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October 3, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – More than 100 people gathered at Weber Retreat and Conference Center September 26, 2025, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB).
The theme, “Building on Legacy, Impacting the Future,” permeated the daylong event in which speakers recounted communities and policies changed for the better because of the work of the Portfolio Advisory Board. From challenging corporate leaders to change policies for the benefit of people and planet to loaning money to people in underserved communities, the legacy of the PAB was palpable, as was the challenge to continue the work.
The PAB was established in 1975 in response to a proposal approved at the Adrian Dominican Congregation’s 1974 General Chapter to evaluate its financial investments “in relation to the Gospel social principles and the identification of means to effect change toward justice in the policies and operations of corporations.” The history of the PAB and the story of its efforts over the years were captured in a commemorative booklet by Adrian Dominican Associate Arlene Bachanov.
Over the years, two strategies have been used to effect change: shareholder advocacy, in which the PAB invests in corporations to encourage them to be “fair and responsible” to workers, customers, and the environment; and community impact investing, making low-interest loans to community organizations that benefit low-income people and underserved communities.
The celebration included a day of education during which several people spoke of PAB’s impact. Recordings of both the morning and afternoon sessions are available in the Video Library at adriandominicans.org and at the end of this article.
[Morning video starting at 08:10]
Left: Sister Marilín Llanes, OP, left, Director of the PAB, and Cynthia Crimm, Chair of the Board, serve as co-hosts at the PAB celebration. Right: Sister Janet Doyle, OP, joins others in applauding Sister Carol Coston, founding member of the Portfolio Advisory Board.
In her opening, Sister Marilín Llanes, OP, Director of the PAB and co-host of the event, recognized two Sisters whose longtime ministry with the PAB has had significant impact: Sister Carol Coston, OP, who served on the first PAB Board while ministering as founding director of NETWORK, a Catholic social justice lobby, and Sister Frances Lombaer, OP, “the longest-running participant in proxy voting.”
[Morning video starting at 34:40]
Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, offers the opening remarks.
Sister Elise D. García, OP, Prioress of the Congregation,spoke of the shift in consciousness about our Earth home and the call to respond to the signs of the times that gave rise to the PAB, in remarks titled “One Earth Community.” After reviewing the history of the PAB, she explained its current focus on helping to build the beloved community.
“Martin Luther King invested it with a depth of meaning,” she said. “It is a vision where poverty, hunger, and homelessness will not be tolerated, where racism will be replaced by an all-inclusive spirit of sisterhood and brotherhood, and disputes resolved by peaceful conflict.”
Noting President Donald Trump’s recent talk at the United Nations, she said, “he undermines the foundations of concepts such as human rights or our duty to protect the environment. These are the values we associate with the beloved community.”
The PAB remains committed to the values of building the beloved community, even as “we are facing headwinds,” she said. For all who are committed to working on issues of concern, including gun violence, “we, your Adrian Dominican Sisters, say Adelante [forward]!”
[Morning video starting at 57:11]
Laura Krausa, Systems Director of Advocacy Programs for CommonSpirit Health, offered a keynote address on “Building Safe Communities.” She noted the “incalculable” costs of violence on communities and on the people involved and spoke of a 2008 initiative by CommonSpirit Health to address violence. “The best way to combat it is with solutions that reduce risk and build resiliencies.”
Laura attributed CommonSpirit Health’s initiative on community health to the “mandate” set by women religious congregations who had previously sponsored the hospitals and other healthcare facilities that now make up the current healthcare system. The Sisters had been “building cultures of peace” and expected CommonSpirit Health – current sponsor of the hospitals – to do the same, she said.
She described a successful model in which the healthcare system offers funds to communities to develop a plan to reduce violence that involves a broad coalition of stakeholders meeting regularly, listening to local community members, and addressing their areas of concern. Community programs initiated with CommonSpirit Health have included a program for girls that helps girls to understand their own value and power. A boxing program attracts youth “before they fall into gang life and coaches them to understand how they can be better people and maintain a more productive avenue” for their energy, she said. She also spoke of a gun safety program – piloted in rural London, Kentucky – to help residents understand the need to store their guns securely so that children couldn’t get to them.
