From the Editor
In 2006, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) initiated a campaign with 70 companies to win health care reform, which contributed to the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. In 2018, Dick’s Sporting Goods announced that the company would no longer sell firearms to anyone under 21 or sell assault-style weapons. In 2019, JPMorgan Chase announced that it would no longer invest in private prisons.
These wins—along with dozens of other similar changes— weren’t just done out of the kindness of chief executive officers’ and corporations’ hearts. They were the result of tireless advocacy on the part of shareholders, including many from faith-based organizations.
In this issue of AMOS, we explore the power of shareholder advocacy—a strategic form of activism that challenges corporations to make more ethical decisions. At its core, shareholder advocacy is rooted in the idea that those who hold financial stakes in a company should have a say in how it operates. This strategy has been used to hold corporations accountable on issues ranging from climate change to human rights to economic justice.
This issue lays out the history of shareholder advocacy— both its roots in ending apartheid South Africa as well as the development of organizations like the ICCR and IPJC’s Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI). Other articles highlight real campaigns where shareholder advocacy has led to meaningful change—both the examples I cited above and others. These stories remind us that advocacy does not always take the form of protest in the streets; sometimes, it happens in boardrooms and shareholder
Episcopal Church files historic resolution calling on General Motors to withdraw from South Africa due to apartheid.
1971
Founding of ICCR
ICCR files its first resolution on sexist images of women in advertising.
meetings, where persistent voices push for ethical policies and corporate accountability. Finally, this issue lays out the challenges of this work, including the obstacles posed by corporate resistance and shifting regulations.
This issue wouldn’t have been possible without the assistance of Sister Judy Byron, OP: Not only did she write many of the articles that appear here, but she also helped with photo research and putting together a timeline of shareholder advocacy. As a longtime leader at IPJC, Sister Judy has dedicated decades to advancing shareholder advocacy as a force for the common good. She has played a pivotal role in helping religious communities and faith-based investors leverage their financial power to demand corporate responsibility. Her tireless commitment has shaped not only this issue but also the broader movement of shareholder advocacy.
As we reflect on the impact of this type of activism, we are reminded that justice work takes many forms. It can be prophetic and bold; it can also be patient and persistent. In all its expressions, it requires a vision for a more just world and the belief that change is possible, even in the spaces where money and power converge.
We hope this issue inspires you to think about the ways financial influence can be a tool for justice and encourages you to support efforts that demand ethical corporate practices. Perhaps that means getting your own community involved in ethical investment and shareholder advocacy. But it might also look smaller: We all have the opportunity to make financial choices that reflect our religious and ethical commitment to build the kingdom of God.
—Emily Sanna, Editor
ICCR files its first resolution on high U.S. drug prices. Catholic investors launch a campaign on the connection between increased infant formula use and rising infant mortality rates in developing countries.
ICCR’s first resolution on “planetary (global) warming.”
Fr. Crosby invited to our 1993 IPJC Socially Responsible Investment Conference, with IPJC founders Linda Haydock, SNJM and Judy Byron, OP.
Founding of NWCRI The first resolution at Wal-Mart addressing gun sales.
Pioneering resolutions at MacDonald’s call for “smoke-free” facilities. 1994
Inspired by Faith, Committed to Action: The History of Shareholder Advocacy
BY JUDY BYRON, OP
Shareholder advocacy as we know it today began in the mid-20th century, shortly after the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Paul Neuhauser, a lawyer and member of the Episcopal Church Committee on Social Justice, was motivated by the U.S. civil rights movement to work for civil rights abroad—in this case, to end apartheid, South Africa’s system of institutionalized racism.
At the time, the Episcopal Church held shares in General Motors, an international company that sold cars in South Africa. In 1971, Neuhauser drafted and filed a shareholder resolution on behalf of the Episcopal Church and a few Protestant denominations, requesting General Motors stop doing business in South Africa.
Thus began a multi-year campaign that resulted in more than 200 companies withdrawing from South Africa, significantly damaging the country’s economy. Archbishop Desmond Tutu cites this work, led by religious shareholders, as one reason the walls of oppression came down and free elections were held in South Africa in 1994.
Founding the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
Faith-based investors discovered that they could use shareholder proposals to change corporate behavior to build a just and equitable society. Inspired by their victory, a small group of Protestant churches founded the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in 1971; they were soon joined by Catholic religious communities of women and men. ICCR members, “inspired by faith, committed to action,” pioneered shareholder advocacy as a tool for social change, and as Neuhauser has said, have always been ahead of the curve on social justice.
In the early 1980s, when ICCR members realized that corporate change through shareholder advocacy took time and people need instant relief and access, they founded the Clearinghouse on Alternative Investment, a way to use
Resolution at Hormel raises the issue of “superbugs” and antibiotic use in animal agriculture.
Procter&Gamble CEO agrees to discuss the environmental and health impacts of bleaching pulp and paper with chlorine.
acknowledges the risks of climate change and publishes first report on climate risk.
Campaign involving 70 companies seeks health care reform. Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.
Buy, the largest U.S. electronics retailer, phases out PVC packaging.
Affordable Care Act
Ford
Best
1980s Citibank anti apartheid protest, Tim Smith, Donna Katzin, Jesse Jackson
ICCR Interfaith Prayer Service for South Africa, Photos courtesy of ICCR
their investments for the common good. The Clearinghouse brought together people and organizations needing funds and faith communities who wanted to participate in community economic development projects such as affordable housing, enterprise development, and worker-owned businesses. By 1995, these “impact investments” exceeded $300 million.
Today, ICCR is a coalition of over 300 faith- and valuesbased investors with more than $4 trillion in managed assets. The organization’s shareholder database, dating back for more than 50 years, records over 10,000 shareholder proposals that members have filed on critical environmental and social issues—including human rights, environmental justice, racial justice, health equity, corporate governance, and financial services—at some of the world’s most powerful corporations.
