, RER Coaching
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