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The adverse impact of shareholder activism on board gender and minority diversity among the S&P 1500 http://bit.ly/2wpnWCG #corpgov
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Terre Haute Tribune Star |
Indiana United Ways elects Jonathan Weinzapfel to its board of directors
Terre Haute Tribune Star Today, he is actively engaged with the United Way of Southwestern Indiana as a board member. He fondly recalls his earliest United Way experiences with his mother, who was the executive director of the Evansville YWCA, a United Way member agency. |
May 28, 2017 at 03:22AM
from
Yale University touts itself as a socially and environmentally responsible investor and has been celebrated for taking steps to distance its financial portfolio from certain fossil fuels. But it remains heavily invested in oil and gas — to the tune of several hundred million dollars ― according to an investigation by its own employees and students.
UNITE HERE Local 33, a union of graduate employees, and Fossil Free Yale, a student group pushing for the Ivy League school to divest completely from the oil and gas industry, confronted the university with their findings in a Tuesday letter to Yale’s chief investment officer, David Swensen.
Their analysis of Yale’s $25 billion in endowment investments show that at the same time the university has been publicly positioning itself as a leader in climate-conscious investing, it was profiting off the fossil fuel industry, Elias Estabrook, a spokesperson for Fossil Free Yale, told HuffPost.
Local 33 and Fossil Free Yale said that since Swensen in 2014 urged the university’s investment partners to consider climate change in future financial decisions, Yale has continued to hold numerous investments related to energy extraction.
In June 2016, for example, Yale held $230 million worth of stock in Antero Resources Corporation, a Denver-based oil and gas company with extensive hydraulic fracturing operations, according to Securities and Exchange Commission filings. And as recently as June 2015, the university had around $110 million invested with ARC Financial Corp., a major Canadian private equity management company that specifically focuses on energy, according to Yale’s latest available tax filing.
The Connecticut university also had $53.7 million invested in Merit Energy Company, a privately held oil and gas producer, according to the company’s latest tax filing. And the school owned roughly $2 million worth of shares in Whitehaven Coal, the Australian company behind the controversial open-pit Maules Creek coal mine in South Whales, according to a website on which Local 33 shares its information on Yale’s investment assets.
The findings suggest Yale isn’t walking the walk, even as it has made major announcements about its commitment to sustainability and the role it plays in addressing climate change. And given the complexity of the university’s endowment model ― in recent decades, it has shifted away from investments in publicly traded companies and toward private equity investing ― representatives of Local 33 and Fossil Free Yale say its possible they’ve only scratched the surface of the school’s fossil fuel holdings.
In August 2014, Swensen wrote to each of the university’s fund managers about how climate change influences the university’s investment program. He said his office “bases its approach to global warming on the conclusion that greenhouse gas emissions pose a grave threat to human existence,” and recognizes that “climate change (caused by deforestation and emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases) creates a substantial risk of significant changes to the world’s ecosystem.’’ That made “consideration of the impact of climate change essential when evaluating investment opportunities,” he said.
Although Swensen did not call for divestment, he urged the school’s external endowment managers to “assess the greenhouse gas footprint of prospective investments” as they invest funds.
Yale spokesman Thomas Conroy, responding to Tuesday’s letter from the two school groups, cited a 2014 statement in which the school declined to recommend divestment but took note of Swensen’s guidance on the issue.
Asked to comment on specific financial holdings, Conroy said, “Yale does not disclose or comment on its investments.”
Like many other universities, Yale’s board of trustees, known formally as Yale Corporation, has resisted calls that it divest from fossil fuels. The Yale Corporation Committee on Investor Responsibility, which advises the board on policy matters concerning ethical investing, in August 2014 argued that divestment was a misguided and ineffective approach to addressing the climate crisis. It said the school would have its “greatest impact” on the issue through its core mission of research, scholarship and education.
However, it adopted new guidelines saying Yale “will generally support reasonable and well-constructed shareholder resolutions” that seek “company disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions, analyses of the impact of climate change on a company’s business activities, strategies designed to reduce the company’s long-term impact on the global climate, and company support of sound and effective governmental policies on climate change.”