In addition to filing shareholder proposals, each year members engage in hundreds of dialogues with company representatives, compelling them to take responsibility for creating an “Earth Community” where “respect and care for the community of life; ecological integrity; social and economic justice; and democracy, nonviolence and peace” flourish.1
IPJC and the Northwest Coalition for Responsible
Investment
Father Michael Crosby, a Capuchin Franciscan who came to be well-known and respected in corporate boardrooms, was an important part of ICCR’s early days. He wanted the organization to be accessible to all faith-based investors, large and small. Fr. Crosby found a way to make this possible by inviting smaller religious communities to form coalitions that then became members of ICCR. IPJC was only two years old when we invited Fr. Crosby to our 1993 Socially Responsible Investment Conference. Occasionally he would come to the Northwest to give presentations on spirituality, but he told us that he wouldn’t return if we didn’t form a coalition of our
religious communities and health care systems and become a member of ICCR. A year later, we created the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI).
As NWCRI began its work for corporate change, the chief executive officer of a Fortune 500 company came all the way to Spokane, to the headquarters of one of our members, to discuss an environmental issue. When we asked him why he had come, he admitted to being curious: Why would a group of religious women file shareholder resolutions? He added that he had once heard a board member say, “You better listen to the nuns if they bring an issue to you, because in 10 to 15 years, I guarantee you that issue may turn out to be a crisis in your boardroom!”
Over the past 31 years, NWCRI’s women’s religious communities and health care systems have used their investments to bring social and environmental justice issues to the boardrooms of over a thousand corporations, filing shareholder proposals and engaging in dialogue with company management. Our mission is to turn what could be a crisis for a corporation, people, or planet into an opportunity for change for the good of the global community.
At Chevron, the first resolution on hydraulic fracturing and its impacts on air quality and the human right to water.
Campbell’s develops sustainable water policies and recognizes the human right to water.
U.S. Bank ends predatory payday loans to new customers and phases out loans to existing borrowers.
Bristol-Myers Squibb licenses hepatitis C drugs to the Medicines Patent Pool, increasing access in 112 countries.
A historic vote of 62% of ExxonMobil shareholders request a report on how their portfolio will perform if global temperatures rise an average of 2 degrees Celsius.
First-year resolution on opioid risk wins majority
NWCRI celebrates 20 years, ICCR meets in Seattle, and Fr. Michael Crosby joins us.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Celebrating Success
In 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, ICCR and NWCRI members gathered on Zoom to celebrate 50 years of impact on issues of human rights, the environment, racial justice, health equity, corporate governance, and financial services through active share ownership and transformational dialogue. As one might imagine, our impacts are numerous—and those are just the ones we know about.
We’ve learned important lessons along the way, the first being that change takes time and doesn’t happen all at once, so we stay at the boardroom table for as long as it takes. It was 23 years between the first resolution on apartheid in South Africa and free elections.
The second lesson is that collaboration is our superpower. As Margaret Mead famously said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Recently, 31 long-term Walmart investors sent a letter to chief executive officer Doug McMillon voicing our concern that the company is dismantling many of its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and commitments. NWCRI is among the ICCR members who have been meeting with Walmart about its social and environmental policies and practices over three decades.
Other articles in this issue highlight the impact of ICCR and NWCRI on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, human trafficking in the tourism industry, and the gun violence epidemic in our country.
NWCRI 25th Anniversary
JPMorgan Chase no longer finances the private prison industry.
The Investor Statement on Coronavirus Response calls for paid sick leave to protect frontline workers. It is endorsed by 336 global investors with $9.5 trillion dollars in assets.
Some
of our victories over the years:
• In 2003, we raised the issue of “superbugs” and antibiotic use in animal agriculture at Hormel.
• From 2006 to 2010, we conducted a campaign with 70 companies to win health care reform, affecting the signing of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.
• After 23 years of shareholder proposals, Home Depot released its first EEO-1 report, detailing the demographics of its employees.
• JPMorgan Chase no longer finances the private prison industry as a result of shareholder advocacy.
• Sixty-eight percent of Dollar General shareholders requested a third-party audit on the health and safety of the company’s workers.
As NWCRI and ICCR members consider our past successes and live in our present reality, we are heartened by the prayer of affirmation and hope of Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary General of the United Nations: “For all that has been, THANKS, for all that is to be, YES!” We will respond to the issues of our time with persistence and in collaboration with colleagues who share a common mission.
42% of DEI resolutions win majority votes among shareholders.
Adrian Dominican Sister Judy Byron served as the program director of the IPJC and directed the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI) for 25 years. Her current ministry includes promoting racial justice in local parishes and advocating to end gun violence. She serves on the Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board and Mercy Housing Inc. Board.
68% of Dollar General shareholders request an audit on worker health and safety.
Meta engages in a campaign to end child sexual exploitation online.
Banks announce commitments to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from financing activities by 2050.
At Netflix, 43% of shareholders support a resolution requesting AI transparency report.
A Guide to Corporate Influence through Ownership
BY BRUCE HERBERT, AIF
Many individual investors and institutions today recognize the power they hold to influence corporations through the access that comes from owning shares of a company. This influence is called shareholder advocacy. This approach has gained significant traction in recent decades as investors, especially institutional ones, use their shareholder status to drive social, environmental, and governance (ESG) reforms.
What is Shareholder Advocacy?
At its core, shareholder advocacy (or shareholder engagement) refers to any effort by an individual or group of shareholders to influence corporate behavior, policies, and practices.
