Colgate-Palmolive plans to defend DEI criteria for board selection, letter shows

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Colgate-Palmolive CL.N told the National Legal and Policy Center that it intends to ask investors to vote against the conservative shareholder group's proposal to remove DEI-related criteria in the company's selection process for its board members, according to a letter viewed by Reuters.

The NLPC's proposal comes as several companies including Goldman Sachs GS.N, Walmart WMT.O, Target TGT.N and Meta META.O dropped or considered altering their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies as U.S. President Donald Trump and conservative groups in the country ramp up pressure on firms to curtail these programs.

Companies added or beefed up their DEI programs starting in 2020 amid the Black Lives Matter movement, but they have rolled back their DEI commitments over the past year as pressure mounted from the Trump administration.

Colgate would join a small list of companies such as Costco COST.O and Apple AAPL.O in sticking to their DEI policies over the past year. The company said in its response to the NLPC that about two-thirds of its net sales came from markets outside the United States.

"It is important that our directors bring a broad range of skills, experiences, perspectives and backgrounds to the Board," the company said in its response submitted to the NLPC on Monday.

Colgate did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for an independent comment on the matter.

Colgate in its 2025 proxy statement said that three of its director nominees were "members of underrepresented communities," but the NLPC stated that the company did not explain what "underrepresented" meant.

Bloomberg News first reported on Colgate's response to the NLPC.