Panelists on Case Studies in Building Safe Communities are, from left, Cynthia Ricks-Maccotan, Laura Krausa, and Sister Judy Byron, OP.
Laura led a panel in which Cynthia Ricks-Maccotan, Community Integration Program Manager for CommonSpirit Health, and Sister Judy Byron, OP, PAB member, spoke on their own work in building safe communities.
Cynthia gave the example of a mentoring program developed in one CommonSpirit Health community for young women of color, which included tutoring, free counseling with Brown, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) therapists, and after-school programs. Achievements included a decrease in violent behavior and an increase in school attendance and self-confidence.
Sister Judy spoke about several campaigns for gun safety in the aftermath of numerous mass shootings. In particular, members of the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCR) and colleagues in the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) purchased stock in gun manufacturers Sturm, Ruger and Company and Smith & Wesson to ask how the companies are addressing growing gun violence. Getting no response, they filed a shareholder resolution with them and most recently filed a lawsuit in federal court against Smith & Wesson, naming the officers for wrongdoing in their sale of AK-47-style firearms.
Sister Judy also related a success story in which the same group of faith-based investors worked with gun retailers, asking them how they were implementing gun safety measures. The CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods responded immediately, and after the 2018 shooting in Parkland, Florida, “right away he looked to see if they had sold the weapon” to the shooter, Sister Judy said. The sporting goods chain announced that it would no longer sell firearms to anybody under 21 or sell assault-style weapons or high-capacity magazines, she said.
[Afternoon video starting at 0:14]
Duanne Andrade, left, and Sister Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor, share a light moment during the panel discussion on Climate Justice.
Sister Corinne Sanders, OP, General Councilor and former Director of the Office of Sustainability, began the afternoon as moderator of a panel discussion on climate justice with Duanne Andrade, CEO of the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF) and Carolyn Shenoy, Manager of Investor Relations for One Acre Fund.
Duanne explained that SELF, operating in 14 states, gives loans to low- to moderate-income families. With a mission to help families reduce greenhouse emissions and improve their homes, SELF manages 2,000 loans a month, tailored to the needs of each family. “We work at the intersection of resilience, public health, safety, and financial inclusion,” she said. “The biggest barrier is lack of access to capital.”
Duanne explained that SELF is independent, not receiving state support. “We survived thanks to the Adrian Dominican Sisters and thanks to Sister Corinne Florek,” who encouraged the organization to apply for a loan from the PAB, she said. “We’re the most established green CFI [Corporate Finance Institute] in the South.”
One Acre Fund works in 10 countries, mostly in Africa, giving farmers “opportunities to secure their livelihood and help to mitigate climate change through planting trees,” Carolyn said. She shared stories of how the PAB’s support of One Acre Fund has allowed farmers to succeed while challenged by climate change they did not create, she said.
One woman, a client from Burundi, learned from One Acre Farm how to increase her yield of crops and produce compost to improve her soil. “The increased harvesting means she’s feeding her family,” Carolyn said. “Sometimes she sells surplus food to buy food that they don’t produce, like meat. Farming is really profitable if it’s done well.”
[Afternoon video starting at 1:38:03]
Juan F. Soto, Organizing Director for Gamaliel Network, closed the education portion of the day. A national network of 43 faith-based affiliates in 14 states, Gamaliel is “committed to empowering ordinary people to participate in the political, social, and economic systems that shape your life,” Juan said.
He emphasized that climate change is “driving displacement,” creating climate refugees. He tied climate issues to immigration issues to environmental issues. “The cry of the migrant is tied to the cry of the Earth,” he said.
“The Church must stand boldly and say we will not separate climate and immigrant justice,” Juan said. “Our social teaching teaches us that creation is a gift from God – not something to be exploited. Pope Francis reminds us that the care of the environment and of immigrants are one.”
Juan called for a public witness among people of faith to begin investing in green, renewable energy rather than fossil fuels and to train leaders who see Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’, as a mandate. “Let us together walk as a synodal church: listening, discerning, and acting, so that in the future people will know that the church stood not on the sidelines but on the frontlines of immigration and environmental justice.”
