Washington, United States:
Neela Rajendra, the head of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has been dismissed by the head diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The step came after President Donald Trump signed an executive order in March to “terminate” DEI programs at federal agencies.
The space agency allegedly tried to retain Ms. Rajendra as the head of the “Team Excellence and Employee’s Office of the success office”, but failed. On the ‘Hu VR’ section of NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the page dedicated to Neela Rajendra now reads, “404 pages not found”.
Who is Neela Rajendra?
A Bachelor of Political Science and Music from North Carolina University in Chapel Hill, Neela Rajendra chased Masters at Business Administration from Wake Forest University School of Business and completed it in 2008.
After her studies, Ms. Rajendra played a brief role in some organizations in 2013 before going to the post of Director of Entrepreneur Initiative at the Cravis Leadership Institute of Clairemont McKena College. He worked for about four years before becoming design director, executive director, and co-founder of science and co-founder (SODI).
Under his direction, Sodi worked with local governments and entrepreneurs to support urban economic development in countries such as Nicaragua and Benin.
In 2021, Ms. Rajendra included NASA as the main variety, equity and Inclusion Officer by March 2025, when the situation was abolished after the Trump Executive Order. One of his main projects was “Space Executive 2030”, aimed at hiring women and people more than different backgrounds to work in NASA.
In March 2025, he began working as the main team excellence and staff success officer. According to his LinkedIn profile, his role was to support the team’s excellence by supporting the development of each employee and promoting a culture, where values were woven into human systems’ clothes.
When the office was established under the name of team excellence and employee success, JPL director Laurie Leshene presented a change in a connivated step which was required for ” [JPL’s] Future success “and a logical expansion of Rajendra’s expertise and areas of meditation.