Michael Conroy on Activist Campaigns and the Certification Revolution (06/02)
SocialFunds writer Bill Baue speaks with Michael Conroy about his new book, Branded! How the “Certification Revolution” is Transforming Global Companies

Corporate Operations in Burma Fuel Human Rights Abuses, Say Shareowner Activists (10/26)
Shareowner letters to Chevron and Total criticize the piping of revenues to the Burmese regime, while the Norwegian Pension Fund defends its decision not to divest from Total.

Book Review-World Inc: How the Growing Power of Business is Revolutionizing Profits, People and the Future of Both (08/21)
Author Bruce Piasecki argues that better products will help make a better world as companies face the "S" frontier.

SEC Chair Cox Votes For Two Opposing Proxy Access Proposals--Both May Curtail Shareowner Rights (08/01)
Republican commissioners support a proposal barring shareowners from nominating directors; Democrats support one allowing it, though it introduced other reductions in shareowner power.

Opening Up Pandora's Box: SEC Proxy Roundtable Questions Role of Non-Binding Resolutions (05/15)
SEC officers and panelists discuss the possibility of removing non-binding resolutions from the proxy and replacing them with online communications between shareowners and companies.

Yes and No: Newmont Recommends Voting For One Resolution, Petitions SEC to Omit Another (05/02)
The actions span the gamut of corporate responses to shareowner resolutions on environmental, social, and governance issues, from wholehearted support to forceful opposition.

The Gates Foundation and Mission Related Investing: Room for Alignment? (02/13)
An investigative report into the investment practices of the Gates Foundation has reinvigorated the debate over the obligation of foundations to align their missions with their investments.

Inaugural Report Card Grades College Sustainability on Endowment and Campus Efforts (01/29)
The Sustainable Endowments Institute study finds endowment sustainability lagging campus sustainability policies and initiatives.

Rainforest Action Network Seeks to Stem Flow of Financing to TXU Coal Project (12/20)
Part two of this two-part articles addresses how RAN sent a letter to 54 banks urging them to withhold funding from a TXU plan to build 11 pulverized coal-burning power plants in Texas.

How to Do Sustainble Banking (12/06)
BankTrack, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations promoting social and environmental responsibility in the finance sector, issues a guide to best practices in sustainable banking.

New Exchange Traded Fund Tracks Domini 400 Social Index (11/22)
Barclays Global Investors launches the iShares KLD 400 Social Index ETF.

Dear Sir or Madam: Stakeholder Letters Push Corporate Sustainability Improvements (11/16)
Letters remains an important mode for addressing environmental, social, and governance issues, encompassing a broader swath than simply communication between shareowners and companies.

Glass Lewis Adds KLD Proxy Voting Guidelines to Proxy Voting Platform (10/31)
The move increases the availability of socially responsible investing proxy voting guidelines, but it remains to be seen if it inspires Glass Lewis to support more SRI resolutions in its own guidelines.

Votes for Social and Environmental Resolutions Rising, But Proxy Firm Support Still Lagging (10/23)
Over a quarter of social and environmental resolutions topped 15 percent support this proxy season, but proxy advisory firm recommendations supporting such proposals remain low.

Barclays Files for Permission to Launch iShares ETF Tracking the Domini Social Index (09/07)
The exchange-traded fund will likely have a low expense ratio, but will not conduct shareowner engagement like the other fund tracking the DSI, the Green Century Equity Fund, does.

Survey Reveals TIAA-CREF Investor Desire to Up Commitment to SRI (07/17)
TIAA-CREF promises to respond to participants, of whom over three-quarters prioritize social and environmental considerations in investing choices.

Stratfor Analysis Says Rise in Support for Shareowner Activism is Hitting a Plateau (06/22)
The analysis suggests that corporate executives are building up a tolerance to higher resolution votes; mutual fund proxy voting transparency represents the next frontier for shareowner activists to boost votes.

Correlating Proxy Advisory Firm Recommendations with Voting Results (06/20)
A look at the link between recommendations by Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis, and PROXYGovernance and voting results at Citigroup, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Wal-Mart.

Confirming the CalPERS Effect: Academic Study Links Shareowner Activism to Financial Gain (05/09)
Examining companies targeted for governance reform by the CalPERS Focus List, the study presents data correlating activism to increasing shareowner value as well as cautionary notes.

Proxy Season Report Geared to Foundations Helps Others Navigate Proxy Landscape (05/08)
As You Sow Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors report allows for stepping back by providing a useful overview as well as an in-depth look at behind-the-scenes dialogue.

United Nations Endorses SRI Strategies in Launching Principles for Responsible Investment (05/02)
Some 50 institutional investors globally representing $4 trillion in assets have signed on to the Principles, which promote the consideration of environmental, social and governance factors.

