Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins (R), who was appointed to the position by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) weeks ago, led a nonprofit that pushed Diversity and Inclusion policies, according to a report.
Florida’s Voice Assistant News Director Eric Daugherty first reported Monday that Collins was the chief operating officer for the nonprofit Operation BBQ Relief, and that the organization pushed a “Diversity & Inclusion Policy” in a now-deleted hyperlink from its website.
An archived version of the site shows that the policy hyperlink leads to a six-page document, which states that “diversity, equal opportunity, and inclusion” policies should be “guiding principles” for Operation BBQ Relief.
“The ideologies of diversity, equal opportunity, and inclusion should be our guiding principles. They represent the concepts by which we best further and achieve our charitable mission,” the document concludes.
Daugherty notes that Operation BBQ Relief “mandates yearly DEI training, with the document’s page three stating: ‘Continuing mandatory annual training and education for OBR employees and key role volunteers with regard to inclusion and diversity.’”
In an August 12, 2025, Facebook post, the nonprofit announced that Collins was departing as he was appointed lieutenant governor by DeSantis. The group noted that he had been part of the team for approximately seven years and had been a “driving force” since joining. According to Daugherty, Collins earned about $170,000 annually at the organization.
Collins did not respond to an interview request from Florida’s Voice regarding the report at the time of this publication. However, DeSantis, who said Collins could make a “compelling” gubernatorial candidate several weeks ago, rushed to his appointee’s defense.
“For years Florida has led the revolution against the woke mind virus and Jay Collins has been fighting alongside us every step of the way,” DeSantis told Florida’s Voice.
“From eliminating DEI and nuking ESG to stopping CRT and banning CBDC, Jay has stood strong for conservative values — and has never wavered,” he added. “Implying he is woke is a joke. That dog won’t hunt.”
Collins faces an arduous road if he chooses to launch a gubernatorial bid. Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL), who was a campaign surrogate for Trump and has risen to national prominence in recent years, has already declared his candidacy and scored Trump’s coveted endorsement, which has been the main make-or-break factor for candidates who have run in Republican primaries in recent cycles. Polling indicates this trend is holding up in Florida.
In a hypothetical head-to-head race in which Collins runs and earns DeSantis’s endorsement, he only scores 10 percent of support to Donalds’s 57 percent, according to a StPetePolls survey from July 8-10.
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