In April 2016, Swensen announced in a second letter that Yale had identified several investment partners that held positions “inconsistent” with its policies on climate change. Two investors responded by divesting around $10 million of the school’s endowment from coal and oil sands operations.
Some environmentalists celebrated the move. Bill McKibben, a leader in the fossil-fuel divestment movement, called it a “key day” in that effort.” Others, however, criticized what they saw as a decision based on economics rather than ethics. At the time, a communications director for Fossil Free Yale called the announcement “progress,” but “not divestment,” according to Yale News.
That “partial divestment” prompted Local 33 and Fossil Free Yale to look more closely at Yale’s holdings.
“We were very surprised to discover that in fact the university, through its endowment investments, remains bullish on fossil fuels and continues to invest in fossil fuels and in the carbon economy,” Aaron Greenberg, chair of Local 33, told HuffPost.
“There are so many of these examples where it seems like Yale is waiting until the science screams at them about how environmentally unsustainable these investments are, and not on their own evaluating significant environmental and social risks,” he said.
Greenberg and Estabrook say all of the investments in the disclosure reports are troubling ― particularly the 2015 stock acquisition in fracking giant Antero. The natural gas industry has come under increased scrutiny for its release of methane, a greenhouse gas far more potent that carbon dioxide, and potential impacts of fracking on drinking water. In its most recent SEC disclosure, filed Monday, Yale maintained Antero shares valued at $91 million.
With its Antero stock, Yale is “in effect gambling that short term profits outweigh the possibility that science would reveal long-term harm to the earth’s climate,” argue Local 33 and Fossil Free Yale.
The groups also spotlight Yale’s stake in Whitehaven Coal through the $591 million the school has invested with Farallon Capital Management LLC, Whitehaven’s largest shareholder, according to the university’s latest tax disclosure. The Maules Creek coal mine, which opened in 2015, was a scene of mass protest over deforestation and threats to endangered species, with activists chaining themselves to construction equipment and hundreds of people being arrested.
“Along the lines of the Keystone Pipeline and Dakota Access Pipeline, it’s a central front in the battle to ensure that environmentally and culturally sensitive lands are protected,” said Greenberg.
The findings by Local 33 and Fossil Free Yale can be found at 33wallstreet.org.
Global climate change has spurred pressure on institutions around the world to cut ties with fossil fuels. In the United States, those calls have intensified as the Trump administration advocates for increased domestic oil, gas and coal production and moves quickly to roll back Obama-era policies to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Since 2011, more than 700 institutions worldwide have divested more than $5 trillion in assets, according to Go Fossil Free, an arm of McKibben’s 350.org environment group. More than 100 universities and colleges, including Harvard, Barnard, Stanford, Georgetown and the University of California have committed to either partial or full divestment.
Rachel Calnik-Sugin, a Yale sophomore and member of Fossil Free Yale, told HuffPost that if Yale truly wants to lead on climate change, it must disclose and divest.
“More than ever we need moral leadership from our universities,” she said. “We can’t just be passive.”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
May 17, 2017 at 03:22AM
from Chris D’Angelo
Over the past 10 days the pressure to break ties with the fossil fuel industry has never been greater, as thousands of people attended over 260 events in 45 countries on six continents during the Global Divestment Mobilisation (GDM), demanding institutions divest from fossil fuels. At a time when governments are failing to meet their climate-related promises and President Trump is threatening to leave the Paris Agreement, we can’t afford to stand-by waiting for our governments to do the right thing.
Climate impacts are taking us into uncharted territory in terms of floods, forest fires, heatwaves, storms, and drought. We know that it is investments in the fossil fuel industry that fund climate impacts. That is why campaigners, faith groups, academics and impacted local communities came together to build on the fossil fuel divestment movement, which is now spreading in Asia, Latin America and Africa, setting the groundwork for future divestments.
Divestment has proven to be an effective way to undermine the power of the fossil fuel industry both politically and financially. Global commitments to divest have already reached 710 institutions across 76 countries, representing well over US$5.5 trillion in assets under management, indicating that the fossil fuel industry has no future.
