FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT: Stefanie Spear, sspear@asyousow.org, 216-387-1609

BERKELEY, CA—MARCH 29, 2022—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. The award seeks to highlight organizations that tackle some of the world’s biggest issues such as climate change, and social inequities in “often trailblazing ways.”

Following George Floyd’s horrific murder in May of 2020, As You Sow created the Racial Justice Initiative to track corporate pledges of support for the racial justice movement. 

“As You Sow's Racial Justice Scorecard represents a unique approach to evaluating corporate performance beyond mere statements to examine corporate actions in specific areas related to DEI and environmental justice, providing a holistic, fact-based view of corporate social responsibility,” said Olivia Knight, racial justice initiative manager at As You Sow.

The scorecard empowers As You Sow’s racial justice shareholder advocacy as it separates leading companies from laggards on 26 key performance indicators (KPIs). These demonstrate specific actions a company can take to be more competitive and to enhance its brand. The As You Sow team has filed 12 shareholder resolutions since 2021 based on the Racial Justice Scorecard data, reaching seven successful withdrawals at Monster Beverage, Dollar General, Eversource Energy, NiSource, Entergy, Charles Schwab, and Foot Locker for increased diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) transparency and disclosure as well as organizational-wide racial equity policy shifts. 

The scorecard is updated quarterly to reflect fast-changing corporate actions on racial justice and DEI. In addition, As You Sow will add two more KPIs this year to include AI (artificial intelligence) bias and toxic emissions directly impacting Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities. As You Sow will be working with EqualAI to monitor which companies are proactively committing to examining their internal systems for AI bias. Using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data analyzed by the University of Massachusetts, As You Sow will examine Russell 1000 companies and how disproportionate toxic emissions adversely affect BIPOC communities across the country. 

In addition, the scorecard data is now in use to drive racial justice investment strategies offered to pensions, endowments, foundations, and other investors by Xponance, Inc., a leading multi-strategy investment firm. As You Sow’s partnership with the asset manager enhances existing Xponance ESG offerings within its $6.5 billion Systematic Global Equities platform, and the firm’s ability to develop more equitable portfolios for institutional clients.

The racial justice data is employed as an additional screening tool, alongside other ESG data sources, to help Xponance clients make more informed investment decisions related to racial justice and DEI issues. The data can be applied to both actively managed portfolios and developed into customized indexes for passive strategies.

As You Sow works to change corporations for good, seeding sustainability and social change across a broad range of critical issues in finance, employment, food security, consumer protection, waste, and supply chain. We make real change happen by aligning corporate investment and ownership with widely shared values in As You Sow that deliver near-term results.

We use shareholder actions, innovative legal strategies, coalition building, and online transparency tools to shift business models to sustainability and justice. Our goal is to create win/win solutions that move corporations forward toward decision-making that reduces risks, benefits brand reputation, and increases the business bottom line.

Our shareholder action and bottom-line objectives guide corporate behavior toward sustainability, fairness, and social justice. Our impact is why we’ve been called the nation’s “Top Corporate Watchdog.” Excellence in research is why Kiplinger named As You Sow the #1 ESG data source for sustainable investors.

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As You Sow is the nation’s leading shareholder advocacy nonprofit, with a 30-year track record promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility and advancing values-aligned investing. Its issue areas include climate change, ocean plastics, pesticides, racial justice, workplace diversity, and executive compensation. Click here for As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.