Social Responsibility


  • Ally Financial, NYSE facade
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    Courtesy of Ally Financial
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    Ally’s DEI suit dismissed after bank reduces emphasis

    America First Legal dropped its lawsuit against Ally Financial after the lender largely scrubbed diversity references from its public filings.

    By Gabrielle Saulsbery • April 14, 2025
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    Douglas Rissing via Getty Images
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    USDA tells digester funding applicants to remove diversity, climate language

    The announcement means federal funding for anaerobic digesters on dairy farms could be unpaused for applicants willing to change project language.

    By Jacob Wallace • April 9, 2025
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    Wanan Yossingkum via Getty Images
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    Institutional Shareholder Services subsidiary launches sustainability bond ratings

    The ratings aim to address investors’ “need for comparative insights on the material sustainability risks and opportunities” of green, social and sustainability bonds, ISS Stoxx’s head of ESG said.

    By April 8, 2025
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    Fox Photos via Getty Images
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    Women’s trade organization granted temporary restraining order in DOL, Trump DEI case

    President Donald Trump failed to properly define DEI in his Jan. 20 and Jan. 21 executive orders, Chicago Women in Trades claimed, thus putting its funding at risk.

    By Caroline Colvin • April 7, 2025
  • American Express logo on window
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    Scott Olson via Getty Images
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    Amex says it stopped using diversity goals to set pay last year

    A conservative legal group filed a proposal stating the company should do away with such incentives, but the company said it already shifted away from that practice.

    By Patrick Cooley • April 3, 2025
  • The flag of the European Union is projected on helium balloon reflected in a puddle on a cobblestone street.
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    Gabriel Kuchta via Getty Images
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    European Council adopts proposal to delay sustainability reporting

    The European Parliament has set an April 1 vote for the “stop the clock” measure, which would officially delay reporting deadlines for the bloc’s corporate sustainability laws.

    By March 31, 2025
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    Retrieved from Disney 2025 Annual Meeting of the Shareholders on March 25, 2025
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    Disney shareholders vote to remain in embattled LGBTQ+ ranking

    Only 1% of shareholders voted in favor of stepping back from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

    By Caroline Colvin • March 26, 2025
  • Donald Trump holds up a hat as he signs an executive order while sitting at his desk in the Oval Office
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    Alex Wong / Staff via Getty Images
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    EEOC outlines how DEI might be ‘unlawful’

    Documents outlining discrimination related to “DEI at work” have prompted attorneys to say that employers should re-evaluate their DEI programs now.

    By Caroline Colvin • March 24, 2025
  • A JPMorgan Chase logo stands in front of a building on a city street.
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    subman via Getty Images
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    JPMorgan rebrands DEI, leaves Net-Zero Asset Managers initiative

    The bank said it will swap “equity” for “opportunity” in its DEI policy and that it left NZAM due to the net-zero group’s operational pause.

    By March 24, 2025
  • A sign marks the location of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Local Office in Savannah, Georgia on September 17, 2022.
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    Ryan Golden/ESG Dive
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    EEOC acting chair says agency will investigate big law firms’ DEI programs

    Former EEOC commissioners said Andrea Lucas’ letters probing firms “imply a duty to respond without any basis in the laws that EEOC enforces.”

    By Ryan Golden • March 20, 2025
  • A closeup of Ben and Jerry's ice cream pints.
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    Kevin Dietsch via Getty Images
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    Ben & Jerry’s says CEO fired by Unilever over social activism

    The ice cream maker alleged the consumer goods giant has “repeatedly threatened” its personnel if they failed to “silence” their outspokenness.

    By Christopher Doering • March 20, 2025
  • A John Deere logo is seen on a green tractor
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Deere shareholders vote down anti-DEI proposal

    The move comes months after the tractor giant rolled back its support for “social or cultural awareness events” in July.

    By Nathan Owens • March 17, 2025
  • Businesswoman working at her desk
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    Tinpixels via Getty Images
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    Women unlikely to reach parity with men for 134 years: JPMorgan

    In C-suites worldwide, women are far from attaining equal status, holding only about 10% of the most powerful roles such as CEO and CFO.