Stock ownership comes with a bundle of rights, one of which is the right to communicate with other shareholders at a company’s annual general meeting (AGM)—often by submitting a resolution or proposal that is then voted upon. Shareholders leverage this right to engage with companies on improving issues around environmental sustainability, human rights, labor practices, corporate governance, and social equity.
Unlike a person who owns stock solely for financial gain, shareholder advocates seek financial gain while also using their influence to push for changes that are both economically beneficial and aligned with some higher value or mission. Advocacy takes many forms, including filing shareholder proposals, engaging in direct dialogue with management, and voting on resolutions at AGMs. The goal is to persuade companies to adopt practices that are more aligned with longterm value creation for all stakeholders, not just short-term profits at the expense of everything else.
In more than five decades of shareholder engagement, we’ve found that if company actions are more sustainable, equitable, just, and fair, they tend to also be more profitable over the long-term.
How Does Shareholder Advocacy Work?
There are three key mechanisms through which shareholder advocacy operates. These include shareholder proposals, proxy voting, and shareholder meetings.
Shareholder Proposals
A shareholder resolution is a formal proposal submitted to a company for inclusion in proxy voting, which typically asks for an improvement in company policies or practice. Proposals can cover a broad range of issues such as environmental sustainability; employee and human rights; fairness, diversity,
and inclusion; or board composition and good governance. Shareholder proposals are submitted to the company and, if they meet certain criteria set forth by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, will be voted on by all shareholders at the next AGM.
Although receiving a majority vote is somewhat rare, shareholdersponsored proposals bring focused attention to critical issues, push company management to take positive steps in response to shareholder concerns, and launch discussion of the topic into the business press.
In fact, roughly 60 percent of the time the mere filing of a shareholder proposal results in a company taking positive steps such that the proposal is withdrawn—a win-win outcome achieved without even going to a vote.
Proxy Voting
At the AGM, shareholders vote on matters related to the company’s operations, such as the election of board members, executive compensation packages, mergers and acquisitions, and shareholder proposals. Institutional investors, such as mutual funds and pension funds, typically have significant voting power due to the large number of shares they own.
By voting in favor of specific resolutions or opposing certain corporate practices, shareholders can influence the company’s decision-making processes. Often, even quite low votes lead to positive change, as companies recognize shareholder proposals as a leading indicator of popular sentiment.
Direct Dialogue
Shareholders, especially large institutional investors, can engage in one-on-one conversations with company management to express concerns or advocate for improvements. These dialogues can be informal or more structured, and shareholder advocates use these opportunities to discuss issues ranging from ESG practices and policies to corporate governance reform, encouraging companies always to take positive steps in a more responsible direction.
What Sorts of Impacts Can Shareholder Engagement Achieve?
Shareholder advocacy often leads to meaningful change within a company. While specific outcomes depend on the issues being addressed, common areas of beneficial impact include environmental sustainability, labor and employment policies, corporate governance, and human rights. (Other articles in this issue outline some of these meaningful outcomes in more detail.)
Shareholder Advocacy vs. Divestment and Impact Investing
While shareholder advocacy leverages ownership power to influence corporate behavior, it differs significantly from other strategies like divestment and impact investing.
Divestment
Divestment is the opposite of investment. It involves selling off companies or sectors that do not align with the investor’s ethical or social values. For example, an investor who is concerned about climate change might divest from fossil fuel companies. Divestment is often thought of as a form of protest or a way to avoid supporting companies that contribute to societal or environmental harm; however, buying or selling shares on the stock exchange neither gives money to a company nor takes it away. In contrast to shareholder engagement, divestment does not attempt to improve the behavior of the company involved. Even the famous South African Divestiture Movement did not succeed because of selling shares. Rather, it succeeded through economic and banking sanctions that cut off capital flows to the apartheid regime, choking off its ability to operate. While these activities may have been highlighted by public statements concerning divestment, this was waving a flag to draw attention to the real work at play in the form of sanctions and selective purchasing.
Impact Investing
Everything so far discussed (along with other actions beyond the scope of this article) creates positive impacts. That said, the narrow term impact investing refers (most often) to investing in non-publicly traded companies, organizations, or funds that seek both financial return and positive social or environmental outcomes.
While shareholder advocacy engages with large, publicly traded companies, impact investing typically focuses on investing in smaller, perhaps local, companies that evidence a commitment to community and positive conduct. Impact investors aim to support businesses that contribute to solutions for pressing global challenges, such as poverty, education, and climate change.
The key distinction is that shareholder advocacy involves engaging with and seeking to transform the large, public companies that can so negatively impact our world; while divestment seeks to avoid investment in certain companies; and impact investing typically involves supporting specific private companies based on their social or environmental impact.
Conclusion
Shareholder advocacy represents an increasingly influential form of activism—one that enables shareholders to engage directly with companies to improve and transform their policies and behavior. By leveraging ownership rights, investors can push for change that benefits not just shareholders but also the broader
society while promoting sustainability, better governance, and social responsibility. Whether it’s through shareholder proposals, voting, or direct engagement, shareholder advocates have the power to drive real, lasting change within the corporate world. Because of its scale and orientation toward engagement and transformation, shareholder advocacy is both an economically effective and morally compelling approach to shepherding investment resources, both for the world and an individual’s own integrity.
Glossary
Corporate governance: The system of rules, practices, and processes by which a company is directed and controlled, typically involving the relationship between the board of directors, management, and shareholders.
Divestment: The process of selling off investments in companies, sectors, or countries that do not align with an investor’s ethical, social, or environmental values.
Faith-based organization: A non-profit organization whose values and mission are rooted in religious or faith-based beliefs.
Impact investing: Investing in companies, organizations, or projects that aim to generate both financial returns and social or environmental benefits.
Institutional investor: Entities like pension funds, mutual funds, and insurance companies that invest large sums of money in company stock. They often hold significant influence over corporate governance.
