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E-MailDavid A. Bell is a Partner and Co-Chair of Corporate Governance, and Wendy Grasso is a Corporate Governance Counsel at Fenwick & West LLP.
What You Need To Know
- Pro-DEI proposals have declined sharply for the 2026 proxy season, with only 10 proposals submitted through May 31, 2026, compared to approximately 47 submitted for the full 2025 proxy season. Of the five pro-DEI proposals voted on thus far, average support has been approximately 13%, with results varying significantly by proposal category.
- Anti-DEI proposals are dominating the 2026 landscape, with 43 submitted through May 31, 2026, driven primarily by proposals requesting reports on the risk of discrimination based on social viewpoints. However, anti-DEI proposals continue to receive minimal shareholder support, with the 22 proposals voted on thus far averaging approximately 1% approval.
The 2026 proxy season marks a continuation and, in many respects, an acceleration of the trends observed in 2025. This year, anti-DEI proposals represent the dominant form of DEI-related shareholder activism, while pro-DEI proposals have receded significantly in both volume and voter support. This trend appears to be consistent with Proxy Analytics’ recently reported results, which found that conservative-leaning proponents are making up a larger share of submitted proposals overall in 2026.
This article is based on data as of May 31, 2026, made available by Proxy Analytics. For purposes of this article, proxy seasons are defined as the period from July 1 through June 30. “Pro-DEI proposals” refer to proposals promoting or supporting DEI initiatives, while “anti-DEI proposals” refer to proposals that are critical of such initiatives.
Pro-DEI Proposals
Adopt Policy/Report on Board Diversity, Including Efforts to Increase or Facilitate
These proposals generally request adoption of a policy to promote board diversity or preparation of a report on steps the company is taking to enhance board diversity. Only one board diversity proposal has been submitted in the 2026 proxy season, and it received only 2.0% approval upon going to a vote. This continues a marked decline in submission volume, which has fallen sharply from 15 proposals in 2022 to six in 2023 and to just one per year in each of 2024, 2025, and 2026. Support for this proposal has also experienced a significant decline from the 26.5% average support this proposal category received in 2024 and from the 18.9% average support it received in 2023. The drop in submissions and support for this proposal category over the past few years may suggest a waning stockholder appetite for board diversity mandates (in line with positions taken by the “Big Three” asset managers who have all moved away from promoting strict board diversity targets), though the limited sample size warrants caution in drawing definitive conclusions.
Commission or Report on Civil Rights/Racial Equity Audit
These proposals generally ask a company’s board of directors to commission and oversee an independent, third-party racial equity audit assessing racial impacts and discrimination risks of the company’s policies and practices. None of these proposals have been submitted for the 2026 proxy season thus far. This continues a sharp decline from 40 submissions in 2022 to 29 in 2023, 12 in 2024, and nine in 2025. This downward trajectory in both submissions and average support suggests this proposal category may be nearing the end of its effectiveness as a stockholder proposal strategy.
Report on DEI Policies, Practices, and Related Changes
These proposals generally request that the company issue a public report on the extent of its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, including, in some cases, identifying employees by gender and race, or describing the research and analysis undertaken before making changes to DEI policies and practices. Five of these proposals have been submitted in the 2026 proxy season thus far and two have gone to a vote, receiving average support of 6.1%. Three proposals are not being presented for a vote. This proposal category first emerged meaningfully in 2025, when six proposals were submitted and one went to a vote receiving 18.2% support. The decline in average support from 18.2% in 2025 to 6.1% in 2026 may signal weakening investor enthusiasm for this proposal category, although the small number of votes in each year (one in 2025 and two in 2026) makes it difficult to draw broad conclusions from this data alone.
Report on/Assess Effectiveness of Workforce DEI Efforts
These proposals generally request that a company’s board of directors produce a report to shareholders on the effectiveness of the company’s DEI efforts using quantitative metrics for employee hiring, retention, and promotion, including data by gender, race, and ethnicity. No proposals in this category have been submitted for the 2026 proxy season thus far. This
represents a dramatic decline from what was consistently the most popular pro-DEI proposal category, which saw 29 submissions in 2022, 35 in 2023, 27 in 2024, and 19 in 2025. Average support has declined steadily from 36.9% in 2022 to 14.3% in 2025, which may explain why no proposals have been submitted in 2026 thus far.