Conflict of Interests Policies and Practices Vary Widely at Proxy Advisory Firms (04/19)
Part two of this two-part article examines how Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis, and PROXY Governance handle potential conflicts of interest.

Voting Recommendations on Shareowner Resolutions Vary Widely at Proxy Advisory Firms (04/18)
Part one of this two-part article compares Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis, and PROXY Governance vote recommendations on resolutions at Citigroup and Chevron.

Thirty Years and Counting: Cofounder Wayne Silby Recounts the Birth of Calvert (03/18)
To celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of Calvert, SocialFunds.com speaks with co-founder Wayne Silby about its genesis, development, and future.

SEC Forces Chevron, Dow, and CVS to Include Shareowner Resolutions on Their Proxies (03/07)
Part two of this two-part article examines no-action activity thus far in the 2006 proxy season, focusing on attempts to apply the personal grievance rule and expand a new risk assessment rule.

Resolution Withdrawals Signal Success in Shareowner Advocacy Early in 2006 Proxy Season (03/06)
Part one of this two-part article examines withdrawal of resolutions on climate change, sexual orientation nondiscrimination, political contributions, and HIV/AIDS policies.

Using Mutual Fund Proxy Voting Data to Promote More Conscientious Voting (02/03)
The final installment of this multi-part series steps back to consider the implications of the findings and how to harness them to push mutual funds to support corporate social responsibility.

Social Investment Forum Trends Report Tracks Rises and Falls of Socially Responsible Investing (01/26)
The 2005 report documents increases since 2003 in assets overall in SRI, in SRI mutual funds, and in shareholder advocacy, but decreases in overall screened assets and in screened separate accounts.

Eroding Support for Shareowner Resolutions on Climate Change Revealed by Unpublished Data (01/25)
In part three of this multi-part article, SocialFunds.com examines unpublished data associated with a recent report on mutual fund proxy voting from The Corporate Library, and finds decreasing support for climate change resolutions.

Unpublished Data Clarifies SRI Proxy Voting on CSR Resolutions (01/18)
In part two in this multi-part series, SocialFunds.com examines unpublished data associated with a recent report from The Corporate Library, and finds that statistics are not always what they seem at first glance.

PROXY Governance Diversifies Proxy Advisory Choice (12/02)
The new proxy advisory firm expands options for fiduciaries.

New International Finance Corporation Sustainability Standards: Watershed or Watered Down? (11/23)
A group of socially responsible investors express concern over perceived shortcomings in the proposed IFC policy revisions, while the IFC points out where the policies break new ground.

Shareowner Empowerment Is Alive and Well: a Preview of the 2006 Proxy Season (11/16)
Part two of this two-part article examines the developing trends in shareowner activism as resolutions are filed for the upcoming proxy season.

Forging Ahead from the Crossroads: Reviewing the 2005 Proxy Season (11/14)
Part one of this two-part article looks back at this year's proxy season, which was highlighted by majority vote director election proposals while part two previews the upcoming proxy season.

Book Review--The Challenge to Power: Money, Investing, and Democracy (11/07)
John Harrington compiles voluminous evidence to diagnose what ails modern corporatocracy, and prescribes a comprehensive cure with socially responsible investing playing a key role.

Wal-Mart Embraces Sustainability: Does the SRI Community Buy It? (10/26)
Socially responsible investors cautiously applaud Wal-Mart for committing to social and environmental sustainability, but remain highly skeptical about actual implementation.

Institutional Investors Drive Research on Mainstreaming of SRI by Investment Managers (10/21)
A new line of research at Mercer Investment Consulting rates proxy voting, shareholder engagement, and analysis of environmental, social, and governance issues by mainstream investment managers.

Changing of the Guard: Vanguard Pulls a Switcheroo on SRI Index Providers (10/06)
Vanguard is swapping the benchmark for its socially responsible investing index fund from the Calvert Social Index to the FTSE4Good US Select Index.

ICCR Online Database Eases Access to Information on Shareowner Resolutions (10/04)
EthVest, the new web-based tool from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, provides access to 2,000-plus shareowner resolutions and 12-plus years of shareowner action.

Shareowner Resolution Asks Monsanto to Create Ethics Oversight Committee (08/26)
The company stonewalls inquiries related to the resolution, which springs from a $1.5 million settlement with the SEC and DOJ earlier this year regarding a bribe Monstanto paid in Indonesia.

New Document Alleges Tie Between Chevron and Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria (08/12)
Identified in the discovery phase of a case proceeding at state and federal levels, the invoice and receipt indicate Chevron paid Nigerian soldiers for services on a day several villagers were allegedly killed (part one of a two-part article.)