Proxy voting: The act of voting on company matters by assigning someone else, typically a shareholder representative, to cast votes on their behalf.
Shareholder: An individual or institution that owns shares (stocks) in a company, giving them ownership rights and the ability to vote on company matters.
Shareholder engagement, or advocacy: Use of one’s stockholder ownership rights to engage in dialogue with corporate management teams, and to place an item into the proxy for a vote of all shareholders.
Shareholder proposal: A formal suggestion or request made by a shareholder to a company to change certain policies or practices. Shareholders can vote on these proposals at annual meetings.
Values-based organization: An organization where employees share a clear set of core values that guide decisionmaking, actions, and a sense of community, prioritizing these values over profit margins to develop a positive impact.
Bruce Herbert is the founder of Newground Social Investment and the founding director of NWCRI. Since 1994, Newground has been a leader in sustainable impact investing and shareholder engagement for clients nationwide. Its mission is to harness the power of business for good, aligning clients’ long-term financial goals with a healthy environment, strong communities, and a more just society.
Content warning: This article contains discussions of gun violence and school shootings, which may be distressing to some readers. Please take care while reading.
GUN VIOLENCE:
“Please Help. I Don’t Want to Die.” —
BY JUDY BYRON, OP
Ikept my students safe by conducting fire and earthquake drills: Lock downs weren’t in my teacher’s toolkit.
I didn’t have students bringing packets of ketchup with their school supplies, as I recently heard about one little girl doing. If a shooter came to her classroom, she wanted to be prepared to spread ketchup on herself and her friends so that the shooter would think that they were dead.
Everytown for Gun Safety reports that every day, 125 people in the United States are killed with guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded.1 Since 2020, firearms have been the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 17.2 When motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of death for children, we changed that statistic by mandating seat belts, air bags, car seats, and driver education. Can we change the statistic on children and firearms?
Faith based investors think we can. In 2017, the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI), along with a group of colleagues from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), joined a growing number of public health experts, gun owners, state and city governments, and citizens in seeking solutions to gun violence.
We purchased stock in firearm manufacturers such as American Outdoor Brands (Smith & Wesson), Sturm Ruger, and Dick’s Sporting Goods with the goal of engaging these companies regarding the positive role they can play in ending the epidemic of gun violence.
We wrote letters to the companies to raise our concerns and to request dialogue. When none of the companies responded, we filed shareholder resolutions with the manufacturers in early January 2018 “requesting a report on the company’s activities related to gun safety measures and the mitigation of harm associated with gun products.”
The Dick’s Sporting Goods resolution, filed in December 2018, requested a “report on actions our Company has taken on elements such as those based on Sandy Hook Principles,” including measures designed to curb gun violence such as background checks, technology to enhance the safety of guns, and gun safety education at point of sale. The company, including chief executive officer Ed Stack, dialogued with us regarding the actions the company was taking. We were convinced that management was taking steps to reduce gun violence, so we withdrew our resolution.
1 “EveryStat,” Everytown for Gun Safety, accessed March 14, 2025, https://bit.ly/EveryStat-gun-violence-impact
2 Villarreal, S., Kim, R., Wagner, E., et al., Gun Violence in the United States 2022: Examining the Burden Among Children and Teens (Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions, 2024), https://bit.ly/Gun-Violence-in-the-United-States-2022
Uvalde survivor
Gun Safety Committee panel with Giffords Law Center, Guns Down America and Sandy and Lonnie Phillips whose daughter Jessie was killed in the Aurora Theatre in 2012.
We had not heard from the manufacturers when the tragedy in Parkland, Florida on Valentine’s Day 2018 ignited a youth movement that had the potential to address gun violence in our country. Yet the manufacturers of firearms remained on the sidelines even as their largest investor, BlackRock, publicly urged the companies to address gun safety with questions identical to those in our shareholder resolution.
At the Sturm Ruger annual meeting on May 9, 2019, a majority of shareholders—69 percent—made it perfectly clear that they wanted the company to take seriously the social impact of its business and that gun safety is a significant and growing social issue. Chief executive officer Christopher Killoy’s response to the vote was: “The proposal requires Ruger to prepare a report. That’s it: a report… What the proposal does not and cannot do is force us to change our business, which is lawful and constitutionally protected.”
Our resolution and dialogue with Dick’s Sporting Goods, however, did result in the company changing its business. On February 28, 2018, Dick’s announced that the company would no longer sell firearms to anyone under 21 or sell assault-style weapons and high capacity magazines. Stack ended his media release saying, “We deeply believe that this country’s most precious gift is our children. They are our future. We must keep them safe.”
Four years later, on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the teachers and students knew what to do when confronted with a mass shooter, yet 19 children and two teachers did not survive. Today, compelled by the 10-yearold girl who survived and pleaded with the 911 operator, “Please help. I don’t want to die,” NWCRI and our colleagues continue to press firearms manufacturers to help end gun violence.
HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC: “To Know Even One Life Has Breathed Easier…”
BY JUDY BYRON, OP
At the turn of the century, the global health pandemic of HIV/AIDS compelled faith-based shareholders to begin engaging 13 pharmaceutical companies around issues of access to medicines. The Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI) led the work through our dialogue with Gilead Sciences, a pharmaceutical company with a longstanding commitment to developing new HIV treatments.
At one of Gilead’s annual meetings, we obtained the backing of almost a third of its shareholders in support of a proposal asking the company why health care providers in Africa did not have a dependable supply of Gilead’s two key HIV medicines. We then met with the company leadership and left the meeting with the company’s commitment to address access issues.
At the time, only hundreds of thousands of people were receiving a Gilead HIV drug. Today, Gilead Sciences’ mission to help end the HIV epidemic has resulted in 16.5 million people in low- and middle-income countries having access to one of Gilead’s HIV therapies.