During the GDM citizens and respected institutions across the world were able to enact an immediate and a much needed transformational form of climate leadership. This included the announcement from nine Catholic organizations from around the world about their decision to divest their portfolios from fossil fuels in the largest joint Catholic divestment to date. A total of 27 Catholic institutions have now divested. Meanwhile, in Brazil, over 3000 people participated in prayers in a vigil outside the Umuarama Cathedral, to voice their hopes for a fossil fuel free future.
Other faith groups also took a moral stand and committed to divest including over a quarter of Quaker meetings in Britain, and a group of 30 clergy ― including three Church of England bishops ― sent an open letter to the Church of England Pensions Board, asking them to divest from fossil fuel companies and to invest in renewable alternatives.
Across Europe, the links between municipalities and fossil fuel companies came under scrutiny. Over 1,000 people marched in Munich, Germany and demonstrations took place across the UK including rallies at 14 Town Halls across London demanding divestment. Campaigners also put pressure on universities pension funds, faith, health and cultural institutions such as the Louvre in Paris, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the British Museum.
Global commitments to divest have already reached 710 institutions across 76 countries… indicating that the fossil fuel industry has no future.
The battle to safeguard people and planet is linked worldwide, the money in one part of the world is linked to infrastructure projects being built elsewhere. Hundreds of people gathered in Jakarta to listen to community representatives from Indramayu about their struggles living near coal power plant, while activists in Japan attended events targeting Japanese banks that invest in similar coal projects in the region.
In New Zealand and Australia, campaigners targeted Australian coal giant Adani by calling on the banks that invest in it, including CommBank to stop its funding. Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has suffered a large bleaching for the second year in a row. Any mining expansion would jeopardize it even further.
In the Netherlands, teachers, scientists and civil servants confronted the national pension fund ABP that continues to invest their pension savings in fossil fuels. While other activists in the UK demanded that Barclays divest from fracking.
Meanwhile, in New York, 150 activists rallied inside Trump Tower, to call on New York City officials to cut their ties with the dirty oil and gas companies that control the White House. In the face of federal government climate denial and the possibility of the US leaving the Paris Agreement, demonstrating that local leaders can show impactful climate leadership, while other parts of the country are suffering from severe flooding.
Students and academics led the way with creative actions, including activities at the Universidad de San Martín, Argentina; Universidad Católica Boliviana, Bolivia; Stellenbosch University and University Cape Town in South Africa; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Nigeria. French and Flemish speaking students at six universities in Belgium released a joint open letter calling on their institutions to stop investments in fossil fuels.
Divestment also provides the means to enact a just transition by reinvesting into renewable energy systems. This was discussed at events held across Africa at universities and local communities, where the fossil fuel industry and its culpability in climate change were discussed along with clean energy solutions, in the face of some of the worst droughts the continent has ever suffered.
The future is in the reinvestment of the divested funds to support the communities most impacted by climate change and the dirty energy-based economy. The divestment movement is modeling what governments need to be doing: withdrawing funds from the problem and investing in solutions.
We urgently need this transformation in the global energy system, away from the fossil fuel dependence that drives climate change, and into renewable energy solutions for all. That’s why our governments, universities, religious organizations, cultural institutions, individuals, and others, must divest and cut ties with this rogue industry in order to curb the worst of future impacts of climate change. Moving forward through 2017 and beyond with their support, the divestment movement will continue to grow in size.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
May 17, 2017 at 03:22AM
from Hoda Baraka
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Walter Wartenweiler retweeted:
‘They’ll get rich and go’: #Glencore’s McArthur River mine could take 300 yrs to clean up http://ift.tt/ZCXhB2 @stukhan #auspol #corpgov
May 15, 2017 at 03:17AM
https://twitter.com/Waltika/status/863876809208864773
from Walter Wartenweiler
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Corporate Governance retweeted:
‘They’ll get rich and go’: #Glencore’s McArthur River mine could take 300 yrs to clean up http://ift.tt/ZCXhB2 @stukhan #auspol #corpgov
May 15, 2017 at 03:17AM
https://twitter.com/ToGovern/status/863876543772319748
from Corporate Governance
There seems to be a popular, largely unspoken belief out there that women over 50 shouldn’t be wearing bikinis, or any other two-piece bathing suits that show the stomach. But recently, there have been several major media moments that debunk this fashion myth, starting with 2016’s groundbreaking issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition–the same one that featured plus-size model Ashley Graham as its subject.
