Talarico Worked As ‘Equitable Education’ Consultant for Firm that Designed DEI Strategies for Texas Schools
“MAYA, with Talarico’s help, worked to bring critical race theory and DEI to Texas schools, particularly during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.”
The Washington Free Beacon reported that Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico worked for six years as an “equitable education” consultant for a company that designed DEI plans for Texas public schools. He began working for MAYA Consulting in 2019 and left one month after launching his Senate campaign last year. He earned more than $83,000 from the company in 2025.
According to the Free Beacon:
The firm, MAYA Consulting, described its work as “rooted in our diversity, equity, and inclusion philosophy” and donated to a group working to defund the Austin Police Department, a Washington Free Beacon review found.
Talarico first announced he was joining MAYA, which has since rebranded as VIDA Collaborative, in 2019, writing in a Facebook post that he would be “working with districts, nonprofits, and communities to build excellent and equitable educational opportunities.”
…
MAYA, with Talarico’s help, worked to bring critical race theory and DEI to Texas schools, particularly during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, when it partnered with public school districts … to support “diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.”
In Austin, where Talarico lives, it promoted a series of monthly “RaceTalks” organized by the local public school district’s “Race Equity Council” that called on parents to “explore” their “pushback and triggers and name systemic barriers that form as a result.”
A 2020 blog post from the company’s founder, Larkin Tackett, reveals a great deal about the culture of the organization and the mindset it encouraged among its employees.
Our team at MAYA Consulting works to achieve excellent and equitable schools … We believe that our partnership with clients seeks to address the systemic challenges of this moment.
…
Nevertheless, as a white, cisgender, straight man, I benefit from and perpetuate white supremacy culture with our clients and partners, and within our own organization. As the invaluable Dismantling Racism Workbook points out, ‘the longer you swim in the (white supremacy) culture, the more invisible it becomes.’ I’ve been swimming in this culture for 41 years. I recognize these faults within myself and that change begins with me.
How radical was MAYA Consulting? The Free Beacon explains:
In addition to its “antiracist” work, MAYA championed left-wing gender initiatives in K-12 schools. In March 2020, the firm celebrated “Trans Day of Visibility” by touting its work “unpacking our cisnormative assumptions about trans narratives.” Three months later, MAYA donated another $5,000 to Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), which is now known as Glisten. The group has advocated against bills outlawing transgender care for minors. It also authored a “Model District Policy on Transgender and Gender Nonconforming Students” for K-12 school districts arguing that school officials should not disclose a student’s “transgender status” to his or her parents.
News of Talarico’s work promoting DEI initiatives in Texas schools will no doubt be welcomed by his Democratic base, but those voters aren’t the ones he needs to persuade.
His challenge now is to win over the independents and moderates who often decide statewide elections in Texas. As Talarico works to distance himself from his more progressive roots and present himself as a candidate with broad appeal, his past efforts to advance DEI initiatives and incorporate critical race theory into school curricula could prove a liability.
For voters already skeptical of progressive education policies, this is precisely the kind of issue that could complicate his path to victory against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in November.
Talarico already faces questions about what he has called his own “cringey” past statements, including his assertion that “God is nonbinary,” his support for welcoming illegal immigrants to Texas, and a voting record in the state House that places him firmly on the left. Now he must also answer for the role he spent the last six years playing in the education-consulting industry.
And he can expect Paxton to make the most of it. If the Republican attorney general has demonstrated anything over the years, it is a willingness to go on offense. Talarico’s work with a firm involved in pushing DEI initiatives and critical race theory on students will feature prominently in attack ads against him.
For Talarico, the timing could hardly be worse. As he works to broaden his appeal beyond the Democratic base, this report reinforces a narrative his opponents have been eager to promote: that beneath the polished rhetoric is a politician firmly aligned with the progressive left. Expect Paxton to seize on that contrast and hammer it relentlessly in the months ahead. In a race that could be decided by a relatively small number of swing voters, Talarico’s six years at MAYA may prove harder to explain away than he would like.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn.
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Comments
“Nevertheless, as a white, cisgender, straight man, I benefit from and perpetuate white supremacy culture with our clients and partners, and within our own organization.”
Self loathing and self righteousness are a dangerous combination.
And given this person’s lack of testicular fortitude, I question his claim of being cisgender and straight.
The only correct response to this is to point at him and laugh. 😆
He referred to himself as a white, cisgender, straight man. White, straight, “cisgender” maybe. Man? Well …
.
Caligula’s Senate candidate had more horse sense. This Democrat is not even a good donkey. Jackass yes….
He is just a creep through and through and at one point was my state representative
A phone call to his office, should have taped it
This clown is a full fledged Democrat.
I understand Austin supporting this zero but the rest of the state is no liberal stronghold.
This ahole is literally the worst of the worst. DEI BLM CRT Consultant – the list goes on.
Now way! The odd, creepy faux Ned Flanders weirdo who, like Cory Booker, seems ‘fiercely heterosexual’ was pushing radically divisive policies based on tribalism, ‘restorative justice’, making tranny mainstream alongside his woke anti Western Civilization theology. Say it ain’t so!
He was lecturing men on what it means to be a real man, just like Obama with black men. So plastic. Thought it was Ken, but then remembered Alfred E.
I don’t understand why anyone would take the time to write such a predictable article. Print it here, it’s ragebait. Print it in The Atlantic, it’s a campaign ad.
Texas???? CA WA and NY refugees fleeing results of destructive policies brought their disease with them. Imposed it on everyone.
Now Johnny can’t read. Coincidence?
In AUSTIN? Of course in “Moscow on the Colorado”, Travesty County, Texas. No other place in Texas would be stupid enough to hire that fool. Well, perhaps Dallas County, Harris County, or Bexar County….