In March 2006, then-First Lady Laura Bush invited NWCRI and the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) to the White House for an event celebrating the Mothers-To-Mothers to Be program.
The initiative started in 2001, when new HIV infections were at their peak in South Africa and pregnant women could not access treatment to prevent their babies from being born HIV positive. Already, we were recognized as effective advocates in providing HIV therapy for people living in low-and middle-income countries.
(PEPFAR2), which developed additional partnerships to treat pediatric AIDS. In 2023, there were 1.4 million children living with HIV, almost half of what that number was in 2014. It is estimated that PEPFAR has saved over 26 million lives between 2003 and 2024.
Meanwhile, our work toward ending the AIDS epidemic continued. In 2010, the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP), a United Nations-backed public health organization, was established to improve low- and middle-income countries’ access to affordable HIV medicines. A year later, ICCR convened a round table with 50 key stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies, to discuss how companies could overcome barriers licensing their patents with the MPP.
In 2011, Gilead Sciences was the first to join the MPP. Today 22 patent holders have signed agreements granting licenses to 56 generic companies, allowing them to develop critical medicines for the world’s poor. In the beginning, the MPP focused on HIV drugs; currently it also accepts licenses for hepatitis and tuberculosis treatments.
In December 2014, on World AIDS Day, AbbVie, another large pharmaceutical company, granted a license to the MPP for two of its pediatric HIV treatments, which the World Health Organization then recognized as the most effective treatment for children under age 3. At the time, it was estimated that 3.2
“The toll from AIDS is enormous, but the numbers cannot capture the consequences.”
—LAURA BUSH (PEPFAR)
Today, that program is known as mothers2mothers1 (m2m), and it employs community health workers living with HIV to carry out its mission of ending AIDS and preventable diseases and achieving health for all. 25 years after its founding, m2m has achieved virtual elimination of mother-to-child transmission of HIV, with a transmission rate of 0% in 2023.
At the White House event, Laura Bush announced a new initiative of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
1. https://m2m.org/ 2 https://www.state.gov/pepfar/
https://medicinespatentpool.org/who-we-are/
million children were living with HIV, the majority of whom were in low-income regions.
Faith-based shareholders, drug companies, international organizations, and the U.S. government have partnered for more than 20 years to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic and give all in our world community life and hope. How do we measure our success? With the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson: “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived—this is to have succeeded.”
Leaders of Mother-To-Mothers To Be with Sister Judy Byron at the White House.
FAIR WAGES: FSPA’s ”Fight for $15“ Compensation Project
BY SISTER SUE ERNSTER, FSPA
I• support company values (e.g. respect for the individual);
• lead to a more equitable distribution of revenue to essential workers, many of whom earn less than a living wage and rely on government subsidies;
• advance racial equity goals, given that a disproportionate number of hourly workers are people of color; and
• attract, retain, and empower associates to provide a better customer experience.
n 2021, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) partnered with Wipfli Consultants, an accounting and consulting firm, to raise the organization’s minimum wage to $15/hour. This decision was made in appreciation of our valued partners in mission and in support of the actions of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), the Seventh Generation for Interfaith Coalition for Responsible Investment, and the 2021 Raise the Wage Act.
In an article for Global Sisters Report, I was quoted as saying, “This wasn’t just about economic justice; we recognize our partners in mission serving on staff are gold. We advocated for livable wages, and we wanted it to start at home. We invest in our partners as they help us carry forward our mission.”1
We made this decision in part due to the ICCR’s assertion that the government “should implement a mandatory minimum wage of at least $15 per hour as a floor, with an eye towards establishing a living wage standard.”2
To this end, we formed a compensation project team that included FSPA’s president, vice president, and HR team. Together with Wipfli, we studied how the new minimum wage would affect the overall pay scale. Today, this practice continues, and the HR team evaluates all wages annually.
Our advocacy didn’t stop in our own community. We also cofiled a shareholder proposal with Walmart calling for boosted wages and racial justice.3 In 2021, Walmart included its views on our proposal in the proxy materials ahead of the annual shareholder’s meeting. Their response was that its workforce strategy was focused on four themes: inclusion, well-being, growth, and digital. However, they did not address all of our concerns, which included the arguments that increasing starting wages would:
1 “FSPA acts for the Fight for $15,” Global Sisters Report, Accessed March 18, 2025, https://www.globalsistersreport.org/community/ news/fspa-acts-fight-15
2 Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility and Investor Alliance on Human Rights, “Biden-Harris need ’all hands on deck’ approach to promote respect for human rights,” Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, November 24, 2020, https://www.businesshumanrights.org/en/blog/biden-harris-need-an-all-hands-ondeck-approach-to-promote-respect-for-human-rights/
3 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/ data/104169/000121465921004163/cg413210px14a6g.htm
While this shareholder initiative may not have had the results we hoped for, we continued to advocate both in our own community and more broadly. Throughout 2021, guided by our Dismantling FSPA Racism Team, we also worked to raise awareness of our participation in systemic racism, analyze our congregation’s anti-racist vision, and act authentically for racial equity.
As part of these commitments, we also grew our impact investing. In 2020, we ushered in a second round of Seeding a Legacy of Healing grants, a grant program that allows members of our community to build upon existing ministry partnerships with non-profit organizations. In order to address the racial wealth gap and foster the dignity of American workers, we also invested in Apis & Heritage Capital Partners, a private equity firm that buys private businesses and converts them into employee-owned businesses. We also invested in the Religious Communities Impact Fund, which invests in programs that help the poor, especially women and children, focusing on those who are poorly served through traditional financial sources. Finally, we have also invested in BlackStar Stability Distressed Debt Fund, an organization that aims to generate significant benefits for lowincome and moderate-income families through investments that restructure distressed mortgages and land sale contracts.
