The tension between public rhetoric and organizational action underscores how headwinds can slow progress and highlights the need for leadership to translate words into concrete, ongoing, and verifiable inclusive practices. We have seen this in the US after President Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders led several large organizations, such as Salesforce, Amazon, Google, Meta, among others, to roll back diversity hiring goals, remove DEI roles, or pause diversity events. Although the numbers were small, a recent Catalyst report found many US leaders adopted a “finesse” approach: publicly affirming a commitment to DEI while adjusting strategy and execution, sometimes editing or removing DEI content from websites and scaling back DEI programs. These shifts carry tangible employee risks. In the same report, employees indicated more than 40% would consider quitting if their employer does not support DEI. Nearly all respondents agree that everyone should be respected and welcomed regardless of background, and that fair, equitable pay matters.
We also saw in many organizations an opposite “finesse” approach: publicly DEI was revamped, the ‘D’ for diversity became the policy that ‘dare not speak its name’, DEI policies were recalibrated, but the fundamentals stayed in place: a true commitment to inclusion (or whatever term is more palatable in today’s political climate). Which brings us one term that was hot and prominent in 2025 and here to stay: belonging.
Belonging underscores the need to focus on core values in publishing. In our sector, both organizational culture and the content we publish, should foster dialogue, uphold democratic values, and ensure the free flow of information and ideas. This is why leaders across the publishing and book sector launched Belonging Matters—For our Sector, Our Societies and the Stories We Share—a joint statement affirming our shared responsibility to empower diverse voices and to create a world where everyone has the right to read, share, and belong. Belonging broadens the DEI agenda beyond diversity alone, reframing it as the pursuit of a genuinely inclusive environment where everyone feels respected and able to participate.
This new agenda of belonging has already begun at IPA. Last year, we signed an MOU with UN Women to leverage the publishing industry to advance gender equity and women’s empowerment, with a focus on increasing women in senior publishing roles. This partnership aims to create a platform to show how the power of literature and publishing can challenge stereotypes while also fostering constructive dialogue. It provides a complimentary program of work, alongside the work of PublisHER to empower women in our sector and support our broader work on the sustainable development goals.
There has also been significant concrete progress to create an inclusive sector. IPA member the Publishers Association (UK) has a long history of advancing inclusivity. In 2017, the PA launched its Inclusivity Action Plan, outlining ten commitments for publishing businesses to achieve. One target focused on increasing women in senior roles; a milestone reached within a few years. Momentum continues with the new Publishing Inclusion Pledge, launched in January this year, which elevates belonging as a core principle and positions equity, inclusion, and belonging as guiding values for the UK publishing sector. This shows that, even in 2026, pledges and commitments matter, with 39 publishers having signed on to demonstrate their support for a culture of inclusion.
Another critical area that must remain a priority as we look toward 2026 is creating a safe and inclusive workplace culture, one where everyone feels able to bring their authentic selves to work. Across the industry, we are seeing increased focus on psychological safety and inclusion, supported by concrete actions rather than just statements. This includes new internal guidelines and best-practice frameworks — such as the Danish PA’s launch of updated inclusion practices last year — as well as visible signals of solidarity, including support for LGBTIQ+ colleagues. I am proud to chair Workplace Pride, which gives us a platform to think seriously about inclusion in a global context (interesting to note that three sizable STM publishers are members of Workplace Pride: Springer Nature, RELX/Elsevier and Wolters Kluwer). We must remember that not all of our offices operate in environments where people can openly talk about their partners or personal lives. That makes it even more important that we create cultures where everyone — regardless of location — feels respected, protected, and included.
The backlash against DEI is being felt not only within organizations but also in the content we publish. Increasing bans on books have been gathering internationally, with particularly visible shifts in the U.S., where school districts and state-level actions are restricting access to certain titles. This issue was highlighted last year at the Frankfurt Kids Conference, which was themed “Children’s Books in a Fragile World.”
This evolving landscape raises critical questions for publishing houses: How are DEI principles reflected in leadership, culture, and policies within our organizations? And how does that translate into the content we create — in the diversity of authors, editors, and staff, in inclusive storytelling, and in editorial practices? I do not believe DEI is dead in 2026, but I do believe we all must continue to be asking the important questions around what does belonging look like in publishing?