After the day of education and inspiration, participants gathered for a final time for a reception, featuring hors d’oeuvres, socializing, music by Mariachi Jalisco de Detroit, and the premiere showing of a video on the history and work of the PAB.
Feature photo at top: Sister Marilín Llanes, OP, left, Director of the PAB, and Cynthia Crimm, Chair of the Board, serve as co-hosts at the PAB celebration.
By Mary Minette Mercy Investment Consultant
In proxy year 2025, shareholder proposal filings decreased from the previous year due to a variety of factors, including successful withdrawals in 2024; rising sentiment against the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) criteria for determining an organization’s social impact; and uncertainty about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approach to shareholder proposals in a new federal administration.
The Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) estimates that member-filed shareholder proposals decreased 15 percent from the 2024 proxy season, with a 43 percent drop in climate proposals, a 38 percent decline in human rights and worker rights proposals, and a 25 percent drop in health-related proposals.
The rate at which companies challenged shareholder proposals at the SEC has also increased compared to previous years, due in part to a mid-year policy revision that included significant changes in how SEC staff interpreted the rules for the permitted content of proposals. In addition, the SEC invited companies to submit challenges even if the deadline to exclude a proposal from their proxy had expired at the time the new rules were issued.
According to ICCR, about 17 percent of member filings were challenged in 2024, and nearly 47 percent of filings were challenged in 2025. The SEC allowed companies to omit 25 percent of the challenged proposals.
In addition to these changes to the proposal process, the new SEC chair, Paul Atkins, has indicated that he would like to restrict or even eliminate the shareholder proposal filing process. A recent report from the Business Roundtable also supports substantial restrictions on shareholder proposals, claiming that they are time-consuming and costly to companies and often concern issues with no material financial impact. Finally, the legislature in Texas recently passed a law that will allow companies incorporated in that state to amend their by-laws to opt out of allowing shareholder proposals.
Companies are removing public disclosures on ESG programs and performance objectives to avoid being targeted by anti-ESG proponents. Other companies have announced rollbacks of climate commitments and diversity programs. Through dialogue, we have learned that many of these companies remain committed to progress in these areas, showing the importance of ongoing dialogue and strong relationships with companies to maintain progress on environmental and human rights issues.
The news is gloomy, but the Portfolio Advisory Board remains committed to our work in shareholder advocacy, engaging in dialogues with 42 companies and filing 10 shareholder proposals in the 2025 proxy season. We will continue to support the rights of shareholders to bring critical issues to the attention of the companies they own and to push companies to be transparent about their efforts to address issues such as human rights and climate change that pose a risk to their business, as well as to our communities and the Earth.
Feature image at top: "Shareholder" by 2210178venushree, CC BY-SA 4.0
By Lydia Shoaf Content and Press Associate, Friendship Bridge
Yeiny, a young woman living in Huehuetenango, Guatemala, finished high school and started a family at a young age. But when her husband left, she found herself on her own with three school-age children to care for, in a country deeply rooted in gender inequality.
With 56% of Guatemala’s population living below the national poverty line and exceeding 70% poverty among rural, Indigenous populations, Yeiny knew she would have a tough road ahead. But she was determined to support her family. (Read more about the global gender gap and poverty and equity in Guatemala in reports prepared by the World Bank.)
Committed to keeping her three children in school rather than dropping out to work (common among Guatemala’s impoverished families), Yeiny began selling fruit outside of a school. In order to improve her financial situation and grow her business, she became a client of Friendship Bridge, a nonprofit social enterprise that offers small loans to low-income women.
Friendship Bridge serves women in Guatemala who couldn’t get a loan from a traditional bank. With an average loan of about $600 per person, women typically borrow money as a group in their local community, called a trust bank, to support one another and ensure they’ll be able to make their loan payments. Yeiny joined the Entre Alamos Trust Bank in Huehuetenango, and the money she received from her loan allowed her to reinvest in a new business selling dietary supplements.
