Black Man Made $183K a Year Under DEI. Now He Earns $16 an Hour
Published November 9, 2026 at 9:30 AM EST
Dia Harris (Photography by Matt McClain/For The Washington Post)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Dia Harris earned $183,500 annually as a federal chief equity officer. Now the Maryland resident fills grocery orders at Harris Teeter for $16 an hour and works a second concierge job paying $20.
The Washington Post’s October 29 report describes more than 560 applications and Harris’s belief that his diversity background and appearance on a conservative watchlist damaged his prospects.
We don’t buy that as a sufficient explanation.
His recruiting, admissions and university-relations experience has applications beyond DEI.
That’s Dia Harris—in the dashiki.
A crowded regional market
The Washington metropolitan area lost 100,500 payroll jobs—3% of employment—from May 2025 to May 2026, according to BLS. Separately, Maryland reported 24,900 fewer federal positions from January through November 2025. These overlapping figures measure broader employment declines, not exclusively DEI dismissals.
The shortage of comparable white-collar openings can push displaced professionals into lower-paid service work while they search—a pressure discussed by local workers on r/nova and documented in reporting linked from that discussion.
Those job losses mean more competition. They don’t explain why Harris, with a bachelor’s in communications, a master’s in education administration and decades of professional experience, is earning the same hourly wage as a junior in high school.
Better-paid openings exist
On November 9, we searched the University of Maryland’s and Harris Teeter’s official careers sites for Maryland openings relevant to Harris’s recruiting, education and management background. We checked the advertised pay and requirements for these five positions:
Position | Advertised pay | Key requirements |
$55,000–$65,000/year | Bachelor’s; one year of professional administrative/coordination experience | |
$60,400–$72,480/year | Bachelor’s; one year in education/academic affairs; program-management and software skills | |
$62,000–$66,000/year | Bachelor’s; one year in higher education, advising or related services | |
$22.73–$33.57/hour | One route: high school diploma plus three years’ management; company training | |
$19–$29.75/hour | High school/GED, related experience/training or equivalent; company training |
His background appears relevant to several requirements; employers must assess the full fit.
Others changed direction
In the DMV, displaced federal workers have pursued new paths. Former USAID workers Juliane Weis and Kathleen Borgueta launched advocacy and support organizations, while former FDA safety manager David Harbourt took contract work across several states. These examples show different responses to displacement, though they do not establish restored earnings.
Our search did not identify a verified example of a Black man from the DMV’s displaced federal workforce who had made a comparable career pivot. That is a limit of the reporting we located, not evidence that none exists.
Black men who changed direction
Monk Inyang lost his marketing job at Anheuser-Busch during the fallout from the 2023 Bud Light boycott. He explored marketing consulting, embraced AI and went on to lead 1st Street Partnerships, which provides AI education and training to businesses and communities.
Petiri Reed turned a corporate-finance layoff into the subject of (P)ivot, a docuseries about career reinvention, fatherhood and entrepreneurship. The Off The Grid co-founder expanded his work in media while remaining open to another salaried position.
Inyang and Reed experienced corporate layoffs, rather than federal DEI dismissals. Their experiences demonstrate possible directions after displacement; they do not establish that either has replaced his former income.
Look beyond the local market
Remote AI work offers another avenue for displaced professionals to apply writing, research, evaluation and subject expertise outside the DMV hiring pool.
AI evaluation and expert contracting. DataAnnotation advertises general projects starting at $25–$30-plus an hour, requiring strong writing and critical thinking, with a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience as its baseline. Applicants must pass an assessment.
Outlier describes work involving challenging prompts, grading rubrics and evaluating answers. Its requirements vary by opportunity, with relevant graduate education among preferred qualifications. Invisible Technologies also lists remote expert opportunities by specialty and region. Harris’s background makes these avenues worth investigating; selection depends on demonstrated skills and project requirements.
These are contract opportunities. Advertised hourly rates do not establish steady weekly hours or a replacement annual salary.
Remote education operations. Academic operations, student success, training coordination and e-learning program management are useful search categories for professionals with education-administration experience. Compare each posting’s requirements with actual experience in program delivery, staff supervision, learning systems and student support.
Customer success and account management. Education software and training providers offer another direction to investigate. Applicants should demonstrate how they have helped clients adopt services, resolved problems, retained accounts or improved outcomes. A communications degree can support that case; concrete results make it stronger.
The way forward
Competition, salary expectations, résumé positioning, perceived overqualification and reputational concerns could contribute to Harris’s situation. Their relative importance remains unestablished. Degrees alone cannot establish performance.
Our criticism of DEI is that it too often rewards ideological compliance over demonstrated excellence. Its collapse does not automatically explain Harris’s current wages.
For displaced professionals, a practical search should include:
• Apply directly to relevant AI platforms. Highlight writing, research, rubric development and evaluation experience where supported. Complete assessments carefully.
• Expand remote searches. Try ("Customer Success" OR "Program Manager") AND ("Education" OR "EdTech"), alongside academic operations, student success and training coordinator.
• Rewrite the résumé around results. Show programs delivered, people supervised, hiring outcomes and operational improvements. Use terminology employers understand.
• Demonstrate digital skills. Include remote collaboration, learning platforms and training design only where experience supports them.
• Pursue several paths. Consider internal advancement, adjacent salaried roles and contract assignments while addressing specific training gaps.
For those navigating difficult workplace relationships, protecting a paycheck should remain part of the strategy.
Losing a specialized position need not define the rest of a career.
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