A leftwing group dedicated to dismantling “structural racism” in finance has raked in millions of dollars in federal grants. But now its federal funding and non-profit status could be in jeopardy, as the group discriminates against white internship applicants in violation of President Donald Trump’s executive order.
The North Carolina-based Croatan Institute touts its allegiance to the diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) agenda on its website, promising to tackle “structural racism in finance” even as it imposed race-based selection criteria on its paid internship program. The program appears to violate President Trump’s executive order barring DEI policies and discrimination among federal grant recipients.
Now, a legal expert tells The Daily Wire that the program jeopardizes the federal funds currently en route to the organization, as well as any future funds that the Croatan Institute might hope to garner.
The Croatan Institute boasts the BLAISE internship program, which stands for “BIPOC Leaders Advancing an Inclusive and Sustainable Economy.” The program seeks to increase the representation of specific demographic groups in the financial industry.
The internship program’s eligibility requirements detail the race-based selection process. “Priority given to students of color or first-generation students from underserved communities,” the site reads. The group attempts to justify its racial preferences by writing that “in the world of finance, there is a dearth of people of color.”
The program could land the Croatan Institute in hot water, Heritage Foundation Senior Legal Fellow GianCarlo Canaparo told The Daily Wire.
“Any entity that receives federal funds is prohibited by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act from discriminating on the basis of race and other protected categories,” Canaparo explained. “Giving priority to certain races, as the BIPOC internship does, is textbook discrimination.” He added that the discrimination could be remedied by way of a federal lawsuit.
The Croatan Institute has garnered more than $4 million in federal grants since fiscal year 2022. Included in that sum is a $1.9 million grant from the Department of Agriculture for fiscal year 2025, of which just under $470,000 has already been paid out. The organization was also slated to receive $40,000 from the Department of Agriculture to host a “financial health workshop series for BIPOC farmers and landowners.”
“If Croatan continues to receive federal funds, those funds are absolutely in jeopardy,” Canaparo explained. “And if Croatan hopes to receive more federal funds in the future, it will have to terminate this discriminatory internship program or it’s likely to face False Claims Act liability in addition to all the other sorts of liability,” he added, highlighting yet another legal risk that the organization appears to have exposed itself to.
The organization appears to have held the internship program for several years as it was raking in the federal money. The Croatan Institute announced the internship’s pilot program in 2022 and stated even more blatantly that applicants “must identify as black, indigenous, Latinx, or person of color.”
The program could threaten more than just the organization’s federal funding, however. Canaparo pointed out that the discriminatory program “jeopardizes its nonprofit status,” adding that “the IRS can revoke the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit that engages in race discrimination.”
The organization’s internship program is part of a broader initiative, called “Racial Equity, Economics, Finance and Sustainability,” which seeks to “advance opportunities for greater representation of underserved communities.” The initiative includes one project, called the Financial Health Investment Project, which seeks to promote “the financial resilience and long-term success of Black and other minority farmers and landowners” by offering online financial coaching. The program was funded by Department of Agriculture to the tune of $731,000.
The Croatan Institute isn’t the only federal grant recipient that’s discriminated against whites as it’s pursued the DEI agenda. A music ensemble investigated by The Daily Wire received funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and held a “BIPOC internship” that explicitly barred whites from participation on account of their race.
The group even posted the demographic breakdown of their intern classes, further proving that it had excluded white applicants. The organization froze its internship program in the wake of The Daily Wire investigation.
The Croatan Institute did not respond to a request for comment.