Who Is Behind the Problem?
It is important to know about the corporate and market structures and actors that influence how we breathe, eat, and sleep.
Who makes up corporations and determines where capital flows? There are humans behind the decisions that shape our economic and societal trajectory:
Corporate Executives
A small number of corporate executives and directors hold immense power over the way we live and work. Too often, their choices—whether to pay poverty wages, cut corners on safety, pollute to lower costs, or lobby against protections—may benefit balance sheets in the short term but impose deep costs on society. As accountability weakens, these decisions threaten not only business but also our livelihoods, democracy, and the planet we share.
Institutional Investors and Shareholders
The capital provided by institutional investors gives them huge influence on the decisions of corporate executives.
Entrusted as fiduciaries, investors—including major U.S. asset managers like BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard—have the power and responsibility to redefine what is acceptable corporate behavior and to hold executives accountable for the runaway climate change and rampant inequality that threaten our communities and long-term future. Because they manage trillions in retirement savings, taxpayer money, and endowments, large asset managers control a significant block of voting shares in publicly traded companies. This voting power allows asset managers to shape boardroom decisions and shield corporations from, or subject them to, accountability. Yet too often, rather than using their influence to protect long-term value, asset managers rubber-stamp management decisions that erode rights, fuel inequality, and accelerate climate breakdown. And because their role in enabling harmful corporate behavior is largely misunderstood, asset managers are not held to account.
Beyond large asset managers, other institutional investors who may be values-aligned — such as foundation or religious endowments – or who directly oversee public money – such as public pension funds or public university endowments – need guidance and support to ensure that their investment decisions are aligned with their stated commitment to the public good.
All of Us
And it’s not only their money at play–it’s ours. Through retirement accounts, pensions, and institutional endowments, the majority of Americans are investors. Yet because we are rarely informed about how our savings are used, and or given few real ways to influence those decisions, our money is deployed to bankroll the very crises that harm us. And those of us who aren’t shareholders are still investors – consumers, workers, and community members—stakeholders whose daily lives are tied to the outcomes of corporate decision-making. This lack of understanding, access and agency is part of the problem: it allows concentrated power to grow while leaving the majority disempowered and disenfranchised, locked out of decisions that shape our jobs, our health, our climate, and our democracy.