This issue also contained a gorgeous ad spread by bathing suit company Swimsuits for All featuring the smokin’ hot, then 56-year-old Nicola Griffin. This was no tankini she was photographed in. The very lightly photoshopped images showcased her in a skimpy, gold metallic “itty bitty” bikini. The same one cover model Ashley Graham rocked in the same ad spread!
The campaign allowed Nicola’s age to show through, including age spots, wrinkles, and cellulite. And the result was glorious!
Women over 50 rocking bikinis has become so common that recently, In Style magazine even ran a feature on their website showcasing a video of “Over-50 Bikini Babes”. The spread included celebrities such as Elle Macpherson, Elizabeth Hurley, Cindy Crawford, Kris Jenner, and Sharon Stone.
Kris Jenner is actually 61 and has birthed six children. Her flaunting a bikini body is remarkable and ground-breaking for women everywhere!
Of course, many of the women in this celebrity spread have access to the most expensive, exclusive, state-of-the-art anti-aging treatments and plastic surgery. So, if you’re a “real” woman over 50 looking to ease your way into the world of bikinis, I’ve got some inspiration for you!
Periodically, I invite my Mom, who is over 50, to participate in the blogger shoots and social media videos I create. I was down at her home in Miami Beach not too long ago when she agreed to jump in front of the camera with me.
I think we can all agree that she looks amazing!
This lace-up front two-piece from JustFab is a great option for women who are looking to experiment with two-piece styles, but maybe aren’t as comfortable as the Kris Jenner’s of the world with flaunting their 50+ figure. This suit is universally flattering and works on women of all ages and sizes!
No matter what age you are, or what you choose to wear, the most important thing is to love the body that you have, harder than ever before! For more inspirational content like this, and to receive a weekly dose of Body Love to your inbox, visit melparrish.com and sign up for the #healthyatanysize community.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
May 15, 2017 at 03:23AM
from Melinda Parrish
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WPWAM retweeted:
‘They’ll get rich and go’: #Glencore’s McArthur River mine could take 300 yrs to clean up http://ift.tt/ZCXhB2 @stukhan #auspol #corpgov
May 15, 2017 at 03:17AM
https://twitter.com/WillauerProsky/status/863876335940374528
from WPWAM
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WholeBoardDevelopmnt retweeted:
‘They’ll get rich and go’: #Glencore’s McArthur River mine could take 300 yrs to clean up http://ift.tt/ZCXhB2 @stukhan #auspol #corpgov
May 15, 2017 at 03:17AM
https://twitter.com/WholeBoardDev/status/863876318122921985
from WholeBoardDevelopmnt
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Sheila retweeted:
#CorpGov $ENRT going #viral? @Brettfoster82
May 11, 2017 at 03:20AM
https://twitter.com/f0qQ0F9onqL3t3l/status/862430560593096705
from Sheila
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Leonie retweeted:
May 11, 2017 at 03:20AM
https://twitter.com/NOuR3Jk5FpNTZez/status/862430488480423936
from Leonie
May 10, 2017 at 03:22AM
from
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Make sure you get all you deserve, and perhaps leave the door open.
May 10, 2017 at 03:16AM
from
http://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Why it’s important to offset a condition increasingly recognized as a health threat on par with smoking.
May 10, 2017 at 03:16AM
from
May typically marks the start of summer blockbuster season and lately that means two things: Get ready for some superhero movies, and get ready to mix up some Chrises.
One such Chris, Chris Pine, took the stage to host “Saturday Night Live” this weekend with a clear message: Although there are many men like him, he is, in fact, unique.