The loan Yeiny received, however, was only a part of what Friendship Bridge offers to help women thrive. Each month, when it is time to make a payment on her loan, Yeiny attends a trust bank meeting where she learns from 30-minute non-formal education sessions on topics including business, money management, self-esteem, and health. Similar to adult education classes in the United States, non-formal education focuses on educating women so they can pass on what they learn to their children and other family members.
"It is important to know that in the face of all adversity, as women, we can get ahead together and respect each other,” Yeiny says.
The Adrian Dominican Sisters have invested in Friendship Bridge since 2020, and recently refinanced and increased its investment. Such investments helped Friendship Bridge serve more than 36,000 women in 2024 with small loans paired with education and preventive health services, a program known as Microcredit Plus.
Yeiny has particularly appreciated learning about good investment and self-esteem. “The trainings have helped me a lot, both physically and mentally,” she says. “They have helped me know how to invest and make a percentage of profit and see if I can continue to invest in any other products.”
In addition to learning how to be more responsible with money and to take care of herself, Yeiny built and furnished her own house.
These skills carried over into other areas of Yeiny’s life as she remarried and grew her family. She and her husband now operate a bakery together, which has been very profitable. They employ three people and are continuously diversifying their services to earn more income.
“Friendship Bridge is not only about getting a loan, but it offers a lot of help, motivation, and learning,” Yeiny explains. “Thanks to God and this organization, my business is growing and my family is growing as well.”
Caption for feature photo at top: Through Friendship Bridge, groups of seven to 25 women from rural Guatemala borrow money together in a Trust Bank to invest in their small businesses. During Trust Bank meetings, members make loan payments and receive non-formal education sessions on topics such as money management, self-esteem, and health.
By Maxwell Homans Shareholder Advocacy Associate, Mercy Investment Services, Inc.
The Portfolio Advisory Board filed a proposal this year at Dollar General, asking the retail dollar store to adopt a comprehensive human rights policy aligned with international human rights standards. Mercy Investment Services worked closely with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility’s (ICCR) Advancing Worker Justice Initiative to advocate for this resolution, carrying forward engagement with Dollar General following the company’s unsatisfactory responses to previous human rights concerns.
A previous resolution in 2023 had asked the retail chain for a safety audit to address reports of unsafe conditions, understaffing, and violence at many of its stores. The 2023 resolution received a majority vote with more than 77% shareholder support. However, the company surprisingly refused to engage with the shareholders who had led this proposal. Dollar General chose instead to conduct an audit privately, choosing a “union-busting” law firm as the auditor; the audit found minimal problems with company policies. Since that time, Dollar General agreed to settlements with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for unsafe store conditions and illegal union-busting activities. The company was fined $12 million by OSHA in July 2024 for repeat safety violations, and in July 2023 the NLRB ruled that Dollar General was practicing “blatant hallmark unfair labor practices” based on their corporate response to store workers attempting to unionize in Connecticut. In addition, workers have reported continued understaffing, low pay, and feeling unsafe at stores, with no meaningful changes since the audit and agreement with OSHA to increase safety protocols.
Recognizing the need for further engagement on worker safety and rights, the proposal the PAB filed this proxy season focused on requesting a corporate-wide human rights policy, asking for greater protections for workers and customers still experiencing unsafe conditions in stores.
To highlight the voices of Dollar General workers calling for change, ICCR co-hosted a webinar briefing ahead of Dollar General’s annual meeting to build support for the human rights proposal. Dollar General workers told personal stories of receiving violent threats at work, being ordered to block fire exits, and feeling embarrassed that peer retailers offered safer conditions and higher pay for their workers. Investors also made the case for a human rights policy, connecting worker testimonies to widespread financial risks and penalties faced by Dollar General.
The human rights proposal received 22.9% of the shareholder vote at the company’s annual meeting, falling short of a majority, but high enough to allow investors to re-file the proposal next year. PAB and our fellow investors will continue our push to improve workers’ rights and human rights in Dollar General stores.