Adopt Policy to Disclose Annual EEO-1 Report on Workforce Diversity
These proposals generally request that the board adopt a policy requiring the company to publicly disclose its EEO-1 report and/or workforce diversity data, including a breakdown by race, ethnicity, and gender, as well as retention rates. Three of these proposals have been submitted in the 2026 proxy season and two have gone to a vote, receiving 25.9% average support. One proposal was withdrawn. While this represents a decline from the 32.9% average support seen in 2025, it remains one of the better-performing pro-DEI proposal categories, reflecting a historical pattern of relatively strong support for this category (45.5% in 2022).
Report on Gender and/or Ethnic Pay Gap Disparity
These proposals generally request a report on pay gaps across race and gender, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent. One of these proposals has been submitted for the 2026 proxy season but is not being presented for a vote. This continues a declining trend in submissions from a peak of 17 in 2024 to only four in 2025 and now one in 2026. Average support also declined from 38.7% in 2022 to 28.0% in 2025, although average support for this proposal has been relatively high compared to some of the other pro-DEI proposals.
Anti-DEI Shareholder Proposals
Commission or Report on Civil Rights/Racial Equity Audit
These proposals generally request an independent, third-party audit analyzing the impacts and risks stemming from race-based initiatives and DEI policies. None of these proposals have been submitted for the 2026 proxy season thus far. This proposal category peaked at 12 submissions in 2023 and has seen minimal activity since, with two in 2024 and three in 2025. Average support has never exceeded 2.6% in any year.
Abolish or Report on Workforce DEI Policies/Initiatives
These proposals either ask the company to abolish or consider abolishing its DEI policies, departments, and goals; or request a report assessing risks associated with race, gender, or identity-based recruitment goals or preferences. Eight of these proposals have been submitted so far in the 2026 proxy season and three have gone to a vote, receiving 1.5% average support. Five proposals are not being presented for a vote. This proposal category has seen some growth over the years, rising from zero submissions in 2022 to three in 2023, seven in 2024, 15 in 2025, and now eight for the 2026 proxy season thus far. Despite the growing volume of submissions, shareholder support remains negligible, averaging between 0.9% and 2.2% across all years.
Report on Risk of Discrimination Based on Guidelines (EEO Policies)
These proposals generally request a report detailing potential risks associated with omitting “viewpoint” and “ideology” from a company’s written equal employment opportunity policy. One of these proposals has been submitted for the 2026 proxy season thus far and has gone to a vote, receiving 0.4% approval. Support for this proposal category has consistently been below 2.0% across all years tracked.
Report on Risk of Discrimination Based on Social Viewpoints
These proposals generally request a report evaluating how the company’s hiring and training policies and practices, and/or charitable contributions, impact employees and prospective employees based on their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or political views, and the associated risks to the company. Thirty-four of these proposals have been submitted in the 2026 proxy season and 18 have gone to a vote, receiving average support of only 1.1%. Seven votes are pending, and nine proposals are not being presented for a vote. This proposal category remains the single largest source of anti-DEI shareholder proposals by volume. It grew from zero in 2022 to six in 2023, 25 in 2024, and 51 in 2025, before seeing a modest decline in pace to 34 through May 31, 2026. Despite the substantial volume, shareholder support has never averaged above 2.0% in any year.
Key Trends and Final Thoughts
The 2026 proxy season data reveals several notable trends in the DEI shareholder proposal landscape.
The collapse of pro-DEI proposals. The most striking development is the near-total disappearance of several formerly prominent pro-DEI proposal categories. Racial equity audits, once the most successful pro-DEI proposal types with 46% average support in 2022, have seen zero submissions in 2026. Similarly, proposals seeking reports on the effectiveness of DEI efforts, the most frequently submitted pro-DEI proposal overall from 2022 through 2025, have seen no submissions in 2026.
