NASA has officially dismissed Neela Rajendra, its Indian-origin Chief of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), in compliance with a sweeping executive order issued by US President Donald Trump, which mandates the dismantling of DEI initiatives across all federal agencies.
Rajendra&rsquo;s removal comes after weeks of internal <span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Georgia',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Shruti; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-ansi-language: EN-IN; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA;">manoeuvrings by NASA&rsquo;s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to retain her. In March, she was reassigned as the head of a newly created department&mdash;the Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success&mdash;in what many viewed as an attempt to shield her position from the implications of the executive directive. 
Though her job title changed, her core responsibilities remained largely the same, including oversight of employee support programmes and leading affinity groups such as the &ldquo;Black Excellence Strategic Team.&rdquo;
Despite these efforts, Rajendra&rsquo;s position was ultimately terminated following the Trump administration&rsquo;s intensified enforcement of the order in early April. An internal email circulated at JPL last week confirmed her departure. &ldquo;Neela Rajendra is no longer working at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We are incredibly grateful for the lasting impact she made to our organization. We wish her the very best,&rdquo; read the message, reportedly sent by JPL Director Laurie Leshin.
Rajendra had held a leadership role at NASA for several years, playing a key part in various inclusion-driven initiatives, including the &ldquo;Space Workforce 2030&rdquo; pledge &mdash; a commitment to increase representation of women and underrepresented minorities in the agency&rsquo;s workforce. She was also among the few DEI officials whose roles were initially spared during earlier funding cuts and program shutdowns.
However, NASA has now joined several other federal agencies in shuttering its diversity offices entirely. Trump&rsquo;s executive order argues that DEI initiatives foster division, misuse taxpayer funds, and result in discriminatory practices&mdash;sentiments echoed in the rationale for the broader rollback of such programs.
In March,&nbsp;US President Donald Trump had signed an executive order&nbsp;for &ldquo;restoring the values of individual dignity, hard work, and excellence.&rdquo; He signed a memorandum removing what the White House termed as &ldquo;radical Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion&rdquo; (DEI) from the Foreign Service.
&ldquo;US government will not base Foreign Service recruitment, hiring, promotion, or retention decisions on an individual&rsquo;s race, colour, religion, sex, or national origin, nor embed discriminatory equity ideology within any element of the Foreign Service,&rdquo; the order read.
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Neela Rajendra departs space agency amid Trump’s crackdown on diversity programmes

NASA Sacks Indian-Origin DEI Chief

Neela Rajendra departs space agency amid Trump’s crackdown on diversity programmes

April 15, 2025 | 11:21 IST