    By Jim Tyson • March 17, 2025
  • Over and under water photograph of mangrove tree in clear tropical waters
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    Permission granted by Cool Effect
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    Sponsored by Cool Effect

    Demystifying the carbon market with transparency

    The question isn’t whether or not climate change is happening — the question is, how do we address it?

    March 17, 2025
  • People seen walking down Wall Street.
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    US banks turn to SEC to dodge climate, social shareholder proposals

    The agency has largely denied the requests, ruling that banks must put the requests to disclose its clean energy financing ratios and indigenous rights practices to a vote.

    By March 14, 2025
  • An image of a man's face appears amid a soft foreground and background.
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    Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
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    EPA revisiting dozens of climate, environment rules in ‘day of deregulation’

    The agency said it would roll back a range of rules and programs, including some that are foundational to its efforts to address climate change. A new “waters of the U.S.” definition is expected, as well as rollbacks to an emissions reporting program.

    By Jacob Wallace • March 13, 2025
  • A picture of the United Nations logo.
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    US denounces UN’s sustainable development goals, quits climate damage fund

    The U.S. voted against resolutions that promoted climate action and gender equality and withdrew from the United Nations’ Loss and Damage fund, all within a day.

    By March 11, 2025
  • Chipolte's Carnitas Cinema experience in Roblox
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    Courtesy of Chipotle
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    Chipotle debuts national TV ad on Roblox to promote sustainability

    Created by Venables Bell & Partners, the effort demonstrates how the chain is working to link gaming, content and real-world rewards.

    By Chris Kelly • March 11, 2025
  • President Donald Trump speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House on Feb. 26, 2025.
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    Andrew Harnik via Getty Images
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    How are C-suites reacting to Trump’s DEI orders?

    Most are in a holding pattern, a Littler survey showed — but certain initiatives may be on the chopping block.

    By Kathryn Moody • March 10, 2025
  • fearless girl statue in front of the new york stock exchange
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    Drew Angerer via Getty Images
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    State Street ditches board diversity requirement, completes Big Three DEI retreat

    The nation’s third-largest asset manager will no longer require company boards to feature a certain percentage of women, following similar changes by BlackRock and Vanguard.

    By March 6, 2025
  • A water tower with the Paramount logo hides behind palm fronds
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    Mario Tama / Staff via Getty Images
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    Paramount DEI initiative changes spark employee ire

    While Paramount's co-CEOs cited the president's executive order in their decision, internal backlash highlights the line employers are trying to toe.

    By Caroline Colvin • March 6, 2025
  • A red sign reads "Bank of America" with the bank's flag logo next to it.
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    Spencer Platt / Staff via Getty Images
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    BofA, Wells, Truist de-emphasize DEI in annual filings

    In its paperwork, BofA now uses “opportunity” in place of diversity. Wells, meanwhile, scrapped its diverse-slate interview policy, along with mentions of its pay equity review.

    By Caitlin Mullen • March 4, 2025
  • Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, speaks at a roundtable discussion.
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    BlackRock ends diversity goals, merges DEI team into ‘Talent and Culture’

    The nation’s largest asset manager said it will not renew “aspirational workforce representation goals” which expired in 2024, in response to executive orders targeting DEI programs.

    By March 3, 2025
  • View of trees from corporate building
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    Fahroni via Getty Images
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    Anti-ESG groups intensify activism early in 2025 proxy season

    Opposition to corporate sustainability efforts has grown in recent years, culminating in an anti-ESG order by President Donald Trump last month.

    By Jim Tyson • Feb. 28, 2025
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    Courtesy of U.S. Bank
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    U.S. Bank scrubs DEI, fair pay references

    Mentions of the lender’s diverse-slate hiring policy, pay comparisons by gender and race, and flexible work were absent from its most recent annual filing.

    By Dan Ennis • Feb. 27, 2025