Newly elected Wake Forest, NC Mayor Ben Clapsaddle (pictured with his wife Nancy) is a 30-year Army Veteran who is a great ally to the LGBTQ+ community

In this year’s current November elections, 6-term incumbent Wake Forest, North Carolina mayor Vivian Jones lost overwhelmingly to Ben Clapsaddle. I believe it is quite rare for a long time incumbent to lose by huge margins. What could be the reason for this?

I feel one reason is that this summer, Mayor Vivian Jones retracted Wake Forest’s annual proclamation honoring LGBTQ+ Pride Month and recognizing that town’s LGBTQ+ population. Her rational for her action was that “there are strong opinions on both sides of this issue.” My response to her is “even with there are strong opinions on two sides of an issue, you should do the right thing.”

Unfortunately, similar decisions are being made at a much larger scale across the business community. Many companies are caving to far right and MAGA political pressure and abandoning their DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging) initiatives. Given the increasingly diverse US population and given the past systemic economic inequities in country, investing in DEIB initiatives are clearly the right thing to do. Yes, there may be some vocal strong opinions “on the other side,” but leaders should still do the right thing.

This article from Axios provides statistics showing the companies that have retained their commitment to DEI have increased positive scores in their reputation while those that have curtailed their efforts have declined. And other studies show that these reputation numbers directly correlate to financial success.

This year I bought my stuffed animal give-aways at Walgreens instead Target since Walgreens is not cutting back on their commitment to DEI.

Even I myself as a supporter of diversity make my buying decisions based on how companies are addressing DEIB. I recently purchased a large number of stuffed animals from Walgreens, a continued supporter of DEIB, instead of my usual Target Store for these purchases, and I bought a new TV from Costco, basing my decision solely on their continuing commitment to their DEI programs.

When there are strong voices on two sides of an issue, what do you do? Even if it may not be popular with many people, hopefully you do the right thing. And when you do, more than likely rewards will follow. Ben Clapsaddle, who showed his support for the LGBTQ+ community, won the election as Wake Forest’s mayor, and Costco is currently showing revenue increases above their competitors that have abandoned their DEI work.

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This article was published in May, 2025: Link to a list of companies that have retained their DEIB commitment.

This article was published in August, 2025.  NOTE:  there are some companies on the first list in May that have backed off their previous DEI work from earlier in the year. Link to a list of companies that have cut back on DEIB initiatives.