You should do it anyway. Not because it's easy -- it won't be -- but because it will inspire other people after you to try. People who are facing their own barriers -- sometimes the same barrier you're facing, but sometimes ones that you never even imagined.

HN loves to crap on DEI efforts, but, point-in-fact, not going with the flow (when the flow washes you away from capital, away from opportunity) is almost always an act of defiance and resistance. The endlessly-circulating idea that HR departments are handing things to you because you're 'diverse' is simply one more raindrop on your umbrella. Shake it off.