- Target’s former diversity chief said the retailer didn’t walk away from DEI, “they trained it.”
- Caroline Wanga, now CEO of Essence, said diversity programs are initially about measurable goals.
- “Eventually the goal goes away because the behavior is embedded and you pick the next thing,” she said.
Target’s former chief diversity officer is weighing in on the backlash the retailer has faced over its rollback of DEI policies.
Caroline Wanga, who left Target in 2020 and is now CEO of Essence, told NBC’s Today show on Friday that Target “didn’t walk away from DEI. They trained it.”
“If you do this thing right, you create a way that gives goals that can be measured to incent people into the behavior,” she said. “Eventually the goal goes away because the behavior is embedded and you pick the next thing.”
Target did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.
Wanga’s comments come days after CEO Brian Cornell sent an email to employees, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, acknowledging that “silence from us has created uncertainty” about where Target stands on inclusivity.
“We are still the Target you know and believe in — a company that welcomes all and aims to bring joy to everyone, every day,” Cornell said.
Target has found itself in the cultural crosshairs multiple times in recent years, and has more recently responded to conservative criticism by shrinking initiatives, like its annual LGBTQ Pride collection, or ending others, like its official DEI program.
That response has, in turn, angered some groups who want the retailer to defend a more progressive and inclusive vision of American retail, sparking boycotts and declining foot traffic in recent months.
But Wanga said the fight over DEI as a label is more of a distraction than real substance.
“Do the work, leave the letters,” she said.
“The work is still the same, ” she added later. “We allow ourselves to be distracted in the things that are easy to argue about, because the work is harder.”
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