Belonging through shared stewardship and accountability
The Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI) and Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) stakeholders continue to organize and persist in holding companies accountable to benefitting the common good. We continue to leverage shareholder power to build places of belonging.
Many communities and peoples are at great risk of further dehumanization and marginalization. The change in the federal administration has ushered in untold harm through dramatic shifts in policy and deregulation through executive orders. While deregulation may decrease cost and boost profits in the short term, in the long-term the uncertainty of clean-energy investments, higher climate and health costs, and the reallocation of taxes and spendings to benefit higher income households will increase risks for public health, climate damage, corporations, decrease shareholder value, and most importantly strip the human dignity of people and communities around the world.
The shareholder advocacy space has also been impacted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mid-season rules changes, making it easier for companies to challenge and omit environmental and social impact proposals from their proxies. Similarly, trade associations are lobbying congress to limit filings of environmental and social shareholder proposals, and hamstring proxy advisors from advising clients on ESG issues.
Despite these headwinds, faith-based and values-based investors had a successful proxy season asking shareholders to protect and promote human rights and worker rights' in the sugar supply chain in India, to provide workplace heat stress protection, increased transparency on the impact on gig workers, and paid sick leave in the retail industry. For the first time investors
THIS YEAR NWCRI BROUGHT 20 JUSTICE ISSUES TO THE BOARDROOMS OF 30 CORPORATIONS, FILED 28 SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTIONS, AND PARTICIPATED IN OVER 45 DIALOGUES.
We engaged corporations on numerous issues including:
• Child and migrant labor abuses in supply chains
• Worker health and safety
• Freedom of association
• Workplace protection of workers from heat stress and second hand smoke exposure
• Domestic and global access to affordable healthcare
• Tax transparency
• Children rights for online safety
• Racial and gender equity gaps
• Children online safety; and safe development of AI by design and AI data protection
filed a tax-transparency proposal in the pharmaceutical industry and an externalization cost related proposal in the healthcare industry!
A highlight of the year for NWCRI was engaging the largest healthcare corporation in the world, UnitedHealth Group as well as engaging pharma companies to increase access and affordability of healthcare and medicines. Our health system spends at least twice as much as other western nations and yet the U.S. has the highest reported rates of maternal and infant mortality, avoidable and treatable conditions, and chronic disease burden rate. Exclusion continues to permeate the healthcare system, especially the 26 million people that are uninsured and 25% of workers that are underinsured.
Despite medical advancements, the rising cost of treatments and gaps in insurance shift more of the cost burden onto patients, leaving their families vulnerable to medical debt. The recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill, which cuts funding for Medicaid and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) will only further exacerbate health inequalities. Faith-based investors believe healthcare is a fundamental human right and that access to healthcare and patient outcome should not be dependent on one’s income.
A few critical highlights of our work follows.
ICCR & NWCRI BY THE NUMBERS:
347 resolutions filed
66 proposals withdrawn for agreement
43% proposals went to a vote
19.5% average vote garnered on Proxy
13 proposals won a majority vote
47% of filings were challenged
3.6x increase in filings challenged by companies 24% proposals were challenged by companies
NWCRI & ICCR members believe that shareholder engagement in public policy discussion is crucial to mitigate the risks of adverse social and environmental impacts. Shareholders continue to engage companies in a number of priority areas including climate change, gender and racial equity, human/worker rights, environment, lobbying/ political spending, health equity and governance. The overall number of resolutions filed decreased except for corporate governance and lobbing/ political spending.
During company engagements the filing of a resolution will often cause companies to reach out to negotiate a withdrawal.
Human Rights in Sugar Supply Chain
Last year, a New York Times Investigation exposed how children and migrant workers in sugar farms and mills located in the Maharashtra State of India were pushed into underage marriage, locked in years of debt bondage by brokers and mill owners, and pressured into unnecessary and coerced hysterectomies to keep them working in sweltering sugar fields. For years, government officials and regulators have done little to address these abuses. The investigation further revealed that mills receive “compliant” certifications despite clear forced labor indicators, largely because the assessment scope excludes farm-level operations where the most severe exploitation occurs. NWCRI & ICCR members filed shareholder resolutions at Mondelez and PepsiCo asking the companies to demonstrate how they are combating child labor, forced labor, and gender-based exploitation in India’s sugar fields. The new SEC rules made it easier for PepsiCo to retroactively challenge and omit the proposal from its proxies. Given the PepsiCo ruling, the Mondelez resolution was withdrawn.