As workers demand more from U.S. retailers, it is imperative that these companies uphold workers’ legal rights to organizing and collective bargaining and a safe and healthy workplace. Stores including Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and Starbucks have all seen their workforces unionize in recent years, and with Dollar General surpassing 20,000 stores in the U.S. this past year, responsible business means embracing workers’ rights, not systematically denying them.
Workers and shareholders will continue to speak up to ask companies to respect human rights; to be successful, companies like Dollar General need to listen.
By Judy Byron, OP
I kept my fourth- to sixth-grade students safe by conducting fire and earthquake drills. Lockdowns weren’t in my teacher’s toolkit.
I didn’t have students bringing packets of ketchup with their school supplies, as I recently heard about one little girl doing. If a shooter came to her classroom, she wanted to be prepared to spread ketchup on herself and her friends so that the shooter would think that they were dead.
Everytown for Gun Safety reports that every day, 125 people in the United States are killed with guns and more than 200 are shot and wounded. And research by the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions found that since 2020, firearms have been the leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 17. When motor vehicle accidents were the leading cause of death for children, we changed that statistic by mandating seat belts, airbags, car seats, and driver education. Can we change the statistics on children and firearms?
Faith-based investors think we can. In 2017, the Northwest Coalition for Responsible Investment (NWCRI), along with a group of colleagues from the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), joined a growing number of public health experts, gun owners, state and city governments, and citizens in seeking solutions to gun violence.
We purchased stock in firearm manufacturers such as American Outdoor Brands (Smith & Wesson), Sturm Ruger, and Dick’s Sporting Goods, with the goal of engaging these companies regarding the positive role they can play in ending the epidemic of gun violence.
We wrote letters to the companies to raise our concerns and to request dialogue. When none of the companies responded, we filed shareholder resolutions with the manufacturers in early January 2018, “requesting a report on the company’s activities related to gun safety measures and the mitigation of harm associated with gun products.”
The Dick’s Sporting Goods resolution, filed in December 2018, requested a “report on actions our Company has taken on elements such as those based on Sandy Hook Principles,” including measures designed to curb gun violence such as background checks, technology to enhance the safety of guns, and gun safety education at point of sale. The company, including Chief Executive Officer Ed Stack, dialogued with us regarding the actions the company was taking. We were convinced that management was taking steps to reduce gun violence, so we withdrew our resolution.
We had not heard from the manufacturers when the tragedy in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day 2018 ignited a youth movement that had the potential to address gun violence in our country. Yet the manufacturers of firearms remained on the sidelines, even as their largest investor, BlackRock, publicly urged the companies to address gun safety with questions identical to those in our shareholder resolution.
At the Sturm Ruger annual meeting on May 9, 2019, a majority of shareholders – 69 percent – made it perfectly clear that they wanted the company to take seriously the social impact of its business and that gun safety is a significant and growing social issue. Chief Executive Officer Christopher Killoy’s response to the vote was, “The proposal requires Ruger to prepare a report. That’s it: a report…. What the proposal does not and cannot do is force us to change our business, which is lawful and constitutionally protected.”
Our resolution and dialogue with Dick’s Sporting Goods, however, did result in the company changing its business. On February 28, 2018, Dick’s announced that the company would no longer sell firearms to anyone under 21 or sell assault-style weapons and high capacity magazines. Stack ended his media release saying, “We deeply believe that this country’s most precious gift is our children. They are our future. We must keep them safe.”
Four years later, on May 24, 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, the teachers and students knew what to do when confronted with a mass shooter, yet 19 children and two teachers did not survive. Today, compelled by the 10-year-old girl who survived and pleaded with the 911 operator, “Please help. I don’t want to die,” NWCRI and our colleagues continue to press firearms manufacturers to help end gun violence.
Used by permission from Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, A Matter of Spirit, Spring 2025, No. 145
Feature photo at top: Gun Safety Committee panel with Giffords Law Center, Guns Down America, and Sandy and Lonnie Phillips, whose daughter Jessie was killed in the Aurora Theatre in 2012.