As Pope Francis says in Evangelii Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel), “The dignity of each human person and the pursuit of the common good are concerns which ought to shape all economic policies.” The dignity of each person can be recognized through fair wages. This has become a major part of our community’s mission, and we continue to focus on this work both through shareholder advocacy and by investing wisely in companies that raise up workers.
Sister Sue Ernster serves the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration (FSPA) as president. Sister Sue represents FSPA as a board member of various local, national, and international organizations including the Economy of Francesco, a global movement inspired by St. Francis and convened by Pope Francis, that calls us to engage in an economy rooted in justice, stewardship, and inclusivity. She is also committed to FSPA engagement in impact investing, putting investor support to work with responsibility for all of creation.
courtesy of the author
Photo
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: “A Crime Against Humanity“
BY JUDY BYRON, OP
While in the restroom of the Savannah, Georgia airport recently, I saw a sign in bold red type that asked: “Are you or someone you know being sold for sex or made/forced to work for little or no pay and cannot leave?” It gave a 1-800 number to call. The sign took me back 25 years ago, to when the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) assembly called women religious everywhere to address human trafficking.
One of the most impactful ways in which women religious and the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI) members have addressed human trafficking is by using our investments to press corporations to prevent human trafficking in their operations. We began with the tourism industry, specifically hotels and airlines.
Using “The Code of Conduct for the Protection of Children from Sexual Exploitation in Travel and Tourism” (The Code)— which provides awareness, tools, and support to the tourism industry to prevent the sexual exploitation of children—in 2005 we filed a shareholder resolution with Marriott International, Inc. In 1999, Marriott receptionists in San José, Costa Rica were found to be part of a network at several hotels involved in the sexual exploitation of minors.
The resolution requested that the company adopt a policy prohibiting the sexual exploitation of minors on Marriott premises. It resulted in dialogue between shareholders and Marriott representatives. In 2006, the company adopted a human rights policy statement that includes human trafficking and forced labor. In November 2016, Marriott reported that human trafficking training for all associates in its 6,000 hotels would be required. The company also signed The Code in 2018.
Training on human trafficking, including both labor and sex trafficking, is a brand standard at Hyatt hotels, due, in part,
to the work of NWCRI and Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) shareholders. In 2010, NWCRI wrote to the Hyatt’s global head of corporate responsibility (GHCR) concerning “Hyatt’s responsibility as a world-class hotel brand to address the egregious issue of child sex trafficking.” Over five years of dialogue, Hyatt took its responsibility seriously and began partnering with organizations addressing human trafficking and implementing training, which is now mandatory for all employees.
Hyatt signed The Code on Human Rights Day 2015. In August of that year, the GHCR expressed appreciation for shareholders’ guidance on human trafficking. She said that we helped her to see the hotel’s responsibility in addressing human trafficking and she recognized that the training provided for employees makes a difference beyond the hotel.
We also engaged with the airline industry, which can unwittingly facilitate the trafficking of persons. In 2010, we began a dialogue with Delta Airlines, which indicated its willingness to sign The Code. To ensure Delta followed through, NWCRI and our colleagues filed a shareholder resolution, which we withdrew when Delta became the first U.S. airline to sign The Code.
Sister Valerie Heinonen of Mercy Investments praised Delta, saying, “While so many companies are loathe to even mention the term ’human trafficking’ for fear of tarnishing their public image, Delta finally understood that the only way to shed light on this odious crime is to confront it head on.”
The work that we committed ourselves to 25 years ago continues today. The 2021 Global Estimates of Modern Slavery1 indicate that there are 50 million people in modern slavery. We believe that what we label as “human trafficking” and Pope Francis calls a “crime against humanity” will be eradicated when we work in solidarity. For, as Pete Seeger sings, one person’s hands can’t tear a prison down, “but if two and two and fifty make a million. We’ll see that day come round.”
1. https://www.ilo.org/sitesdefault/files/wcmsp5/groups public/@ ed_norm/@ipec/documents/publication/wcms_854795.pdf
IPJC held monthly vigils in Seattle to raise awareness about Human Trafficking for over 12 years through 2019.
Looking Toward the Future
BY TIM SMITH
Ibegan working for the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in the early 1970s, after I graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
I had the rare opportunity to be on staff when ICCR was created and to watch the organization expand from the six Protestant denominations who sowed the first seeds to also include Roman Catholic orders and coalitions. This included welcoming the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI) and its members to the work of shareholder advocacy led by faith-based investors.
This work is now coming up on 55 years of “witness in the marketplace.” In 2019, I was pleased to come to Seattle to participate as the keynote speaker at IPJC’s 25th anniversary celebration to commemorate years of faithful witness to social and environmental justice with the business community. In 2022 I stepped down from 22 years of work with the ESG investing leader, Boston Trust Walden, but I was fortunate to return to ICCR to help lead some of their programs. It has been decades of important and effective work.
Today, ICCR has grown to a broad coalition of approximately 300 institutional investors. This includes faith-based investors but also foundations, investment managers, unions, and nongovernmental organizations. And since our membership base now includes a number of large investment firms, ICCR members manage assets in the neighborhood of $4 trillion.
Our religious investors find common cause with other members who are equally committed to engaging companies on important issues such as climate change, diversity, health equity, lobbying and political spending, and human rights. Our combined voice urges companies to examine social, environmental, and governance issues as they pursue their business priorities. We believe that often these issues have an impact on the long-term profitability of companies, impacts that could actually have negative consequences on our investment portfolios. Thus, you will often hear investors working with ICCR make strong business cases for the issues they raise.
