Juneteenth is an important day that commemorates the anniversary of June 19th in 1865, when the last group of more than 250,000 enslaved Black Americans was freed by Union troops. This federal holiday—which is an observed company-wide holiday at Domini—is important for us to recognize as a firm and as individuals working together to strive for universal human dignity and racial justice in all the work that we do.
At Domini, we not only recognize this day, but know the actions that each of us take in a community are part of building the culture of justice and equality, and highlight a few ways we are working to continue to bring this into our purpose and actions.
Fostering continued education, building an inclusive community
Through trainings on anti-racism, including the workshops From Bias to Belonging and Allyship in Practice, we are working to improve our own racial literacy and foster a culture of inclusion and trust and effective communications. Colleagues share research and resources to bolster our commitment and highlight opportunities to address racial justice in our work. Learn more in our Commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion. This plan was first adopted in 2021, and is reviewed and updated annually. In the most recent update, we increased emphasis on intersectionality and how different dimensions of one’s identity may contribute to increased vulnerability or likelihood of oppression.
Our Impact Investment Standards
Our Impact Investment Standards incorporate evaluation of systemic racism, taking into account how a company’s products and services increase access or may benefit communities of color, as well as how they may cause harm.
Using our voice to advance change
We look for opportunities to advance racial justice and integrate it throughout our engagement. We are seeing deepening interest and commitment among companies and maintain our focus on elevating equity.
Deepening our Engagements to Further Racial Justice
We seek to integrate a racial justice lens across many of our engagements. In 2023, our Engagement Report shows that we conducted 631 engagements, 195 of which incorporated a racial justice lens. This starts with a focus on how companies can ensure racial equity within their business and across the products and services they offer, and evaluating instances where communities of color may be disproportionately impacted and taking appropriate steps to reduce and repair harm. A few examples:
- We encourage racial diversity on corporate boards and diversity in senior management and leadership in our research across all sectors.
- We advocate for respect for fundamental labor protections and improved protection of worker safety—with a focus on migrant, low-wage or part-time jobs at large retail companies, where people of color are often disproportionately represented in vulnerable jobs in the workforce.
- We are addressing equitable access to affordable housing, and efforts to address historical discrimination in mortgage financing that furthered the racial wealth gap.
- In regards to the clean energy transition, we encourage companies to evaluate environmental justice and community impacts associated with the geographical location of any new facilities and/or their reduction of chemical discharge associated with manufacturing in order to reduce the likelihood of burdening communities of color with pollution. We also ask companies how they are learning from past harms, repairing harm, and working on more fair and equitable solutions.
- Through our bond fund, we seek to fill capital gaps and support equitable access to quality healthcare and hospital systems. In engagements with non-profit hospitals, we reinforced the importance of racial equity and access, and sought to understand how hospitals are distributing benefits aimed at addressing historical inequities and investing in improving the quality of care for patients.
- When looking at the technology sector, we are sensitive to the potential ability for artificial intelligence or surveillance products to be used in ways that contribute to institutionalized discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, class, or other social or economic factors. Understanding this risk, we encourage companies to have robust policies and oversight, hear directly from impacted stakeholders, and seek to ensure that the products they make are not being used in a discriminatory way.
Proxy voting
Through our proxy voting, in geographical markets where disclosure is permitted, we advance our position in support of representation of people of color (or historically underrepresented groups) on companies’ boards. We will also vote against some or all board members if there is not 40% representation of historically under-represented groups on a company’s board. See our 2023 proxy voting activity.
Collaboration
Collective action and shared learning are important for advancing our work. We are active in the Racial Justice Investing Coalition, the Investors and Indigenous Peoples Working Group, and the Thirty Percent Coalition, where we learn from community stakeholders and representatives, activate engagements, and share or co-develop resources that enable us to strengthen the integration of racial equity in our work.