Neela Rajendra, an Indian-origin chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), has been fired despite the space agency reportedly changing her designation to avoid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on DEI initiatives.
Rajendra was terminated this week from her newly minted role as head of the “Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success", according to reports. She had run the lab’s central diversity office, during which she once argued that having deadlines for projects undermines inclusion.
Rajendra was in charge of the agency’s “Black Excellence Strategic Team" as of March. There was growing speculation after she managed to keep her job, even after 900 employees were fired from NASA in 2024 due to budgetary issues.
NASA shuttered its diversity department in March after Trump’s executive order banning DEI programs in executive branch agencies. However, Rajendra was still allowed to continue her job, with a new title and the same responsibilities.
NASA brass sent an email on March 10, saying Rajendra would assume the responsibility of “Chief of the Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success", which will be responsible for the lab’s “affinity groups", including the “Black Excellence Strategic Team", New York Post reported citing a local media report.
Rajendra had reportedly led efforts to diversify NASA, including promoting the “Space Workforce 2030" pledge, which focused on hiring women and minorities. In a LinkedIn post, she said her job as chief of the newly formed office was focused on “unlocking our potential to Dare Mighty things TOGETHER."
However, in response to reports that Rajendra was being protected by Trump’s DEI cuts, NASA parted ways with her. “Neela Rajendra is no longer working at [the Jet Propulsion Laboratory]. We are incredibly grateful for the lasting impact she made on our organization. We wish her the very best," said lab director Laurie Leshin in a mass email.
Leshin also said the Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success was now being relocated under human resources. NASA ended its DEI programs after Trump ordered all federal agencies to terminate these initiatives soon after taking office.
An email by NASA acting administrator Janet Petro admitted that “these programmes divided Americans by race, wasted taxpayer dollars, and resulted in shameful discrimination." The space agency has spent at least $22.4 million annually on such programmes, according to the Daily Mail.
NASA has engaged in DEI efforts for over a decade, first creating the Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Implementation Plan in 2012. The agency’s DEI spending from 2022 to the present has largely focused on environmental programs.
DEI programs are aimed at promoting opportunities for women, ethnic minorities, LGBT people and other traditionally underrepresented groups. While proponents of these initiatives say they are important to address inequalities and structural racism, Trump and other Republicans say they unfairly discriminate against other Americans and weaken the importance of merit.
