What's Happening

October 8, 2019, Washington, D.C. – The Friday, September 27, 2019, segment of National Public Radio’s Finance Fridays featured Sister Judy Byron, OP, and her efforts to work with gun manufacturers to stem gun violence. Sister Judy and other members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), through shareholder resolutions and dialogue, worked with American Outdoor Brands – parent company of gun manufacturers Smith and Wesson – and with Sturm, Ruger, and Company to be more transparent in outlining their gun safety strategies. To listen to the Finance Fridays segment, hosted by Mary Childs and Cardiff Garcia, including interviews with Sister Judy, click on the arrow in the blue bar at the top of the article.  

April 18, 2019, New York, New York – The Adrian Dominican Congregation is among 105 members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) to sign a letter to Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, commending the corporation for no longer financing private prisons and immigrant detention centers. JPMorgan Chase’s decision came after an October 17, 2017, letter expressing the concern of the faith-based investors over the company’s relationship with the private detention industry, along with several dialogues between the corporation and the ICCR. 

In the October 2017 letter, the ICCR members “cited risks associated with private detention centers, such as inmate deaths, poor medical care, allegations of physical and sexual abuse of detainees, and violence,” according to the April 8, 2019, letter commending JPMorgan Chase for the move. “We have appreciated the company’s responsiveness and attentions to the issues we raised in our conversations” and “commend JPMorgan Chase for making the decision to stop financing the private prison industry.”

The Adrian Dominican Congregation, through its Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB), has worked for more than 40 years with the ICCR in its mission to foster corporate responsibility among the corporations in which the Congregation invests. In addition, through its Community Investments arm, the PAB offers low-interest loans to “community-based enterprises that demonstrate a commitment to social justice through alternative economic endeavors.”

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