Anti-diversity crusader Robby Starbuck to headline Society for Human Resource Management convention

The Society for Human Resource Management, the country’s largest HR professional organization, is defending its decision to feature Robby Starbuck, a conservative activist who has built his brand on attacking corporate diversity programs, as a headliner at its upcoming Blueprint 2025 convention.

Related: Meta appoints anti-DEI and anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck as AI bias advisor

The October event in Louisville, Kentucky, is billed as a forum for “courageous conversations” on inclusion, but critics argue SHRM’s invitation hands legitimacy to someone who has spent years working to dismantle the very initiatives the group claims to support.

The September 9 announcement revealed that Starbuck will appear onstage with CNN commentator Van Jones in a panel moderated by SHRM president Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. The organization framed the session as an opportunity to expose HR professionals to contrasting views on inclusion and workplace culture.

In a statement to HR industry news site HR Dive, Taylor said SHRM aimed to broaden understanding by “engaging a broad spectrum of perspectives” that could lead to “actionable solutions for an inclusive workplace.”

Related: Who is Robby Starbuck? This is the anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theorist convincing companies to drop DEI

Since the start of the second Trump administration in January, government officials have sought to purge DEI from American society. President Donald Trump issued several executive orders targeting diversity and inclusion efforts by firing scores of government workers who worked on and in some cases merely attended diversity training.

Starbuck, who first gained attention as a music video director before moving into conservative politics, has emerged as one of the most visible figures in the anti-DEI movement. After an unsuccessful congressional run in Tennessee, he was appointed as a capital markets fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a far-right think tank that has prioritized rolling back corporate diversity and environmental policies. He has repeatedly called DEI initiatives “poison” and taken credit for helping pressure corporations such as Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Lowe’s to scrap or scale back their diversity efforts.

Related: Far-right extremists manipulated and deceived queer folks to create anti-transgender film: report

Earlier this year, The Advocate reported on his claims of influencing Walmart’s decision to restructure its DEI programs.

His record extends beyond lobbying corporations. Starbuck has trafficked in conspiracy theories, asserting without evidence that pesticides such as atrazine turn children LGBTQ+ and claiming the COVID-19 vaccine contributed to actor Matthew Perry’s death. He and his wife, Landon, were also tied to an anti-trans film, The War on Children, that used deceptive tactics to lure participants before repackaging their stories to fit an anti-LGBTQ+ narrative.

Related: Walmart rolls back DEI & Pride funding after direct pressure from far-right extremist

For many in the HR profession, those positions make Starbuck’s inclusion at Blueprint 2025 not an invitation to healthy debate but an endorsement of ideas that undermine inclusive workplaces. Michael Baran, a longtime inclusion consultant, told HR Dive that SHRM’s framing creates a false equivalency by suggesting there are two equally respectable sides in the debate over workplace equity. Other HR veterans questioned Starbuck’s lack of corporate, business, or legal experience, noting that his public profile has been built more on incendiary activism than on expertise in organizational culture.

Related: These 35 major companies caved to Trump and rolled back DEI programs

The decision also comes at a moment of transition for SHRM itself. The organization recently rebranded its “Inclusion” conference as “Blueprint” and adjusted its language around diversity. While past conferences emphasized “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Blueprint focuses on what SHRM calls “legally compliant, workplace unifying, and business accretive diversity.”