And as far as classically handsome hero types in recent Hollywood blockbusters go, he’s definitely got the first part right.
Unfortunately for him, however, Pine bears a strong resemblance to the white, male stars of other comic-book adaptions, and, through a coincidence that says a lot about the state of on-screen diversity, they also share a first name. Although individually talented human beings, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt and Chris Hemsworth all too easily illustrate the continuing problem of on-screen representation ― particularly among superhero movies.
On Saturday night, “SNL” cast members gleefully confused the four Chrises, who star in various Marvel and DC Comics franchise installments, throughout Pine’s opening monologue.
(”Thank you, Thor,” Leslie Jones says after snapping a selfie. Thor, an “Avengers” character, is played by Hemsworth.)
While their other look-alikes are taking a break for the moment, you’ve likely seen Pratt, who recently embarked on a press tour for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” now in theaters. Pine’s “Wonder Woman” is out June 2. As the actor, who also plays Captain Kirk in the “Star Trek” movies, pointed out himself, superheroes, like Star-Lord, all have the same look ― white, male and as inoffensive as possible. Or, as Kate McKinnon phrased it, “you’re all kind of scruffy and squinty and jacked but in a sweet way.”
A change in optics hoped for by fans of “Wonder Woman,” starring Gal Gadot ― who is, yes, a woman ― seems to be coming at a glacial pace keenly illustrated by the way that film languished in various stages of production from the 1980s. Given our knowledge of how on-screen representation affects viewers’ self-worth, the pace is unfortunate. A few other breaks from the norm will arrive over the next three years: “Black Panther,” starring Chadwick Boseman, will be out in 2018, “Captain Marvel,” starring Brie Larson, in 2019, and a stand-alone Cyborg film in 2020.
At least it’s something. For decades, superhero movies have served as a genre that celebrates white male achievement like no other, emblematic of the widespread Hollywood diversity issues that inspired #OscarsSoWhite. Studios may have wizened up to public perception, featuring women and people of color in roles that get less screen time in films such as “Deadpool,” “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Captain America: Civil War,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “X-Men: Apocalypse.” But you’ll notice the figures at the front of promotional posters are not women, black actors, Asian actors, gay actors or anyone beyond people who’d feel easily at home in the Chris Quartet.
Or this Venn diagram:
sometimes you need to make a venn diagram to help keep track of things http://pic.twitter.com/aFCLAQM3gg
— Keith Calder (@keithcalder) May 7, 2017
While the Oscars offered wider diversity in its nominations this year, it’s the most pervasive, biggest moneymaking titles ― the movies that won’t take home prestigious awards but will nonetheless be known to every household in America by September ― that seem to need the most work.
Most recent statistics on representation among film leads continue to find gross inequality; 2015’s top films showed minorities underrepresented 3 to 1 and women underrepresented 2 to 1, according to the UCLA’s Bunche Center. The problem is even worse among the people leading production of top films: the study found that their directors continue to skew white (90 percent) and male (92 percent). Among the people ultimately responsible for getting these movies made and shipped out to massive screens nationwide ― studio executives ― the majority are, again, white men.
This summer’s “Wonder Woman” will offer some respite from the onslaught of white guys in movies wearing shiny, tight-fitting suits, who look like white guys in directors’ chairs wearing T-shirts, who look like white guys in board rooms wearing normal suits. (And it’s directed by one Patty Jenkins! Huzzah!)
But it remains symbolic that Pine is seen promoting the film on the set of “SNL”― not Wonder Woman herself.
For now, we’re still living in the Age of the Many Chrises.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
May 09, 2017 at 03:18AM
from Sara Boboltz
Forbes |
Russian FX Traders Forecast US Dollar Trading At ’55-60 Rubles’ Largely By Yearend
Forbes The biggest issue facing the Russian ruble (RUB) in 2017 is the price of oil. That is according to a Bloomberg survey of foreign exchange (FX) executives – spanning FX analysts, traders and technology professionals – who were canvassed at the business … |
May 08, 2017 at 03:23AM
from
