Who is Neela Rajendra, the Former NASA DEI Chief ousted after Trump’s executive order?

Under her leadership, SODI worked on projects spanning the U.S., Nicaragua, and Benin, helping support urban development and equitable access to opportunity.

Neela Rajendra, until recently the head of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), has found herself at the centre of a sweeping political shift after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 targeting DEI programs across federal agencies. Rajendra’s position was eliminated shortly after the order came into effect.

An experienced leader in inclusive strategy and organizational change, Rajendra joined JPL in 2021 as its first Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. She led several key initiatives during her tenure, most notably Space Workforce 2030, a cross-industry effort aimed at increasing representation of women and underrepresented groups across the space sector.

Following the DEI rollback order, NASA attempted to retain Rajendra by renaming her position to Chief of the Office of Team Excellence and Employee Success. The rebranded office was presented internally as a natural evolution of her work—JPL Director Laurie Leshin even described the change as “essential for [JPL’s] future success.” However, the effort did not insulate the role from broader political forces, and Rajendra was ultimately let go. Her page has since been removed from the JPL website.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in political science and music, Rajendra went on to complete an MBA from Wake Forest University School of Business in 2008. She held various roles in leadership and innovation before joining Claremont McKenna College’s Kravis Leadership Institute in 2013, where she served as Director of Entrepreneurial Initiatives.

She later co-founded the Science of Diversity and Inclusion Initiative (SODI), a research and design collective that advised governments, universities, and corporations on inclusive growth. Under her leadership, SODI worked on projects spanning the U.S., Nicaragua, and Benin, helping support urban development and equitable access to opportunity.

According to her LinkedIn profile, her final role at NASA focused on embedding values into “the fabric of human systems” and helping teams thrive.