Power to the People: Amnesty Launches Grassroots Shareowner Advocacy Program (08/05)
The SharePower program encourages ordinary people to tell institutional investors holding shares in their name to vote for shareowner resolutions supporting human rights.

Shell Doubles Cost Projections of Sakhalin II, Project Critics Redouble Opposition (07/21)
The largest oil and gas project in the world meets resistance over concerns about its social and environmental impacts, as well as its economic sustainability.

Students and States Seek to End Genocide in Sudan Through Divestment Campaigns (06/01)
Students urge Stanford University to follow in the footsteps of Harvard University by divesting, and urge California senators to pass legislation like Illinois did.

IFC Urged to Include Corporate Screens and Address Climate Change in New Standards (05/13)
A group of socially responsible investment practitioners recommends revisions to new International Finance Corporation social and environmental sustainability standards.

Ecuadorian Attorney General Tells ChevronTexaco Shareholders Remediation Agreement May Be Invalid (04/12)
The questionable validity of the remediation agreement indemnifying ChevronTexaco could carry implications for the lawsuit and beyond (part three of a multipart article).

Oil Spread Upon the Waters of Ecuador May Return Harm for ChevronTexaco Shareholders (04/08)
A shareholder delegation surveys the environmental and social impact of oil operations, assessing potential risk from a twelve-year old lawsuit in its judicial inspection phase (part one of a multi-part article).

Shareowner Activists on Sustainability Take Baby Steps Into Sustainability Screening (03/25)
Part one of this two-part article surveys the landscape of US public pension fund screening of corporate social and environmental sustainability.

Book Review--Corporations and the Public Interest: Guiding the Invisible Hand (02/22)
Steve Lydenberg eloquently describes corporate social responsibility and socially responsible investment, fields in which he is an expert, and recommends mechanisms to fuel their trajectories.

Binding Resolutions and Coordination Circumvent Structural Limitations of Shareowner Action (02/18)
A preview of the 2005 proxy season reveals tactics that challenge the systemic imbalance of power favoring corporate management and directors over shareowners.

Speaking From Both Sides of the Mouth: The Art and Science of Corporate Tax Avoidance (02/04)
Three reports--by a US tax watchdog, a pair of US academics, and a UK socially responsible investment firm--find troubling trends in corporate tax strategies.

Top Five Socially Responsible Investing News Stories of 2004 (01/11)
Shareowner engagement shifted from confrontational to collaborative, sustainability analysis fused with financial analysis, and fiduciary duty expanded to include social and environmental issues.

Divesting from Genocide: More Conversation with Eric Reeves of the Divest Sudan Campaign (12/14)
In part two of this two-part interview, Mr. Reeves discusses the significance of actions by the investment and legislative communities to address the humanitarian crisis in Sudan.

US Banks Criticized for Involvement in China State Bank Bonds (08/19)
Nongovernmental organizations and socially responsible investing firms criticize US banks for selling Chinese bonds that fund socially and environmentally problematic projects.

Keeping Score: The Mathematics and Linguistics of the World Bank Extractive Industries Review (07/28)
World Bank Group management and socially responsible investors interpret EIR recommendations differently.

The Emergence Story Behind Indigenous Peoples Rights Screens (06/10)
Socially responsible investment firms also engage in shareowner action on indigenous peoples rights issues.

Jewish Institutional Investors Form Shareholder Engagement Network (04/30)
The Jewish Shareholder Engagement Network is based on the notion that Jewish tradition supports such shareowner action as active proxy voting and dialogue with companies.

Social Investors Urge World Bank to Adopt Extractive Industries Review Proposals (03/23)
If adopted by the World Bank, EIR recommendations could serve as a social and environmental best practice benchmark for oil, gas, and mining companies.

Film Depicts Environmental and Social Reporting Disappearing in SEC Black Hole (01/07)
A documentary film by environmental attorney Sanford Lewis reveals the SEC's failure to enforce its rules requiring companies to disclose environmental and social liabilities.

Top Five Social Investing News Stories of 2003 (12/19)
The major social investing news stories of the year include SEC reforms, stock exchanges mandating social, environmental, and corporate governance practices, and climate risk assessment defined as a fiduciary duty.

2003 Proxy Season Roundup: Shareowner Action Success Measured On and Off the Record (12/17)
While the 2003 proxy season produced some impressive numbers, shareowner advocates also define success in ways that are not easily quantifiable (Part one of a two-part article.)

Two New Real Assets Funds Attract $25 Million in Their First Two Months (12/03)
The Real Assets Social Leaders Fund and Social Impact Balanced Fund are off to a flying start, re-invigorating social investing in Canada.

ISIS Product Offers Shareowner Action without Portfolio Management (10/01)
Institutional investors can use ISIS's Responsible Engagement Overlay to promote better social and environmental performance at companies through dialogue, proxy voting, shareowner resolution filing, and research.

