Shareholder advocacy

How we do it

Aspiring for a better world

As shareholders, we are part owners of companies. This means we can talk to the companies we own, and ask them about their policies and practices. Praxis believes it is our responsibility to encourage companies toward responsible business behavior.

Our focus

We are currently working with companies on issues of environmental sustainability, modern slavery – also known as human trafficking – and inequality.

Magnifying our voice

By working together with like-minded organizations, such as the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, we show that many people are interested in the issue.

Close up of a small leaf on a twisted vine

Meaningful action

Communication with executives, board members and governments happens through shareholder resolutions, direct dialogue and coalition work.

Current advocacy initiatives

We center our shareholder advocacy work around three main topics. We partner with organizations associated with ICCR and Ceres to form coalitions that give weight to the positions we urge companies toward.

Aerial view of road running a long a beach front through the woods

Environmental sustainability

We believe God calls us to be faithful stewards of all God has entrusted us. In this topic, we focus on climate change and toxic chemicals.

Aerial view of rows of vegetation on a tea plantation

Addressing inequality

Inequality is a long-term problem and its roots can be traced to many sources. The effects of inequality can lead to distrust and even breakdown within societies. We are engaging companies in three areas of inequality: gender, race and economic.

Responsibility engagements

These engagements are not included within our primary focus issues but they reflect our responsibility to address a wide range of social concerns related to our holdings in the Praxis funds.

Environmental sustainability

Issue	Company	Latest engagement
Climate change – utilities	Duke Energy	Feb. 2022 Duke Energy released their latest clean energy action plan. The plan targets energy generated from coal to less than 5% of total generation by 2030 and to fully exit coal by 2035 as part of the largest planned coal fleet retirement in the industry.
Climate change – utilities	Southern Company	March 2022 Southern released an ESG update that incorporates many of the issues Praxis and other shareholders encouraged the company document including net-zero goals, climate lobbying, Just Transition, and board independence.
Climate Change – oil sands	Numerous banks	Feb. 2022 Signed on to investor statement to financiers of Enbridge Line 3 and other oil sands projects. The statement serves as an urgent signal to banks that these projects demonstrate multiple legal, environmental, and human rights risks without a social license to operate from affected Indigenous Peoples.
Antibiotics	McDonald's	March 2022 Joined investor letter to McDonald’s calling on the company to fulfill its 2018 promise to set targets for reducing the use of medically important antibiotics throughout its global beef supply chain, and to set a global antibiotic use policy for pork.
Plastic pollution		Jan. 2022 Joined investor statement calling for a global treaty on plastic pollution. Unsustainable plastic production, consumption, and waste continues to accelerate at an alarming rate. This statement supports efforts to find a global, harmonized, binding solution to plastic pollution.
Climate Change – oil and gas	ConocoPhillips	Nov. 2021 Dialogue with ConocoPhillips on climate change, including ConocoPhillips latest climate scenario report and its progress on its net-zero commitment. The conversation also included the topic of indigenous rights.
Climate change - just transition		Dec. 2021 Signed onto a statement of investor expectations for job standards and community impacts to ensure a just transition to a decarbonized economy.
Climate change - proxy voting	ISS	Oct. 2021 Joined investor letter to ISS, expressing concern that the proxy service provider’s baseline policy doesn’t adequately factor in the risks of climate change with its recommendations.
Climate change		Oct. 2021 Joined the 2021 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis, the strongest ever call by global investors for governments to raise their climate ambition and implement meaningful policies to support investment in solutions to the climate crisis.
Climate change		Oct. 2021 Joined the Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light (HIPL) Faith Climate Declaration. The declaration lists the impacts that climate change has on our communities and especially the most vulnerable people and commits the signatories to act towards a regenerative economy.
Semiconductor industry	Conflict minerals	Nov. 2021 Signed on to investor letter on conflict minerals, encouraging individual companies within different parts of the semiconductor supply chain to address responsible sourcing of minerals.

Addressing inequality

Issue	Company	Latest engagement
Paid sick leave	Home Depot	Feb. 2022 Withdrew shareholder resolution on paid sick leave in response to the company putting policies in place and making them more publicly accessible to stakeholders and investors seeking to assess key social issues in companies
Online child exploitation	AT&T	Jan. 2022 Dialogue with AT&T on its efforts to combat child sexual exploitation online. Conversation focused on its child rights risk assessment, governance and oversight, employee training, and partnerships and collaborations.
Empowering communities	Bank of America	Feb. 2022 Dialogue with Bank of America on empowering communities, clients, and employees. The discussion also covered an update on BAC’s climate strategy and its digital assets (including cryptocurrency) policies.
Human rights policy	General Mills	March 2022 Dialogue with General Mills regarding the UN Guiding Principles, the company’s salient human rights issues and its human rights policies.
Addressing inequality – finance		March 2022 Joined in launching the Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures which aims to reduce inequality created by the private sector by improving transparency on corporate and investor contributions to inequality, while showing how inequality can present risks to companies and investors.
COVID-19 – Vaccine pricing and accessibility	Johnson & Johnson	Nov. 2021 Co-filed shareholder proposal that asks for a report on how Johnson & Johnson’s receipt of government financial support for the development and manufacture of vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 is being taken into account when engaging in conduct that affects access to these products, such as setting prices.
Paid sick leave	Dozens of companies	Dec. 2021 Joined an investor effort to engage dozens of service industry companies on disclosure of their paid sick leave benefits for U.S. workers and the advantages of providing paid sick leave to all employees.
Racial equity	Amazon	Dec. 2021 Co-filed shareholder proposal calling for a racial equity audit analyzing Amazon’s impacts on civil rights, equity, diversity and inclusion, and the impacts of those issues on Amazon’s business.
Racial equity	Walmart	Dec. 2021 Co-filed shareholder proposal on starting pay and racial equity. The proposal requests that the board of directors oversee a public report on whether and how Walmart's racial justice goals and commitments align with the starting pay for all classifications of Walmart associates.
Racial justice	Target	Dec. 2021 Dialogue with Target on their policies and performance on racial justice, worker equity and human rights in the supply chain. The conversation also touched on safe chemical policies.
Online child exploitation	Verizon	Oct. 2021 Dialogue with Verizon on its efforts to combat child sexual exploitation online. The conversation focused on partnerships with industry peers and NGOs, product impacts on children, reporting and metrics, and lobbying and regulatory advocacy.
Conflict minerals	Semiconductor industry	Nov. 2021 Signed on to investor letter on conflict minerals, encouraging individual companies within different parts of the semiconductor supply chain to address responsible sourcing of minerals.

Responsibility engagements

Issue	Company	Latest engagement
Tax transparency		Feb. 2022 Signed investor letter to the SEC in support of a shareholder proposal at Amazon asking for tax reporting using the GRI tax standard, which would lead to better corporate tax transparency but which the company has challenged.
Sudan		Nov. 2021 Joined investor statement on the coup in Sudan to send the message that the responsible investment and business communities seek to invest and operate in countries where the rule of law, accountable governance and civic freedoms are respected.

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