Health Equity
In recent decades, the global HIV response has made extraordinary strides, particularly in Africa’s highestburden countries. By 2024, an impressive 78% of the 20.8 million people with HIV in eastern and southern Africa had achieved viral suppression on a daily dose of antiretroviral therapy. With the cuts to the United States President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief and the U. S. Agency for International Development we urged Gilead and Moderna to make their lifesaving drugs globally affordable. Gilead’s recently approved, highly effective, twice-a-year injectable HIV drug, Lenacapavir, has the potential to eradicate HIV. Investors challenged Gilead to make these lifesaving medications accessible to low- and middleincome countries (LMIC). The proposal on proxy was well received, garnering 35.9% of the vote. The proposal at Moderna to increase COVID 19 vaccine access in LMICs was withdrawn for an agreement.
A 2023 Kaiser Family Foundation survey of consumer experience with health insurers found that 58% of insured adults had encountered challenges utilizing their health insurance with 4 in 10 individuals reporting that denied claims contributed to their difficulty paying medical bills. As the largest and most vertically integrated healthcare company, with reach into all aspects of the health care system, investors engaged UnitedHealth Group (UNH) on its policies and practices. Originally a small insurance company, UNH is now the largest healthcare company in the U.S. with over 2700 affiliated subsidiaries including clinics, pharmacies, rehabs, home and skilled nursing care facilities, employing 1 in 10 U.S. physicians. Across these business lines, UNH has been accused of prioritizing profits over care through business practices that delay and deny treatments and for overbilling taxpayers via its privatized Medicare plan exposing the company to over 30 lawsuits and congressional scrutiny. NWCRI member, the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, was the lead filer of an investor proposal asking UNH to report on the public health-related impacts and risks of its business practices externalize on the larger economy.
ICCR members engaged four pharma companies requesting that they publish the results of a human rights impact assessment (HRIA) as it relates to medication access. The shareholders’ proposal at Merck and Johnson and Johnson garnered 15.4% and 11.4% of shareholder votes on their proxy, respectively. The specific proposal asks at Eli Lily and AbbVie were focused on access to affordable insulin and anticompetitive practices of raising prices, respectively. Due to changes in SEC rules, the resolution at Eli Lily was omitted while the AbbVie proposal was withdrawn for continued engagement.
Tax Transparency
The 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act passed by the first Trump administration created a loophole enabling multinational pharmaceutical companies to avoid domestic taxes by shifting profits offshore to their foreign subsidiaries.
75% of all Big Pharma income is reported offshore for tax purposes even though much of their revenue comes from sales in the U.S. In 2021, Merck’s blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda reported over $22.4 billion in sales in the U.S. (46% of Merck’s sales), while Merck only paid 15% of the tax it owed to the federal government. In fact, since 2016, despite Americans paying more for drugs, Merck reported over a $10 billion in loss in the U.S. market while reporting over $96 billion in profits internationally. These aggressive tax practices present unknown risks including heightened attention from tax authorities and risks from changing laws and regulations. Investors asked for transparency regarding their tax policy to better asses the current risk to the company which received strong investor support with a 22.8% share of the vote.
Community Health & Nutrition Equity
The overall smoking trend in the U.S. has been decreasing over the last few decades. While cigarette use has declined, usage of smoke-free products such as e-vapor, nicotine pouches, and heated tobacco has increased. In 2024, 1.21 million high school and over 400,000 middle school students used e-vapes, which contain harmful substances such as addictive nicotine and cancercausing chemicals. Shareholders challenged Altria to publicly disclose its effectiveness on its stated goals of “taking action to transition millions of adult smokers away from cigarettes to potentially less harmful alternatives” as well as limiting new youth and adult smokers from starting the habit. The resolution was withdrawn for progress made on transitioning smokers to less harmful products and and for promised annual updates. Currently in the US, there is no standard nutrition labeling that enables consumers to compare the relative healthiness of products across brands. Recently developed and internationally recognized nutrient profiling models would
do just that. ICCR members filed resolutions at Kraft Heinz & Mondelez to adopt one of these models so consumers can make informed decisions around their consumption and health. Kraft Heinz outlined plans to address some of the key concerns raised in the proposal, so the proposal was withdrawn. Mondelez challenged the proposal claiming it already has labeling on all its products. The proposal was omitted on grounds of micromanagement by shareholders.
Gun Safety
The number one cause of mortality for teens remains homicide with a firearm. Toys marketed to pre-teens such as motorized Nerf Blasters are brightly colored but otherwise resemble semi-automatic weapons in form and advertisement. Hasbro insists they are only meant to look like space weapons. ICCR & NWCRI members filed a children rights due diligence proposal with Hasbro. The proposal was withdrawn upon commitment from Hasbro to include information about our filing in their proxy and through plans to address our concerns in a process required by European reporting regulations.
