The nonbinding resolution lost, with investors representing 55 percent of company shares voting against the proposal at AT&T's urging. But Meredith Benton of Oakland, California-based As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy nonprofit, said the vote tally was unusually high and predicted that the company's leadership would take it seriously. Read More →
Read MoreMeredith Benton, founder of consultancy Whistle Stop Capital and workplace equity program manager at As You Sow, formally presented the proposal to AT&T shareholders, according to the advocacy group. ‘It’s an incredible risk for AT&T to take, to be so deeply associated with anti-choice legislation,’ she says in a statement. ‘AT&T believes it needs to be involved in politics; we’re not arguing with that point. It is hard to see why, however, it is not managing the risks involved with supporting politicians who sit so clearly outside of its own company values.’ Read More →
Read MoreAndrew Behar, CEO of the nonprofit As You Sow, which represents a group of activist Twitter shareholders, says Twitter under Musk will likely look a lot like Meta (formerly Facebook) under Mark Zuckerberg.
“You have one person in charge. Mark Zuckerberg makes all the decisions. No matter what resolution you file, he owns a 10 to 1 voting preference,” says Behar. “There's a lot of danger when you have all that power isolated in one person like Zuckerberg. Now we've got that with Twitter.” Read More →
Read MoreOlivia Knight, racial justice initiative manager at As You Sow joined Charles to discuss that Fast Company has released its 10 most innovative not-for-profit organizations of 2022. As You Sow’s inclusion on Fast Company’s top 10 list for its Racial Justice Scorecard shows the importance of actionable data on corporate racial justice accountability, monitoring environmental justice, diversity, equity, inclusion, and other metrics as all stakeholders seek an end to systemic racism.
Read MoreIn its supporting statement, As You Sow writes: ‘Quantitative data is sought so that investors can assess, understand and compare the effectiveness of companies’ [DE&I] programs and apply this analysis to investors’ portfolio management and securities’ selection process.’
The group cites studies including ones finding that companies with the strongest racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns above their industry medians, and that the 20 most diverse companies had an average annual five-year stock return 5.8 percent higher than the 20 least-diverse companies. Read More →
Read MoreMeredith Benton, a consultant with Berkeley, Calif.-based As You Sow and a principal at Whistle Stop Capital, said “Nike is notably lagging” when it comes to releasing data on who it recruits, retains and promotes. Read More →
Read MoreBeyond its habit of putting polluting infrastructure in predominantly nonwhite neighborhoods, another reason the energy sector underperformed on the scorecard was what As You Sow called a “serious lack of diversity, equity, and inclusion disclosure.” Read More →
Read MoreThe nonprofit, As You Sow, collected and analyzed data from S&P 500 companies showing what it says is the environmental impact of operations on communities of color. It said it scrutinized their products, environmental violations and fines and corporate actions. Read More →
Read MoreWhistle Stop Capital CEO Meredith Benton, a consultant to shareholder group As You Sow, which filed the Berkshire Hathaway diversity proposal, said Berkshire Hathaway stood out in demonstrating little initiative on the ESG front and Buffett showed a "lack of leadership." Read More →
Read MoreThe conglomerate run by famed investor Warren Buffett is opposing a shareholder proposal calling on its board to publish an annual report detailing its diversity and inclusion efforts. Proposed by the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow on behalf of Handlery Hotels, it contends that more diverse workplaces are more profitable, more likely to outperform against competitors and have higher stock returns. Read More →
Read MoreSome companies that are reluctant to criticize specific laws or policies are still willing to come out with more general statements. For example, roughly 330 of the 500 companies in the S&P 500 Index issued comments last year in support of social justice in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in the custody of Minneapolis police, according to shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreFollowing the police killing of George Floyd in May 2020, many companies released statements supporting the Black community or calling for action to fight systemic racism. The As You Sow scorecard aims to measure whether these companies are actively working to “ensure that the statements of support for racial justice are translated into concrete actions that truly promote equity,” As You Sow stated in its announcement of the scorecard. Read More →
Read More“I think we’re going to see much broader investor support [for these resolutions]” said Meredith Benton, a consultant with As You Sow and a principal at Whistle Stop Capital. “Two years ago, there was confusion about whether all this was a material issue, and that confusion is gone.” Read More →
Read More"It's wonderful to see corporate commitments to racial justice and fair workplaces," said As You Sow's workplace equity initiative manager Meredith Benton, a principal with Whistle Stop Capital, who consults with asset owners and advisers to increase ESG investments. "Companies have done a lot of telling and very little showing of how they treat their employees," Ms. Benton said in the release. Read More →
Read MoreNBC News investigative and consumer correspondent Vicky Nguyen talks to Olivia Knight, racial justice initiative coordinator at As You Sow, to learn how the small nonprofit is helping large corporations track their commitments to social and racial justice. Read More →
Read MoreOutgoing CEO Jeff Bezos, the founder of the e-commerce giant, has “actually done the hard stuff, the hardest stuff being operations,” says Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a nonprofit shareholder advocacy group. “On other issues, though, he’s completely not even thinking about them.” Read More →
Read MoreFacing pressure for the past decade, tech companies have exhibited more willingness than other corporate sectors to reveal diversity statistics. As You Sow, a Berkeley, Calif.-based shareholder advocacy group, recently ranked companies based on the amount of diversity, pay and other information they release, the effectiveness of their recruitment and retention efforts and the goals they have set. Read More →
Read MoreBelieving it is vital to translate vocal support for racial justice into actions, the non-profit shareholder advocacy group As You Sow released corporate scorecards using data across two categories of inclusion: racial justice and workplace equity. Read More ->
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