Environmental, Social & Governance Briefs

This weekend, Americans will join students in the March For Our Lives to demand that safety and the lives of our young people become a priority. Marchers will call for an end to gun violence and mass shootings in our schools today. Ever since the horrific murder of students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) School in Parkland, Florida, not only are individuals responding to the MSD students’ call for action, but companies as well.

Many of the corporate board monitoring costs can be drastically reduced, if not eliminated, by using blockchain to establish trust between directors and shareholders.

The China Overseas NGO Management Law went into effect January 1, 2017. The law requires that foreign NGOs coordinate their efforts with the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and provides the framework within which they can continue their activities in the country through two ways: opening a representative office in China or applying for a temporary activity license.

Socially responsible investors have become a bigger part of a company’s ownership. Large funds, such as Vanguard, BlackRock, pension funds and others are exerting their influence for better ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) performance. Various nonprofits are also flexing their muscles. Will the increased scrutiny lead to more proposals on charitable contributions?

A presidential commission looking at the state of American schools concluded that funding for arts education is “on a downward trend” thanks to widespread budget constraints and an increasing emphasis on high-stakes testing. The result, the report said, is that “just when they need it most, the classroom tasks and tools that could best reach and inspire students—art, music, movement and performing—are less available to them.”

Over the first two months of 2018, The Governance Center has released three pieces of research that cover the corporate secretaries’ perspective on the corporate director job, the “New Paradigm” corporate governance framework for directors and investors, and the impact of excessive director compensation.

What’s driving board members to conclude that these are their top improvement areas for 2018? If directors have concluded they must improve on these dimensions, it follows that their boards haven’t been doing a good enough job to meet today’s expectations.

Positive social impact, the result of a company’s efforts to do good directed towards solutions to important problems, is more impactful when a company integrates those efforts with their core competencies and through their products and services. Many corporations’ efforts have been adjacent to the company’s business, or “bolted on.” A “built-in” ethos, where the company works to create value for both the bottom line and the outside world has strong long-term success implications for both.

There’s an astounding number of nonprofits in the world today. We’re talking millions. In many ways, that’s a good thing: It signals not only that there is an ever-increasing number of ways to get involved in social good, but also that people are standing up and trying to make a difference. And it’s no secret that the world needs this kind of social action now more than ever.