NASA Drops DEI Head Neela Rajendra After DEI Office Closure

Neela Rajendra, the former head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is no longer with the organisation. Despite an earlier move to rename her position to “Head of Employee Success” following the closure of the DEI office in March, the change did not prevent her exit.

The removal follows a Trump administration executive order aimed at eliminating DEI roles across executive agencies. Lab director Laurie Leshin informed staff via email that Rajendra had left and that her office’s functions would shift to Human Resources. The JPL website’s section on Rajendra now shows a 404 error. NASA has not issued a public statement, and Rajendra was not part of the recent 900 layoffs at the lab. Her role had previously included overseeing affinity group initiatives. In 2022, she publicly criticised SpaceX’s workplace culture for lacking focus on DEI.