By Katie Montes, MSW, Executive Director of Mary’s Mantle
May 15, 2025, Detroit – Mary’s Mantle, a home for expectant mothers located in Metro Detroit, opened in 2010. It is a nonprofit organization and an apostolate of the Archdiocese of Detroit that provides housing for up to four expectant mothers at a time, regardless of religious affiliation. The women must be at least 18 years old with no other children in their care. They can stay at Mary’s Mantle for up to one year while they work on their educational, vocational, spiritual, and emotional goals.
The Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) on April 3, 2025, unanimously approved a loan request for expansion of operation to first-time recipient Mary’s Mantle.
Jackie came to Mary’s Mantle in August 2022 when she was four months pregnant. At the time, she was homeless and needed support. Jackie gave birth to her beautiful daughter Karasi (affectionally called Roz) in January 2023. She stayed at Mary’s Mantle for eight months.
While working with her case manager, Jackie reached many goals, including maintaining her career as a pharmacy technician. The Mary’s Mantle staff faithfully provided the necessary workplace transportation so that Jackie could save money to pay off her tickets and get her license reinstated.
As the time for her transition to more independence neared, Jackie applied for and was given financial assistance from a Mary’s Mantle fund to buy a reliable vehicle. What a precious honor it was for staff to stand in the driveway and tearfully wave goodbye to a buckled-up, ready-to-roll driver and the little girl peeking out from her car seat!
Jackie and Roz moved out of Mary’s Mantle in April 2023. Jackie has stayed active in the After Care Program, often attending Sunday Suppers and other events to stay connected. Just last month, Jackie came to dinner and game night at the house, where she beautifully engaged with the current moms in the program. She shared her ups and downs of being in the program and provided a listening ear. What a gift to witness her giving back to the program that once supported her!
Jackie continues to send photos and keep staff updated on how she and Roz are thriving. “Mary’s Mantle was in my corner when I needed someone to lean on the most,” she said. “I was able to achieve so many goals during my stay. Two of the main goals I was able to accomplish were getting my license back and purchasing a reliable vehicle. I am forever grateful for Mary’s Mantle and each of the staff that supported me.”
Caption for above feature photo: Jackie and her daughter Karasi benefited from their time at Mary’s Mantle. Photos Courtesy of Mary’s Mantle
By Christopher Richardson Shareholder Advocacy Manager, Mercy Investment Services
April 14, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – World Water Day, recognized annually on March 22, is a global moment of reflection and action. It reminds us that water is not just a resource. It is the sacred lifeblood of our planet and a gift that connects all life. We must protect this gift not only for ourselves but also for future generations.
This year’s World Water Day theme, "Water for Peace," highlights how responsible stewardship of water resources can prevent conflict, promote equity, and restore harmony between communities and ecosystems.
The shareholder advocacy work supported by the Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) is working to encourage companies to be more transparent and responsible in how they manage water use and avoid water contamination throughout their operations and in their global supply chains.
Through programs such as the Ceres Valuing Water Finance Initiative, investors engage food, beverage, utility, and energy companies to ensure water stewardship is central to their business models. The risks associated with water – scarcity, contamination, extreme weather – aren’t just environmental. They are operational and financial, directly impacting supply chains, crop production, and worker and community well-being.
This year, we’ve expanded dialogues with companies like Ingredion, Campbell’s, and Coca-Cola to explore their progress and gaps in water stewardship.
Ingredion has made notable strides in managing its water risk. The company is conducting facility-level water risk assessments and has incorporated water reduction targets into its broader sustainability strategy. It is also integrating water stewardship into its sustainable agriculture goals for its global supply chain, particularly in high-water-use regions like Pakistan and the U.S.
Campbell’s, too, has highlighted water as a priority, although its progress is mixed. The company set a goal to reduce water usage by 20 percent by 2025 from a 2017 baseline but recently reported a 7 percent increase in use. Campbell’s has also mapped water risks at 100 percent of their manufacturing locations and is assessing climate and water risks across 24 priority raw materials. We will continue to press the company for concrete progress in managing its water use and water risk.
Coca-Cola has long prioritized water as a key risk for its business, setting a target in 2007 to replenish 100 percent of the water used in its drinks production by 2020, which it achieved five years early, in 2015. In 2024, the company announced an initiative with its African bottling companies to address water insecurity.
