Environmental, Social & Governance Briefs

Airbnb gives consumers choice. Lyft can get you anywhere, anytime. TOMS makes your purchase count for two. Today’s companies significantly impact consumer behavior, from what you do to how you do it, and everything in between. The corporate role in disaster philanthropy—and influence over consumer and employee giving trends—is no different.

Audit and compensation committees have already gone through alignment at many public companies. Now it is the nominating committee’s turn for reordering.

Learning and knowledge sharing are important topics in philanthropy. By adopting a learning orientation and exchanging knowledge with others, grantmakers can better position themselves to address the complex problems they’re working to solve today.

What are the hallmarks of an effective program to promote youth education in Africa? According to Reeta Roy, CEO and President of the Mastercard Foundation, no one organization can address the issue alone—partnerships are critical. Achieving bold transformation means bringing together the right leaders and organizations to build on existing momentum in countries like Ghana.

Corporations are critical to disaster philanthropy, not just because of the dollars they provide. They are often more nimble than governments in reacting to disasters, providing dollars and services minus the red tape. The Ryder Charitable Foundation, a Disaster Responder member of the Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program, is taking the lessons of 25 years in disaster philanthropy and applying them to recent challenges.

Given that shareholder voting carries with it fiduciary duties, it is somewhat surprising to find that proxy advisors have yet to be designated investment advice fiduciaries.

Become a funder and suddenly you're the funniest, smartest, and best-looking person in the room. But what if a simple joke like this reveals an underlying truth about inherent power dynamics that exist between funders, nonprofits, and constituents? Funders need to realize that the perspectives of individuals and communities who are directly affected by issues can be quite different that those of nonprofits.

The new SEC no-action letter policy could lead to further Rule 14a-8 changes as companies will be forced to engage with shareholder proposal proponents.

Is your company's disaster philanthropy strategy optimized? September is National Disaster Preparedness Month, the perfect time to review your strategy to ensure that your company is taking a holistic view of disaster preparedness, from long before a disaster hits to long after.