Rebecca Ungarino

JPMorgan Chase is renaming its internal organization dedicated to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion to "diversity, opportunity, and inclusion," or "DOI," and rethinking how the group operates, according to people familiar with the matter and a memo to employees viewed by Barron's on Friday.

Changes at the largest U.S. bank follow directives from President Donald Trump and his administration to end programs in the public and private sectors meant to advance equity and foster inclusivity for people of color, people with disabilities, the LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups. These directives have become a pillar of the administration's agenda since President Trump took office in January.

Trump has more granularly taken aim at "equity" as part of the language that companies and government agencies use to describe those efforts, such as "equity-related grants" and "equity action plans" that he criticized in an executive order in late January.

JPMorgan Chief Operating Officer Jennifer Piepszak wrote in a note to employees on Friday that the "e" in diversity, equity, and inclusion has "always meant equal opportunity to us, not equal outcomes, and we believe this more accurately reflects our ongoing approach to reach the most customers and clients to grow our business, create an inclusive workplace for our employees and increase access to opportunities."

Piepszak wrote that the bank regularly reviews its products and services, including its diversity efforts, in the context of changing regulations, laws, and consumer demands. The bank is planning to "reduce trainings while maintaining a focus on high-quality offerings" and it may consolidate "some activities, councils or chapters" tied to diversity and inclusion, the memo said.

A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to provide details beyond the contents of the memo. Reuters earlier reported on the memo.

JPMorgan employees have sought more information from senior leaders in recent weeks about what changes may come to diversity initiatives, Barron's has reported. The changes at JPMorgan are notable not just because they follow a widespread, yearslong political backlash from Republicans against diversity-related programs but because the bank is often viewed as a leader in the financial industry.

Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America, Citigroup, and other lenders also have made changes to their workforce diversity goals in recent weeks. The changes also come several weeks after Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan's longtime, outspoken chief executive, said during a company town-hall meeting that he didn't like monikers such as "DEI" because they mean different things to different people.

He said last month that the bank's fundamental commitments weren't changing, but that "things will get modified a little bit." Dimon would have wanted to make adjustments to the bank's diversity and inclusion organization regardless of whether Trump was the president, he said.

"We've always been committed to hiring, compensation and promotion that are merit-based," Piepszak wrote, adding that the bank doesn't use illegal hiring quotas or pay incentives.

Write to Rebecca Ungarino at rebecca.ungarino@barrons.com

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March 21, 2025 14:03 ET (18:03 GMT)

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