California is the birthplace of the Democrats' worst ideas.
Their latest scheme will spread far beyond the state's borders.
And California made one woke blunder that will hit every American in the wallet.
CalPERS hires DEI chief to control billions in retirement money
California's main state retirement fund just hired a new chief diversity officer with a very specific mission.
Shari Slate's job description spells it out: "integrating DEI principles into CalPERS' investment practices" and "collaborating with investment groups to integrate DEI into financial decision-making."
She'll make $221,580 a year to push woke politics with retiree money.
Her LinkedIn profile shows zero experience in finance.
CalPERS manages retirement funds for millions of California public employees and faces a $166 billion shortfall.
The official job description says Slate will recruit staff for "DEI-informed proxy voting" and work on ESG investing strategies.
She'll tell companies how to run their businesses if they want CalPERS' investment dollars.
California Assemblyman Carl DeMaio nailed exactly what's happening.
"They're hiring a political activist to go out and go to Wall Street, and go to these various businesses and say, 'hey, if you want us to invest in you, you'd better embrace our political agenda' — and they're using retiree and taxpayer funds to do it," DeMaio told The Center Square.
CalPERS caught lying about the role
After getting caught, CalPERS tried damage control with a laughable statement.
"Financial performance is the only driver of our investments," claimed Mary Lynne Vellinga, the fund's public affairs chief.
"This role will not influence investment decisions."
That's a bald-faced lie.
The written job description — CalPERS' own official document — explicitly states the chief DEI officer will "collaborate with the Investment Office" and work on "integrating DEI into financial decision-making."
The document even admits this position "extends beyond traditional DEI matters" to "drive systemic change within the financial ecosystem."
Either Vellinga is lying to the public, or CalPERS wrote a completely fake job description.
This is the kind of brazen dishonesty you get when woke activists run pension funds.
California already burned through hundreds of millions on woke investing
CalPERS has tried this garbage before.
Last year, The Center Square uncovered that CalPERS lost 71% of the $468 million it put into its clean energy and technology fund.
That's $332 million of retiree money torched because Sacramento wanted to virtue signal about climate change.
Slate spent her career at CVS, Cisco, and Sun Microsystems pushing DEI programs.
She sits on the World Economic Forum's Global Futures Council for Social Cohesion.
Perfect resume for pushing global elite priorities.
Terrible resume for managing retirement investments.
Every American will fund California's coming bailout
CalPERS is one of the largest pension funds in America.
When it demands woke policies from companies, those companies face a choice: comply with California's political agenda or lose billions in capital.
Most comply because they can't afford the alternative.
Then every American who owns stock in those companies or buys their products pays the price through lower returns and higher prices.
The fund is only 84% funded — a $166 billion hole that keeps growing.
Hiring a $221,580-a-year activist to push woke investing makes that hole deeper.
But California's leadership doesn't care because they're counting on a federal bailout.
When CalPERS collapses, Sacramento will demand Washington bail them out.
Every American taxpayer will get stuck with the bill.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis saw this disaster coming and banned ESG investing in Florida's retirement system.
He understood the job: maximize returns for retirees, not advance political causes with their money.
California chose the opposite path.
California retirees counting on that money get hit first when the fund runs dry.
Then American taxpayers get the bill when Sacramento comes begging for a bailout.
But everyone pays for California's woke disaster.
Sources:
- Kenneth Schrupp, "CA hires DEI chief to 'integrate DEI' into retirement investments – has no finance experience," The Center Square, January 8, 2026.
- Reason Foundation, "CalPERS Pension Deficit Estimate," December 2025.