The Equatorial Coca‑Cola Bottling Company set targets to improve its water-use efficiency by 20 percent and achieve 100 percent local water replenishment by 2030. Its bottling operations serve more than 160 million consumers, making these goals both impactful and essential. ECCBC is also working to align with The Coca-Cola Company’s overall "2030 Water Security Strategy" and collaborates with NGOs to improve water access and sanitation in vulnerable communities.
Our goal through shareholder advocacy is to support companies in becoming better stewards of water resources. By raising expectations, asking better questions, and pushing for more complete disclosures, we help companies prepare for a future where water will be a defining factor in resilience, cost, and reputation.
On this World Water Day, let us remember that water is not a commodity. It is a sacred thread that binds us all.
By Joshua Geary Communications Manager, Center for Economic Opportunity
March 17, 2025, San Diego, California – For many refugees, establishing financial stability in the United States is a daunting challenge. Without a credit history, they are often deemed ineligible for loans by traditional lenders, limiting their ability to secure housing or transportation or to start a small business. Recognizing this critical need, the Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) approved a loan request in September 2023 to support the Fresh Start Fund, an initiative of International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO).
CEO is a unique loan fund, offering small-dollar consumer, business, and credit-building loans primarily to refugees and immigrants who have resettled in the United States. CEO has expanded its work to support other low-income populations, including public housing residents and people who were formerly incarcerated.
Since 2015, CEO has provided more than 10,000 loans totaling $37.5 million, primarily benefiting refugees and immigrants with limited credit history. The repayment rate of CEO’s borrowers is above 95 percent, demonstrating the program’s effectiveness. CEO is certified by the U.S. Treasury as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) Loan Fund and a Small Business Association (SBA) Microloan Intermediary.
Through the Fresh Start Fund, CEO offers loans with discounted rates to newly resettled refugees in the United States. Access to credit accelerates refugees’ economic integration, yet traditional financial institutions often label these borrowers as “subprime” due to their lack of credit history. As a result, many face extremely high interest rates or are denied financing altogether. CEO takes a different approach, assessing each applicant’s full financial picture rather than relying solely on credit scores.
These loans are made in tandem with credit education and other asset-building services delivered by CEO’s national network of community-based partners. These organizations bring deep community ties and cultural competence, ensuring that loan recipients receive not only financial support but also guidance tailored to their unique circumstances. This “Lending as a Service” model effectively extends capital to where it is needed most.
CEO views itself as an entry point for individuals seeking fair credit and an alternative to subprime and predatory lenders and high-interest financial services. One example of CEO’s impact is visible through its auto lending. Reliable transportation significantly expands employment opportunities, allowing individuals access to jobs with higher wages and more flexible hours. CEO’s auto loan product offers an affordable pathway to car ownership without the burden of excessive interest rates – some of which can reach as high as 28 percent.
This is made possible through CEO’s underwriting policies, which do not rely solely on credit score, but account for the whole person and their ability to repay. CEO can offer flexibility in repayment, which allows borrowers to work with CEO and protect their credit if they cannot make a payment in a given month.
With the Adrian Dominican Sisters investment, CEO is able to offer affordable loans to people who would otherwise be excluded from traditional financing. This initiative aligns with the Sisters’ long-standing commitment to economic justice and empowering marginalized communities.
Check out this YouTube video, featuring staff, partners, and borrowers from CEO explaining the impact of CEO’s zero percent credit building loans.
Feature photo at top: Victoria, owner of Victoria Barrier Solutions, a residential and commercial fence and railing business, receives loans from the Center for Economic Opportunity.
By Sister Judy Byron, OP, Portfolio Advisory Board Member and Maxwell Homans, Shareholder Advocacy Associate for Mercy Investments
February 18, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – Beginning in 2024, several prominent companies announced that they are ending or modifying their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs aimed at hiring and supporting a more diverse workforce and supplier base. These announcements followed recent legal decisions regarding affirmative action programs, anti-DEI campaign rhetoric in the recent election cycle, and a flurry of anti-DEI shareholder proposals at companies in recent proxy seasons.
