As You Sow is the nation’s leading nonprofit practitioner of corporate engagement and shareholder advocacy. Founded in 1992, we believe shareholders are a powerful force for creating positive, lasting change in corporate behavior, and we harness that power for the long-term benefit of people, planet, and profit.
The unrelenting assaults on climate, the environment, and corporate accountability that now come almost daily from Washington seek to release corporations from the regulatory protections that ensure profits don’t come at the expense of human rights, clean water, clean air, or a livable climate. In this insane new world, shareholder advocates are one of the most effective forces for insisting that corporations stay on a path of forward progress — that corporate management resist the temptation to despoil the environment in the name of short-term gain — that respecting environmental protections is good for companies, good for society, and good for the economy.
This has been a year of strong, persistent resistance for us, as for many, in the face of mounting threats to hard-fought protections that we once thought secure. As we celebrate 25 years of empowering shareholders and fighting for corporate accountability, we’re finding new ways to mobilize the shareholder community — with a new blog and a petition empowering asset owners to fight for their democratic rights. Our core engagement work continues, with the most active proxy voting season in our history driving corporations to adopt clean energy, reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, decrease use of antibiotics in our food, reduce toxic polystyrene foam packaging, benefits that accrue to us all. We produced four reports advancing public and shareholder understanding of key issues, and a undertook a critical expansion of Fossil Free Funds, to help investors make even more informed investing decisions about coal-fired utilities.
Come to our event! On October 5, we’ll gather at SPiN San Francisco for As You Smash!, our 25th anniversary party. Between now and October, we’ll continue fighting to resist, counter, mitigate, and deflect the harm coming from the fact-challenged administration in Washington — we figure by October we’ll be ready to blow off some steam. Come smash some ping pong balls with us!
For the future we all deserve,
Andrew Behar, CEO