Workers’ Rights
ICCR members continue to uphold that responsible business practices include prudent workforce management that assure and upholds workers’ rights. This year, NWCRI brought two worker health and safety resolutions to two companies; Walmart and Dollar General.
In 2022, Janikka Perry, a 38-year-old Walmart associate, felt faint soon after reporting on a short-staffed night shift. The company knew of her history of heart disease and diabetes; nonetheless, she was reportedly told by her manager “to pull yourself together.” She continued to work and hours later she dialed 911 from the restroom reporting difficulty breathing stating “I feel like I am about to pass out.” When the ambulance arrived, she was unconscious and rushed to the hospital where she was pronounced dead from a heart attack.
From 2015 – 2022 Walmart had the 2nd highest rate of severe workplace injury among all U.S. employers and in 2024, The National Council for Occupational Safety and Health named Walmart one of its “dirty dozen” unsafe companies due
to conditions like the 1,100 shooting incidents that have occurred at Walmart stores since 2014, resulting in the death of 300 people. Additionally, according to workers and labor organizers, many workers are pressured to work while sick or in pain. The resolution asked the company to disclose the steps that the board has taken to address repeated health and safety concerns, including injury rates, and any policy changes such as paid sick leave and executive incentive compensation. On proxy, the proposal garnered 7% of the vote.
Though Dollar General has reported over three decades of consecutive growth and profit, reports of neglecting the safety and wellbeing of its workers continue. A 2023 resolution asking the company for a safety audit to address reports of unsafe conditions, understaffing, and violence at many of its stores garnered over 77% shareholder support! The company refused to engage with the shareholders who led this proposal and instead chose an anti-union law firm to conduct an audit that found few problems with company policies.
In last year’s settlement with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Dollar General was fined $12 million for repeated safety violations and agreed to increase safety protocols. The National Labor Relations Board also ruled that Dollar General was practicing “blatant hallmark unfair labor practices” based on their corporate response to store workers attempting to unionize in Connecticut. Workers report continued understaffing, low pay, and feeling unsafe at stores, with no meaningful changes since the audit and agreement with OSHA. This year’s shareholder proposal focused on requesting a corporate-wide human rights policy, with emphasis on protection for workers and customers still experiencing unsafe conditions in stores. On proxy, the resolution received 22.9% of the vote.
As greenhouse gases continue to warm the planet, summers are getting hotter and heat extremes are becoming more frequent, putting peoples’ health at risk. Heat is the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S.; with a record 2,325 people dying from heat related illness in 2023. Agricultural, construction, and airline industry workers are forced to work in these extreme temperatures. Despite rising temperatures, airline attendants and support staff working on the tarmac or cleaning cabins on hot days do not have increased breaks or access to cooling devices. One plane attendant reported that an auxiliary power unit was not working and that the temperature was "incredibly high," adding, "I was hot, dizzy, confused and then blacked out.” ICCR members filed resolutions at American and Delta asking for worker safety rights during hot days based on attendants and support staff reports of heatstroke symptoms — headache, confusion, dizziness, and fainting — while working on the tarmac. The resolutions were withdrawn for disclosures on their efforts to address heat-related stress on their workers.
Climate & Environmental
We continue to press companies to prevent and mitigate environmental harm on communities exposed to cancercausing chemicals and pollutants. The first step in this harm reduction is accurate quantification of harmful emissions. Reducing methane emissions is the most effective way to limit climate warming in the short-term given its relative potency and its estimated cause of 30% of all human induced warming. Recent studies of direct measurements of emissions using satellite and infrared cameras reveal that the indirect measurements reported by the Environmental Protection Agency are undercounting emissions by anywhere between 3 to 12 times what has been recorded, mainly due to large-scale unpredictable releases not accounted for through its current measuring system. Anterio Resources, a natural gas and liquids company operating in the Appalachian Basin, is one of the largest U.S. suppliers of natural gas and liquified petroleum gases to the global export market. Shareholders asked the company to report on direct methane emissions by adopting the methane emissions reporting standards of the Oil & Gas Methane Program 2 framework developed by the United Nations. The proposal was withdrawn for continued dialogue.
Immigrant Rights
For over a decade ICCR has worked with private prisons to improve the human rights of incarcerated people. This year we engaged The Geo Group (GEO), the largest private prison operator in the U.S., regarding its immigration detention facilities and their tracking application that has reportedly become central to this administration’s expedited deportation of immigrants. In 2025, The GEO Group invested $70 million to retrofit facilities to expand detention capacity, secure transportation, and provide electronic monitoring services for ICE. These tracking apps were initially implemented, by the previous administration, as a cost saving measure to release undocumented immigrants facing deportation into the community. Using GEO’s tracking devices immigrants sent weekly selfies confirming their location and identity. These apps are now being used to locate and deport immigrants without due process. Investors continue to dialogue with the company on respecting the international standards for human and immigrant rights.
