Washington DC:
NASA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion or DEI chief Neela Rajendra, who is of Indian origin, has been sacked by the US space agency in compliance with Donald Trump’s executive order to “terminate” all persons employed under such initiatives, and end all such programmes across the country.
In an attempt to save her from being fired, NASA had reportedly changed her designation to ‘Head of Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success’ shortly after President Trump’s executive order. But attempts to protect her ultimately failed.
In an e-mail update shared by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory last week, employees working at the top space lab were informed of Ms Rajendra’s exit. “Neela Rajendra is no longer working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We are incredibly grateful for the lasting impact she made to our organisation. We wish her the very best,” read the e-mail, which, according to British newspaper Daily Mail, was sent by Laurie Leshin, Director of NASA’s JPL.
Ms Rajendra was among a handful of employees whose job was not axed last year when NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab faced a severe fund crunch. The jobs of nearly 900 other DEI employees at the top space agency were terminated at the time.
Even when NASA pulled the shutter down on its Diversity department in March this year, following Donald Trump’s presidential order, Ms Rajendra managed to evade it as her designation had been changed, though her responsibilities remained the same. An entirely new department was created for her.
In an email dated March 10, NASA had informed its employees that Neela Rajendra would now head the ‘Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success’. The lab staff was told that in her new role, Ms Rajendra would would be responsible for “affinity groups” at the laboratory, which includes the “Black Excellence Strategic Team”.
After assuming her revised role, Ms Rajendra had written on her LinkedIn page that her job as the head of the newly formed office at NASA was primarily to “unlock our potential to dare mighty things together.”
However, after a strict crackdown by the Trump administration in early April, she was relieved of her duties at NASA.
Neela Rajendra had been at a leadership role at NASA for several years. During her tenure, she was in-charge of efforts to help diversify NASA, which included the ‘Space Workforce 2030’ pledge, whose primary objective was to hire women and minorities in the organisation.
NASA now joins a host of other federal government agencies which have completely shut down its diversity programs. Donald Trump’s executive order states that such programs have divided Americans on the basis of race, colour, and gender; have wasted taxpayer dollars, and “resulted in shameful discrimination”.