New Proxy Voting Recommendation Service Provides Choice, Objectivity (09/05)
Investor Responsibility Research Center teams with Glass, Lewis & Co. to provide proxy voting recommendations and voting services to institutional investors.

Institutional Investor Practices SRI Through Shareowner Action (08/14)
The Nathan Cummings Foundation prioritizes shareowner action by actively voting its proxies, filing shareowner resolutions, and dialoguing with companies on social issues.

The Needmor Fund Utilizes a Muscular Definition of Fiduciary Responsibility (08/05)
Susan Stranahan, treasurer of the Needmor Fund, discusses socially responsible investing as a fiduciary duty and tier A money managers who have a social mission.

Eurosif Releases Transparency Guidelines for European SRI Funds (07/08)
Eurosif asks socially responsible investment firms to disclose their policies and procedures around SRI issues.

Religious Institutions Issue Benchmarks for Corporate Social Responsibility Performance (05/28)
A global coalition of religious activists have published the third edition of a comprehensive set of guidelines for corporate social and environmental performance.

The Answer to the Coffee Crisis? Farmers Want Fair Price, Kraft Says Increase Demand (04/25)
Calls for fair prices and Fair Trade Certified coffee by social investors, coffee farmers, and Oxfam go unheeded by Kraft.

Back in the U.S.A. (04/15)
A combination of investors, activists, and congresspeople are working to make sure U.S. companies keep paying their share of taxes.

ExxonMobil Receives 23 Shareowner Resolutions on Issues Ranging from Climate Change to Corporate Governance (02/26)
Concerted shareowner action this proxy season targets ExxonMobil over such issues as its refusal to address climate change and its coupling of CEO and Chairman of the Board.

Carbon Disclosure Project Informs Investors of Climate Change Risks and Opportunities (02/18)
A new report finds that companies stand to gain competitive advantage by addressing climate change.

ICCR Proxy Resolutions Book Gauges Shareowner Action Climate (01/22)
In its new publication, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility rounds up the social and environmental shareowner resolutions to be voted on in the 2003 proxy season.

National Policy Association Book Advocates Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting (11/13)
A new book published by the National Policy Association makes a series of recommendations to promote global corporate social responsibility, among them triple bottom line reporting.

Conference to Consider the Business Case for SRI (07/29)
Institutional investors will discuss SRI at the Green Mountain SRI Summit, to be held in Stowe, Vermont in September.

Connecticut Fights to Keep Stanley Works from Disappearing to Bermuda (07/09)
Officials from Connecticut contend that Stanley Works continues to mislead shareowners about the effects of reincorporating in Bermuda.

Debate Continues Over Effects of CalPERS' Divestment from Emerging Market Countries (05/07)
Although CalPERS may reverse its decision to divest from the Philippines, the question of how other emerging markets will be affected by divestment remains unanswered.

Directing the Faithful Call for Corporate Social Responsibility (11/08)
An interview with Sister Patricia Wolf, executive director of ICCR, reveals how ICCR has remained a driving force in the corporate social responsibility movement and what might be in store for ICCR in the future.

Group Invites Grantmakers to Invest with Their Values (08/22)
The Foundation Partnership for Corporate Responsibility seeks to help foundations bring their investment principles in line with their mission.

Proxy Monitor Buys ISS (08/13)
Move gives one firm significant power in influencing the proxy votes of institutional investors.

Canadian Parliament Votes to Give Socially Responsible Shareowner Proposals Equal Billing (08/02)
New law will limit corporate management’s ability to claim that a proposal “promotes a cause” and therefore should be rejected.

Book Review: The New Global Investors (07/25)
Robert Monks calls on institutional investors to exercise their rights as shareowners and hold senior managers accountable for company performance and practices.

Labor Standards Resolutions Garner Support in 2001 Proxy Season (07/11)
Ten international labor and human rights proposals that came to vote this year received 10 percent or more support from shareowners.

Book Review: The Rise of Fiduciary Capitalism (05/30)
The fiduciaries of large institutional investors are finding it is in their interest, as shareowners, to urge corporate social responsibility.

Citigroup Shareowner Resolutions Yield Mixed Results (05/04)
Three of five resolutions achieve thresholds for resubmission next year.

Environmental Groups Endorse Shareholder Resolutions (04/12)
Environmental advocates ask for support for pro-environmental resolutions at a wide range of companies.

Microsoft Resolution Spotlights Shareholder Concern Over Soft Money (11/13)
A resolution calling for Microsoft to report its political contributions highlights increasing shareholder attention to the corporate influence of elected officials.

Shareholders Bring Banks to Account for Three Gorges Dam (02/18)
A resolution with three international lenders draws attention to their role in the environmental and human rights costs of China's colossal dam project.

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