Racial Equity
U.S. IMMIGRANTS BY THE NUMBERS:
of the population 17.7% of the labor force 26.1% of agricultural workers 25.7% of construction workers
23.6% of STEM workers 15.9% of Nurses
Undocumented immigrants spending power ~$300 billion
$652 billion in federal, state, and local taxes in 2023 — similar to Belgium’s economy
In 2020, in the wake of the murder of George Floyd and subsequent public outcry, Walmart launched a 5-year diversity and inclusion commitment. In November 2024, after the election of the current administration, Walmart rolled back its diversity initiatives, cutting racial equity training and eliminating supplier diversity program. Shareholders filed a proposal asking for a third-party racial equity audit (REA) analyzing the adverse impacts of Walmart’s business practices on people of color as well as providing recommendations for improving the company’s racial equity impact. On proxy, it received almost 7% of investor support.
46% of Fortune 500 companies were founded by immigrants or their children
NWCRI refiled its free, prior, and informed consent proposal, asking for a report on the effectiveness of the bank’s policies and practices with respect to Indigenous rights in corporate financing of projects. Both Citigroup and Wells Fargo filed a challenge at the SEC and lost! On proxy, they earned 13.4% and 11.9% of their respective votes, lower than last year.
Above: Immigration Pilgrimage of Hope, October 4, 2025, from St. Leos' Tacoma, WA to the ICE Detention Center.
Photo © IPJC staff
2024-2025 NWCRI Shareholder Activities
NWCRI members brought 20 justice issues to the boardrooms of 30 corporations, filed 28 shareholder resolutions, and participated in over 45 dialogues.
COMPANY
AbbVie
Altria Group*
GEO Group Human & Immigrant Rights Dialogue
Gilead Sciences
Mondelēz International Human Rights Standard in Sugarcane Cutters Withdrawn
Sturm Ruger Public Health Impacts Associated with Products Dialogue Tyson Foods Disclose Votes
Uber Technologies* Lobbying Expenditures Disclosure Withdrawn
UnitedHealth Group Systemic Risk (Macro Economic Risks) Withdrawn
Walgreens Boot Alliance* Discarded Cigarette Pollution
*Resolutions filed by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia from their office.
NWCRI
A program of the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center, the Northwest Coalition of Responsible Investment is a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, a national coalition of over 300 faith-based investors who are Inspired by Faith, Committed to Action. These highlights summarize the work that NWCRI has done in collaboration with ICCR during the past year.
Timnit Ghermay Director, NWCRI, ipjc.org/nwcri
Other Significant Agreements
Costco is the 12th largest U.S. company and sources commodities associated with deforestation such as beef, palm oil, and paper. Shareholders asked for a comprehensive deforestation assessment and action plan for its Kirkland products which was withdrawn for agreement.
XPO Logistics, one of the largest less-thantruckload freight carriers, agreed to publicly disclose its scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, and set a near-term target for electrifying a percentage of its yard tractors by 2030.
JPMorgan Chase agreed to consider free, prior, and informed consent before proceeding with transactions that may have material implications for Indigenous Peoples.
A disproportionate number of dual-use items manufactured by Texas Instruments have been found on the Ukrainian battlefields. An investor proposal on establishing a due diligence process to determine whether its customers’ use of its products contribute to violations of international humanitarian law was withdrawn for a global human rights policy and disclosures regarding its efforts to combat illicit chip diversion to Russian weapons systems.
Members
Adrian Dominican Sisters
Benedictine Sisters, Cottonwood, Idaho
Benedictine Sisters of Mt. Angel Congrégation des Soeurs des Saints, Noms de Jésus et de Marie Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace
Jesuits West
Northwest Women Religious Investment Trust
PeaceHealth
Providence St. Joseph Health
Sisters of Providence, Mother Joseph Province
Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia
Sisters of St. Mary of Oregon
Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus & Mary, U.S.-Ontario Province
Tacoma Dominicans
Shareholders asked for a third-party audit of Chipotle workplace health and safety given repeated incidences of customer violence and shooting of workers, which was withdrawn for a more meaningful disclosure of its health and safety practices and continued dialogue with investors.
In a win for shareholder rights, Apple, AeroVironment, Exact Sciences, and Yelp all agreed to give shareholders nominating candidates to their boards of directors’ sufficient time to cure any procedural errors rather than giving them last minute notice.
U.S. Food Holding agreed to disclose its emission reduction strategies to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets and update shareholders annually on its progress toward having 67% of their suppliers emissions covered by science-based targets by 2027.
cytonn
photography,
unsplash