A combination of legal, market, and procedural dynamics may explain the decline in pro‑DEI shareholder proposals during the 2026 proxy season, including:
- Legal and political headwinds are creating caution. In the post‑SFFA v. Harvard environment, we’ve seen a rise in “reverse discrimination” litigation; federal executive orders cracking down on DEI programs, preferences, and trainings; and state anti-DEI legislation. In response, many companies have scrubbed their DEI programs and initiatives, and some investors may be wary of proposals that could be interpreted as advocating quota‑like targets or race‑conscious practices and the associated legal risks.
- Lower investor support in prior years may discourage or prevent repeat filings. After peaking in 2021–2022, big index funds have become more selective on prescriptive social proposals, including pro-DEI proposals. Political scrutiny of asset managers and legal actions taken by conservative state attorneys general against certain financial institutions for their DEI policies have increased reputational and business risks around visible support for DEI proposals, which may have prompted some larger holders to stop supporting pro-DEI proposals. In addition, many pro‑DEI proposals drew lower support in 2023–2025, which may have resulted in proponents scaling back or failing resubmission thresholds under Rule 14a‑8.
- Focus is shifting to other hot-button risks. Stockholder attention and filing capacity may have rotated to other areas such as AI governance, data privacy, supply chain labor, anti-harassment, and political spending/misalignment, diluting the DEI share of total proposals. Proxy Analytics recently reported that environmental and social (E&S) proposals continue to decline sharply in the 2026 proxy season, having tracked 320 E&S proposals through the first two weeks of May 2026, compared with 483 last year, a decrease of approximately 34%. They also observed declines across nearly all major E&S subcategories, with the exception of general environmental and social proposals, which were essentially flat.
- There are more negotiated withdrawals. Companies often agree to incremental disclosure or time-bound commitments in exchange for withholding proposals or withdrawing proposals, which reduces the number of proposals appearing on ballots even if the underlying engagement continues.
- Many companies have already met the most common asks. Many large issuers now publish EEO-1 data, provide workforce diversity metrics, and have conducted one-time civil rights or racial equity audits. With those “first-wave” requests satisfied or partially addressed, there are fewer obvious targets for these proposals, and more proposals get excluded as “substantially implemented.”
- Anti-DEI proposals dominate in volume but not in support. Anti-DEI proposals account for 43 of the 53 total DEI-related proposals submitted through May 31, 2026, representing over 81% of all DEI shareholder proposals. However, shareholder support for these proposals remains extremely low, with no anti-DEI proposal category averaging above 1.5% in 2026.
- Support is declining across the board. Average shareholder support has declined for virtually every proposal category of DEI proposal, both pro and anti, when compared to historical high-water marks. Board diversity proposals fell from 26.5% in 2024 to 2.0% in 2026. Reports on DEI policies and practices declined from 18.2% in 2025 to 6.1% in 2026. EEO-1 disclosure proposals declined from 32.9% in 2025 to 25.9% in 2026. This broad decline in support may suggest a growing sense of “DEI fatigue” among institutional shareholders, regardless of whether proposals support or oppose DEI initiatives.
- The social viewpoints proposal category continues to dominate anti-DEI activity. Proposals requesting reports on the risk of discrimination based on social viewpoints remain the overwhelmingly preferred vehicle for anti-DEI activism, representing 34 of 43 anti-DEI proposals (79%) submitted in the 2026 proxy season. While the pace of 34 submissions through May is slightly below the 51 seen for the full 2025 proxy season, the proposal category continues to grow substantially relative to its 2023 and 2024 levels.
Looking ahead, the 2026 data suggests that DEI-related shareholder proposals may be approaching a point of diminishing returns for both sides of the debate. Pro-DEI proponents appear to be largely abandoning the shareholder proposal mechanism, while anti-DEI proponents continue to submit proposals at a high volume despite consistently negligible support. The question for the remainder of the 2026 season and beyond is whether anti-DEI proposal volume will plateau or continue to grow and whether persistently low shareholder support will lead to a reduction in these proposals for the 2027 proxy season.
