Help Push Corporations to Be Better

Shareholder activism is a way to push corporate leaders to act more socially responsibly. When a company’s leadership meets for its annual general meeting, usually between March and June, people and institutions that hold shares in the company get to vote on decisions about how to govern the company. For example, this year, United for Respect proposed that 沃尔玛 commission an internal, independent racial equity audit.

ISS | Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is one of two main organizations — the other is Glass, Lewis & Co. — whose guidance influences how shareholders vote. ISS is conducting a policy survey, which will inform how they guide their shareholder clients to vote. Corporate representatives tend to respond to this survey; meanwhile, voices of everyday people tend to be underrepresented. But we’re all allowed to complete the survey! This is an opportunity to tell ISS that we care about social, racial, and environmental justice. NOTE: the survey language is quite advanced. So, the following information is for those of you up for stretching your investor knowledge.

Here’s what you can do:

1. Complete the ISS 2024 Global Benchmark Policy Survey (completion time: about 15 minutes, closes September 5, at 5 p.m. ET). Racial Justice Investing (RJI), Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) , Sierra Club , The Shareholder Commons , and Majority Action worked together to prepare guidance to respond to key questions. Even if you’re not an institutional investor, you can complete the survey as an individual (for question 5, choose “Other” and type “individual”), and you do not have to answer every question.
2. Send a follow-up email to [email protected] with any additional recommendations. For example, the survey fails to address racial inequity as a systemic risk. At the end of the survey response guide, you’ll find guidance for supplementary comments.
3. Help the coalition of folks who assembled survey response guidance track investor engagement by completing their brief survey.?

To learn more about shareholder activism, you can read our articles about Just Futures’ shareholder activism vision and how shareholder activism often looks, in practice.