ICCR and its members know that our combined work has a distinct and demonstrable impact on company policies and practices as well as public policy. Our goal is not simply to raise a moral voice in company boardrooms but to prod, encourage, and convince companies to conduct their business fairly and responsibly.
As a result, thousands of businesses have responded positively on important issues like climate change, child labor in supply chains, and diversity in employment. We often point to corporate leadership on sustainability as an example when we engage companies. In our current age, leadership by businesses is more important than ever.
“Our goal is not simply to raise a moral voice in company boardrooms but to prod, encourage, and convince companies to conduct their business fairly and responsibly.”
Other articles in this issue outline the various strategies sustainable and responsible investors use to make these cases. Engaging companies through dialogue, investor statements and letters, and, of course, shareholder resolutions has been a central part of our work for more than 50 years.
With New Trends Come New Challenges
Despite the successes we have garnered over the years, we currently face sharply conflicting trends that profoundly threaten our work.
Tim Smith gives keynote at IPJC 2019 Spring Benefit, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of NWCRI
“ As people of faith, we are called to be courageous and persevere. We are long-distance runners who believe that the ’arc of history bends toward justice.’”
On the positive side, there are many things to celebrate about our current age. Many companies understand and affirm being a responsible citizen. The younger generation seems to embrace tolerance and social justice. There has been an increase in women investors who look for companies to operate responsibly. Groups of consumers have begun to speak out on social and environmental issues. And a global group of investors, with investments totaling over $100 trillion, now actively speak out using thoughtful business logic to address important issues like climate change, human capital, biodiversity, human rights, and governance with companies and governments alike.
But we are also experiencing widespread and growing threats to our work, something we are taking very seriously. Over the last three years, there have been growing attacks on both sustainable investing in general and specifically on issues like climate, human rights, or diversity; some people are arguing these are “woke” or politically correct issues that should be stopped in their tracks.
These attacks take multiple forms. At the state level, 28 states are attempting to pass legislation that would outlaw state pension funds from using any environmental or social criteria in making investment decisions or doing business with any investment firm that does any ESG investing. Few bills have been put into effect, and some that passed faced immediate lawsuits. But there is a relentless attempt to politicize the investment process in conservative states.
Fortunately, other states—including New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Vermont, Oregon, and Washington State—are pushing back, making common-sense arguments that they are protecting their pensioners by integrating the risks from climate change or employment discrimination into their investment calculus.
At the federal level, SEC commissioners and the expected new SEC chair are pushing agendas to limit shareholder resolutions or make it easier for companies to omit resolutions that have been filed. The SEC’s mission is to protect shareholders, but that does not seem to include standing behind the timehonored tradition of investors filing resolutions.
In Congress, conservatives have made a vigorous series of attacks on ESG-related issues and resolutions/proxy voting, with hearings populated by critics of our work and numerous examples of legislation. To date these have not passed, but they are continuing to surface.
Over the past two years, we have also seen a bevy of antiESG/anti-DEI (diversity) shareholder resolutions that use the resolution tool to attack companies. In 2024, there were close to 100 such resolutions filed. Meanwhile, politicians—either the governors of conservative states, leaders in Congress, or the current presidential administration—continue to champion the destruction of “woke policies.” Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida, says that Florida is “where woke comes to die.”
ICCR and numerous allies are not simply watching this tsunami wash over us. We are working daily to push back, publicly making our case and protecting our shareholder rights. There is too much history to protect to simply allow this to happen. As people of faith, we are called to be courageous and persevere. We are long-distance runners who believe that the “arc of history bends toward justice.”
Tim Smith is one of the founders of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) and also worked for 22 years for Boston Trust Walden, a leading investment firm in sustainable and responsible investing. He presently serves as senior policy advisor for ICCR.
Attending the IPJC 2019 Spring Benefit at Seattle University, Bruce Herbert, AIF, of Newground Social Investment, SPC (see article page 3) and Tim Smith, of ICCR, author.
Reflection
The dignity of each human person and the pursuit of the common good are concerns which ought to shape all economic policies. At times, however, they seem to be a mere addendum imported from without in order to fill out a political discourse lacking in perspectives or plans for true and integral development. How many words prove irksome to this system! It is irksome when the question of ethics is raised, when global solidarity is invoked, when the distribution of goods is mentioned, when reference in made to protecting labour and defending the dignity of the powerless, when allusion is made to a God who demands a commitment to justice. At other times these issues are exploited by a rhetoric which cheapens them. Casual indifference in the face of such questions empties our lives and our words of all meaning. Business is a vocation, and a noble vocation, provided that those engaged in it see themselves challenged by a greater meaning in life; this will enable them truly to serve the common good by striving to increase the goods of this world and to make them more accessible to all.
We can no longer trust in the unseen forces and the invisible hand of the market. Growth in justice requires more than economic growth, while presupposing such growth: it requires decisions, programmes, mechanisms and processes specifically geared to a better distribution of income, the creation of sources of employment and an integral promotion of the poor which goes beyond a simple welfare mentality.
—POPE FRANCIS (Evangelii Gaudium)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
n Have you ever thought about where your money is invested—through retirement funds, bank accounts, or purchases? How might your financial choices reflect your values?
n Pope Francis warns against “casual indifference” to ethics in economic decisions. How do you resist this indifference in your daily life and financial choices?
n Does your family, community, or workplace have any policies on ethical investing or corporate accountability? How could you encourage action in these areas?
n When have you seen a business make a positive change because of public or shareholder pressure? What does that tell you about the power of advocacy?
n What opportunities do you have—big or small—to influence how money is used for justice, whether through personal investments, donations, or community decisions?