Ford Motor Company was among the first to announce changes in its DEI programs, citing an “external and legal environment related to political and social issues [that] continues to evolve.” The Portfolio Advisory Board joined other investors in filing a shareholder proposal requesting that the company disclose analysis that the company undertook before making changes to its DEI policies and practices. Ford’s announced changes included no longer participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) survey on corporate practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) employees; not linking compensation to diversity goals; and changing the focus of employee resource groups.
In a subsequent meeting with Ford, the company assured investors that its commitment to diversity and inclusion is unwavering. The company said it has not put out a public clarification of its position because it wants to avoid feeding the media narrative grouping it with DEI rollbacks, but it immediately reached out to its largest investors to inform them of its continued commitment to DEI.
Speaking with Ford to hear firsthand why the changes were made and how it plans to continue fostering a working environment based on belonging and individual potential was helpful. However, we anticipate that the proposal will remain on the proxy ballot and hope that Ford will use the opportunity to explain its decision publicly.
Walmart announced in December that it will be rolling back some of its DEI initiatives and modifying its DEI language while continuing to encourage “a sense of belonging” for its employees, customers, and suppliers. PAB and other investors have engaged with Walmart for more than 30 years, including numerous dialogues and proposals that flagged the business and financial risks to Walmart associated with systemic racism, discrimination, and inequity as well as the significant benefits of advancing DEI.
On January 15, the PAB and other Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) investors sent an Investor Statement to CEO Doug McMillon and issued a press release expressing our deep disappointment regarding Walmart’s recent announcement about its DEI commitments. Subsequently, investors met with Walmart about its DEI program changes and we plan to continue engaging the company on that issue.
Early executive orders from the new Trump Administration have fueled fears that companies could come under federal investigation for their DEI programs and policies, and more companies, such as Target, have recently announced changes in their programs. We anticipate that urging companies to continue to prioritize DEI will be a significant focus for our engagements with U.S. companies for some time to come.
By Marilín M. Llanes, OP Director of the Portfolio Advisory Board and Office
January 14, 2025, Fort Pierce, Florida – In October 2024 two powerful hurricanes left widespread devastation in the southeastern United States. Communities in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and beyond were walloped by the hurricanes within a two-week span, leaving lives disrupted and lost, homes destroyed, and critical infrastructure severely damaged.
In response to the serious needs arising from these cataclysmic storms, the Solar Energy Loan Fund (SELF) has been a beacon of hope, acting swiftly to deliver relief.
St. Lucie, Florida, in the county where SELF is headquartered, was directly affected by Hurricane Milton, which caused considerable damage to the area. Historically, SELF has offered financial assistance to residents of hurricane disaster areas with great success and impact. SELF stepped up again for the residents who needed the most assistance. Partnering with SELF, the Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) is part of these rebuilding efforts.
On December 3, 2024, the PAB approved a Hurricane Recovery Loan for $100,000 with a very low interest to offer home repair loans of $10,000 to the most at-risk homeowners. With these loans, homeowners can make necessary repairs and replacements to ensure that their homes are safe and sanitary and do not continue to deteriorate further.
SELF is the first nonprofit in the country dedicated exclusively to climate equity, storm resilience, and sustainability in under-resourced and underbanked communities. SELF began its journey in 2009 as a U.S. Department of Energy pilot program in St. Lucie County, Florida, and has since expanded operations to four states – Florida, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina – focusing on projects in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods with a default rate of less than 2 percent. Since 2013, SELF has been a lending partner with the PAB.
We stand in solidarity with SELF in their diligence in providing hurricane relief to residents by offering low-cost loans with grace periods that allow ample time to repair their homes. Truly, SELF is a green beacon of hope in these challenging times.
Caption for above feature photo: These residents, like many others, receive service from the Solar Energy Loan Fund as they deal with devastation caused by hurricanes. Photo Courtesy of the Solar Energy Loan Fund
Portfolio Advisory Board, Adrian Dominican Sisters | 1257 E. Siena Heights Drive | Adrian, Michigan 49221 Phone: (517) 266-3523 | Email our office: