Verizon Ends DEI To Acquire Frontier For $20B

Verizon has officially ended its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) program and team to secure regulatory approval for its $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications. Verizon is the eleventh Fortune 100 to end its DEI program.

What is the state of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at Verizon Communications? Here’s everything you need to know.

See Also:  AT&T Drastically Cuts Back On DEI

Verizon Reverses Its DEI Stance Within Months

As recently as February 2025, Verizon actively promoted its DEI values in a recruiting email, signaling how sudden and strategic this reversal was.

FCC Approval Was Contingent on DEI Rollback

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved Verizon’s acquisition of Frontier Communications after the company agreed to eliminate its DEI programs. This decision followed a letter from Verizon to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, stating the company’s commitment to ending DEI-related practices.

According to NPR, “the telecommunications giant is removing references to DEI from its training materials and external websites; ending bonuses and goals tied to increasing the percentage of workers who are women or minorities; and dissolving its internal human resources department devoted to diversity-related policies, while reassigning those employees to general ‘HR talent objectives.'”

Leadership & Web Presence Reflect Reversal

At Buildremote, we maintain the Fortune 100 DEI Database. In that report, we had Verizon’s previous DEI policy recorded. Here is what has changed already:

1. Christina Schelling dropped ‘Diversity’ from her title, becoming SVP of Talent.
2. Verizon deleted its DEI webpage (previously at /diversity-and-inclusion), which now redirects to a general culture page.

Summary

As recently as February 2025, Verizon was actively promoting its DEI values in a recruiting email, signaling how sudden and strategic this reversal was.

Access The Fortune 100 DEI Database