Gillette Children’s rebrands DEI as ‘culture and belonging’ and still provides left-wing training

Gillette Children’s is reframing its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs under a new banner of “culture and belonging.”

After President Donald Trump eliminated DEI in federal programs and contracting, many companies and organizations didn’t scrap them altogether — they simply rebranded them under new labels.

In a recording of a June 2025 call obtained by Alpha News, hospital leaders told staff they are pivoting away from traditional DEI language.

“As part of our broader shift from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to one of culture and belonging, we recognize that a meaningful change isn’t just about the language that we use or how data is shared, it’s about how we operationalize equity in everything that we do,” said Isadora Collins, formerly the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion coordinator and now renamed the hospital’s Culture and Belonging Coordinator.

The hospital’s DEI council has also been rebranded as the “Beacon Committee.” However, leaders stressed that the changes are not about walking away from equity but about reframing it in “values-driven” terms.

Employee training focuses on political movements

Screenshots provided to Alpha News show that despite Gillette’s rebrand, employees are invited to complete DEI-style training modules. Current materials highlight the Black Panther Party, Black Lives Matter, the Black Power Movement, and athletes and racial injustice.

The modules are presented as part of Gillette’s “culture and belonging” initiative.

One portion of a training discusses the Black Lives Matter movement, which it describes as an “ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise.”

Additionally, Gillette Children’s maintains a “land acknowledgment” statement on its website, saying it is “committed to creating an equitable, inclusive, anti-racist environment.”

‘Bring Your Child to Work Day’ too exclusive

During the meeting, staff asked whether an employee resource group (ERG) could host a “Bring Your Child to Work Day” or if that would be “too exclusive.”

“That might be worth conversation … depending on what you had in mind there might be different ways to frame that up,” one executive said. “In my mind, that event sounds great if it’s open to all employees bringing a child … maybe a child or a relative that’s related to them,” another added, noting the need to “limit our liability.”

Political posts and past controversies

The discussion comes as Gillette Children’s has been caught posting partisan content on its official social media pages.

Screenshots show the hospital shared a meme from Occupy Democrats praising Joe Biden and Kamala Harris while claiming a second Trump term would mean “full blown fascism.”

Gillette’s response

When Alpha News reached out to Gillette Children’s to ask if the rebrand of DEI to “culture and belonging” was part of the national change, a spokesperson responded: “Gillette had been considering language changes that reflected our organization’s values before national conversations around DEI-related language began, but those national conversations were discussed as we continued our evolution of this work.”

The spokesperson said the words “culture and belonging” describe “the environment we aim to provide for our patients and caregivers, and our employees.”

“For our employees, our new language is this: ‘At Gillette Children’s, we are committed to cultivating a culture of belonging where every person can create their own story. We achieve this through an engaged and empowered workforce, honoring all perspectives and identities, uplifting patient experience, and driving outcomes that reflect our commitment to excellence for all.’ As part of that work, we also changed the committee’s name to Beacon Committee, which reflects our organizational intent to be a light of hope for our patients and families,” the spokesperson added.

As for the concern behind “Bring Your Child to Work Day”, the spokesperson said:
“Gillette does not have a ‘Bring Your Child to Work Day,’ in part because as a hospital there are patient privacy concerns. As part of a conversation about the potential to have a day where parents could bring their child to work, though, a group discussed that if we did have one, we should make it more inclusive. That might mean an employee may want to bring a niece or nephew to work for a day, for example.”

On employee training modules referencing the Black Panther Party, the spokesperson stated that the “module is an optional offering in our employee training library.”

And on partisan memes posted to Gillette’s official Facebook page that referred to President Trump and his party as fascists, they said: “This was an accidental post by an employee who intended to post from a personal account, and it was removed as soon as it was seen.”

Jenna Gloeb

Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.