Virginia’s diversity office returns to full operation under Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger with a $1.8 million annual budget and a new chief who declares DEI work a constitutional mandate, reversing Republican reforms that attempted to reshape the agency.
Big Budget For Controversial Office
Dr. Sesha Moon now leads Virginia’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion after Spanberger appointed her in December 2025. The state’s latest budget allocates more than $1.8 million annually to the DEI office for fiscal years 2025 and 2026. This funding exceeds the budget for Governmental Affairs Services, Intergovernmental Relations in the governor’s office, and the entire allocation for a legislative commission focused on youth policy recommendations.
🚨 Spanberger’s Incoming DEI Chief Cheers a Mob Tearing Down a Columbus Statue, Says the “Ancestors” Took Over
Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger just announced Dr. Sesha Joi Moon as Virginia’s next Chief Diversity Officer and Director of DEI.
In this clip from 2022, Moon… pic.twitter.com/eTHHuHY9X8
— Stu Smith (@thestustustudio) December 30, 2025
Moon previously served as chief diversity officer for the Biden administration’s Department of Commerce science lab and led the U.S. House Office of Diversity and Inclusion from 2022 until Congress voted to disband it in March 2024. She also worked as chief brand strategist for Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett. Moon told Virginia press she will work to advance opportunity for all Virginians, including residents from the hardest-to-reach communities throughout the Commonwealth.
Reversing Republican Reforms
Virginia legislators created the chief diversity officer role in 2020, requiring the appointee to develop frameworks promoting inclusive practices across state government and address systemic inequities. Former Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin attempted to defang the DEI office by replacing equity with opportunity in its title and appointing critics of diversity programs to lead it. Democrats rejected his proposal to redirect some DEI funds to the general governor’s office budget.
Constitutional Mandate Claims
Moon declared during a 2024 panel that infusing DEI into public institutions represents a constitutional mandate, responding to mounting criticism of such programs. She stated she approaches the work from a nonpartisan lens, insisting DEI is not a partisan issue but rather a constitutional requirement to ensure geographic representation. President Trump ordered federal agencies to eliminate what he termed radical and wasteful DEI programs, threatening civil rights enforcement against private companies and federally funded schools adopting discriminatory policies under the DEI banner. Trump’s crackdowns caused the corporate diversity job market to plummet in 2025.