Virginia Dems Resurrect Expensive DEI Office, Expand DEI Initiatives for ‘Youth’ and ‘Criminal Sentencing’
Virginia’s Office of Diversity, Equity adn Inclusion (DEI) has been revitalized under Dr. sesha Moon, who was appointed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger in December, returning the agency to a more progressive stance despite Republican attempts to reform it. The state’s 2025-2026 budget allocates about $1.8 million per year to the DEI office, a level larger than several other state program budgets and roughly on par with, or exceeding, certain unrelated cabinet and legislative budgets.
Moon’s background includes Harvard University’s DEI Pioneer Award and a degree in African-American studies from virginia Commonwealth University, along with recognition for her work at VCU and other institutions. She previously served as the Biden administration’s chief diversity officer for a Commerce Department science lab and led the U.S. House Office of Diversity and Inclusion until lawmakers disbanded it in 2024.
Politically, Republicans have sought to dilute the DEI office-renaming it or redirecting funds-while Democrats have opposed those moves. Democrats are now considering an additional $3.6 million in funding for the office over the next two fiscal years following the 2025 elections.
Moon and supporters frame DEI as a constitutional mandate and a nonpartisan effort to ensure geographic and demographic representation across state government, even as national debates and Republican opposition have sought to curb DEI initiatives in other areas.
Virginia’s diversity, equity and inclusion office has a new lease on life with a radical boss and millions of taxpayer dollars flowing in.Dr. Sesha Moon now leads Virginia’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion after Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger appointed her in December, returning the agency to its woke roots despite Republican efforts to reform it.
Virginia’s latest budget dedicates more than $1.8 million to the DEI office annually for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.
The $1.8 million is larger than the annual budget for “Governmental Affairs Services” and “Intergovernmental Relations” in the governor’s office.
It is also larger than the funding for “Personnel Management Services” for the attorney general’s Department of Law, adjudication training in the state Supreme Court, “Emergencies Prevention and Response” at the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the entire budget for a legislative commission tasked with recommending policies related to Virginia’s youth.
The DEI office’s budget roughly equals that of “Adjudicatory Research, Planning, and Coordination” at the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission, which is in charge of the Commonwealth’s sentencing guidelines for crimes.
Moon did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
She will work to “advance a future in which all Virginians have access to opportunity — to include residents from some of the hardest-to-reach communities throughout the Commonwealth,” she told the press in December.
Virginia legislators mandated the chief diversity officer role in 2020, requiring the appointee to “develop a sustainable framework to promote inclusive practices across state government,” form a “plan to address systemic inequities in state government practices” and “facilitate methods to turn feedback and suggestions … into concrete equity policy.”
Former Republican Glenn Youngkin aimed to defang the DEI office by replacing the “equity” in its title with “opportunity” and appointing staunch DEI critics to lead it, The Virginia Mercury reported.
Democrats rejected his proposal to divert some funds from DEI to the general governor’s office fund.
Legislators are now considering another $3.6 million for the office over the next two fiscal years after Democrats won the legislature and governorship in the 2025 elections.
Moon’s state profile boasts liberal accolades such as Harvard University’s “DEI Pioneer Award,” a degree in African-American studies from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), the school’s “Black History in the Making Award” and being “the first Black queer woman to establish an endowed scholarship fund in university history.”
The Spanberger appointee was also the Biden administration’s chief diversity officer for a science lab at the Department of Commerce.
Moon also served as Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s chief brand strategist and led the U.S. House’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion from 2022 until lawmakers voted to disband it in March 2024, according to CNN and VCU.
President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to scrap “radical” and “wasteful” DEI programs. He also threatened civil rights enforcement against private companies and federally funded schools that adopt discriminatory policies under the DEI banner.
Trump’s DEI crackdowns caused the corporate diversity job market to plummet in 2025, the DCNF previously reported.
Infusing DEI into public institutions is “a constitutional mandate,” Moon declared in a 2024 panel, responding to growing criticism of such programs.
“I truly do approach this work from a nonpartisan lens,” she said.
“For me, DEI is not a red or blue issue. It is actually a constitutional mandate, if you actually read the Constitution, to ensure that there’s geographic representation.”
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