Republican Promises To Ban DEI As Governor. His Nonprofit Was Steeped In It.

A nonprofit co-founded by a Republican running for Georgia governor on an anti-DEI platform encouraged corporations to adopt racially-focused recruiting efforts and embed diversity, equity, and inclusion policies in the “fabric” of company culture. 

Rick Jackson, a billionaire healthcare executive hoping to succeed Governor Brian Kemp, has pledged to ban DEI programs in state government and public education. The nonprofit he founded, goBeyondProfit, once encouraged companies to guarantee final interview slots to women and racial minorities, adopt “aspirational” DEI goals, and read anti-white activist Ibram X. Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist.” 

Jackson has positioned himself as a conservative outsider who will make Georgia the lead in the nation for criminal deportations, get wokeness out of schools, “ban DEI insanity and criminalize reverse discrimination,” and cut the state income tax in half. The Republican hopeful, who founded the Georgia-based Jackson Healthcare in 2000, has loaned his campaign $50 million. 

Rick Jackson for Governor.

In 2017 Jackson and his son started goBeyondProfit, an organization that encourages corporate generosity and social engagement. In January 2021, goBeyondProfit posted a video series entitled “Leading a Thriving Workplace with Race in Mind.” Jackson is still listed as an ambassador of the organization. 

The videos featured DEI consultant Darah Okeke and Matthew Harrison, the former vice president of human resources at Jackson’s healthcare company, discussing what actions corporate leaders should take to ensure that DEI is in the “fabric of the company.” 

In a video entitled “Action Steps to a Diverse Workplace,” Harrison said that it would be “cringeworthy” for corporate leaders to “do nothing” related to DEI. 

Okeke said that corporations needed to make room in their budget for outside DEI consultants to come in or to create DEI-focused internal departments. 

“I think a lot of people poo-poo DEI and don’t understand that it’s a true discipline, that there is a lot of research in this space,” she said. “It’s very difficult to be a D&I expert or an HR practitioner, and to be given these lofty goals of what you want to do to advance diversity within an organization, but no budget to really support you and back you up.”

Later in the video, Okeke said that companies should adopt a “diverse slate initiative” for interviewing prospective employees. 

“When you’re interviewing for a particular requisition, then you have, as a practice and a policy, that you will make sure that you interview at least one woman and at least one person of color, at that final stage of the interview process,” she said. “I’ve seen it done at multiple workplaces and seen it work extremely well in terms of increasing the diversity of those individuals that were hiring for certain roles.”

Harrison then jumped in and said he had adopted similar measures while working at Jackson Healthcare. 

“Here at Jackson Healthcare, I took over leading talent acquisition here in June of 2019 and put that in place, and within a year, we saw [an] increase in the number of people of color that we hired into new roles. It went from 9% to 25%,” he said. 

Jackson Healthcare did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire, but previously said it does not hire based on DEI principles. 

Okeke then said that companies should specifically focus on recruiting from historically black universities, black fraternities and sororities, and minority-industry groups. She also said that companies should use their “black talent” and “women talent” to refer companies to prospective employees. 

Harrison said that interview panels should be racially diverse. 

“It’s important that the interview panel that that person is interviewing with is diverse,” Harrison said. “Someone who is of color, it may mean something to them to be able to see that there are other people similar to them that took part in the hiring process or will be a part of this organization that they’re joining.”

Harrison also said that Jackson Healthcare had “associate network groups” where white people were allowed to learn what it was like to be a racial minority and men were allowed to learn about the experiences of women. 

“It allows for people who are not a part of that group to be educated on what it’s potentially like to be another, whether it’s being a woman, being a person of color,” he said. 

Okeke said that she agreed with opponents of racially-focused groups who argued it was separating people by race, but said it was needed for them to feel safe. 

“There’s this kind of idea that, ‘Well, aren’t you separating even more, or self-segregating, by having these groups that are focused on the black employee resource group, or the women’s group?’” she said. “But my thought is that, ‘Well, yeah,’ I mean we are separating ourselves, but we’re also creating a safe space and an environment that can be very difficult for us.” 

At the end of the video Okeke said that she recommended reading Kendi’s “How to Be an Antiracist,” saying that “being an anti-racist is a proactive effort.”

Screenshot from goBeyondProfit video.

Other videos posted in the series included “Beyond Bias & Blind Spots,” which focused on the idea of implicit bias and the “Impact of Racial Inequity at Work.” 

The bias video talked about the idea of so-called “microaggressions” and suggested that business leaders take time to confess their own biases to co-workers while the other video claimed that the “vestiges of slavery” still impact the American workplace today. 

Okeke said that the idea that people can be colorblind, the idea that one should strive to treat all people the same regardless of race, was flawed.

“Unless you actually have the medical diagnosis of color blindness, you are not color blind. You see me. I am a beautiful black woman sitting in front of you,” she said. “You see my color, you see my locks, you see who I am.”

Jackson’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment from The Daily Wire.

Throughout 2021, goBeyondProfit posted a number of articles claiming that employees wanted their bosses to talk about race, embrace “inclusive leadership,” and gradually implement DEI programs. 

Other candidates vying for the Republican nomination include Lt. Governor Burt Jones, Attorney General Chris Carr, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The Republican primary is set for May 19, 2026.