LOOKING BACK
NW Jesuit Advocacy Summit
Over 55 Jesuit high school students gathered for a 3-day summit on ecological justice. Evenings included intergenerational encounters with the Ignatian community, culminating in the Sacred Salmon Town Hall, where Seattle University students welcomed more than 150 attendees to share stories and take action for salmon recovery and tribal treaty rights.
Youth Action Team: Immigration Movement
This spring, interns hosted two powerful events: Refuge for the Weary, a popular education session paired with advocacy for immigrant health care and community support, and The Way of Sorrow, a stations of the cross ritual woven with interns’ migration stories. Both events lifted up collective grief and hope for immigration justice—thank you for standing with us.
Women’s Justice Circle Leaders Gathering
In February, 10 Latina community leaders from throughout Washington State (pictured above) came together for continued leadership development, community connection, and to share about their ongoing community actions in Port Townsend, Aberdeen, Mattawa, Federal Way, Washington, and Tigard, Oregon. The time was rejuvenating, energizing, and empowering!
LOOKING FORWARD
Spring Benefit: Place of Belonging
Thursday, May 15 | 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Seattle
IPJC
INTERCOMMUNITY PEACE & JUSTICE CENTER
2025 Spring Benefit
Join us for our annual dinner benefit featuring music, program highlights, and the Sr. Thea Bowman Award honoring Patty Repikoff and Victoria Ries. Get your tickets here: ipjc.org/springbenefit2025/
Thursday, May 15, 2025 | 6:30 pm
St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Sea le
Sacred Salmon Leadership Cohort
Join our growing team of leaders committed to ecological justice and solidarity with Indigenous communities. Leadership development training offered by IPJC from April 16th through the end of June , meeting virtually on Wednesday evenings. Interested? Contact Vera Schoepe at vschoepe@ipjc.org.
Pilgrims of Hope and Creation: LSM-WA Earth Day Summit
Saturday, April 26 I Seattle University 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Gather with the Laudato Si’ Movement Washington chapter (formerly Creation Care Network) to pray, learn, and discern our collective commitment to ecological justice. The day will feature a keynote by Dr. Robert D. Bullard, the “Father of Environmental Justice”; community building; pilgrimage planning; faith sharing; and more! Register at: ipjc.org/ pilgrims-of-hope-creation/
Robert D. Bullard, Ph.D., is founding director of the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice and distinguished professor of urban planning and environmental policy at Texas Southern University.
Sacred Salmon Campaign - The Southern Resident Killer Whales: A Majestic Matriarchy
Saturday, June 14 | St. Joseph Church, Seattle 5:00 – 8:30 p.m.
Along with our partners at Se’ Si’ Le’, join us to celebrate Orca Action Month. We will gather to inspire a renewed understanding of the ancient and holistic relationalities between the Sk’aliCh’elh (Southern Resident Killer Whales), scha’enexw (the Salmon People), Tsi’Uid (the spirit in the waters), and the lifeways of Native Nations in the Salish Sea bioregion. Beginning with a community meal and moving into a program that will honor the voices of Indigenous women speaking on behalf of Sk’aliCh’elh and scha’enexw, and for being in right relations (xaalh) with our sacred obligation (Xa xalh Xachngning) to creation. Stay tuned for details!
Donations
IN HONOR OF Judy Byron, OP • Darren and Amy Desmarais and her mother Nancy • Linda Haydock, SNJM • Max Lewis, CSJP/A • Sr. Sharon Park, OP • Building community of peace & justice IN MEMORY OF Pat Caraher, son, father, husband, chaplain & friend to all • Beth Taylor, CSJP
Student poster from Sacred Salmon Town Hall, NW Ignatian Advocacy Summit
Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center 1216 NE 65th St Seattle, WA 98115-6724
SPONSORING COMMUNITIES
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
Jesuits West
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province
Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph Province
Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Tacoma Dominicans
AFFILIATE COMMUNITIES
Benedictine Sisters of Cottonwood, Idaho
Benedictine Sisters of Lacey
Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel
Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose Dominican Sisters of Racine
Dominican Sisters of San Rafael Sinsinawa Dominicans
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Sisters of St. Francis of Redwood City
Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet
Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon
Society of the Holy Child Jesus
Sisters of the Holy Family
Sisters of the Presentation, San Francisco Society of Helpers
Society of the Sacred Heart Ursuline Sisters of the Roman Union
EDITORIAL BOARD
Don Clemmer
Kelly Hickman
Cassidy Klein
Nick Mele
Andrea Mendoza
Will Rutt
Editor: Emily Sanna
Copy Editor: Cassidy Klein
Design: Sheila Edwards
A Matter of Spirit is a quarterly publication of the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Federal Tax ID# 94-3083964. All donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. To make a matching corporate gift, a gift of stocks, bonds, or other securities please call (206) 223-1138. Printed on FSC® certified paper made from 30% post-consumer waste.
Cover: © Fearless Girl Statue by Kristen Visbal, New York City Wall Street, Photo © Anthony Quintano, flickr ipjc@ipjc.org • ipjc.org
A Prayer for Solidarity and Justice
SPIRIT OF GOD
We have heard your call to share in building up the Kingdom of God. Fill us with the desire to change ourselves and to change the world.
Enflame our passion for justice into a commitment to address unjust situations and structures.
Deepen our concern for our sisters and brothers in America and overseas who endure the burdens of poverty, war, exploitation and persecution.
Let us enthusiastically play our part in the mission of the Church in the modern world.
Banish any complacency in our hearts and minds.
Teach us to recognize the lack of justice.
May we always act in the Spirit of justice.
May we envisage, pray about and create a different sort of world in which injustice is replaced with a renewed sense of solidarity and care.
Enlivened by the Spirit, may we go forth in the peace of the Holy Spirit to love and serve the Lord.
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE COUNCIL March for Our Lives 2018, Seattle WA, see Gun
