MakeTIAA-CREFEthical Past Updates

9-25-07 update

After consideration and consultation with our coordinating committee, The Social Choice for Social Change effort will cease lobbying operations at this point. Its principle focus in its various incarnations was for the establishment and then improvement of TIAA-CREF’s socially responsible fund, the Social Choice Account (SCA). We have had much contact with TIAA-CREF (TC) folks of late regarding specific socially responsible investments--principally of the proactive type we have long lobbied for that are intended to promote social change. TC is moving ahead very nicely regarding such investment for the SCA and otherwise (low income area community development, progressive environmental investment, pretty good prospects for social venture capital (SVC), micro-finance, and so on). SRI has become institutionalized within TC--due in no small part to all our lobbying and pushing over the years.

Our last major thrust was for inclusion of SVC into the SCA fund (money going directly to companies--not stock purchases--to help young companies pioneering socially and environmental responsible products and services). From our dealing with folks at TC and other considerations, we are trusting TC that doing such SVC in that fund requires too much difficulty at this point. We still think we made good arguments for its feasibility, but given their current record and initiatives on the drawing board, we are retiring from lobbying on this one concern (still hoping for future consideration as developments in the field change).And, as noted above, there seems to be movement by TC to introduce SVC in other venues in the future. Thus our lobbying work on the SCA—and for proactive investment in general-- is completed, though we will be in contact with TC officials and our advice is listened to well. In retrospect, most all of what we sought over the years has come to pass in one form or another.

However, our work with TC is not complete. Our one focus now will be the efforts of our Make TIAA-CREF Ethical campaign seeking for TC to do shareholder activism on our issues of concern (attempting to influence the corporate behavior of some of its portfolio companies). We are focused on six particular companies and are even now more focused within that work in trying to get TC to take on a labor rights emphasis to add their two stated areas of advocacy now, climate change and human rights in Sudan. And through our working directly or indirectly with certain parties, we helped get two major teacher unions, one national, to pass resolutions consistent with our concerns. And efforts by those bodies is continuing beyond the resolution stage. See www.makeTIAA-CREFethical.org for more details.

Attached is our basic piece trying to garner support for this efforts. Please get your faculty and staff to take the type actions noted. And, with a personal plea, please do send the attached to as many colleagues as you can around the country for their involvement. Thanks, Neil

Neil Wollman

Make TIAA-CREF Ethical

A project of the Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility, Bentley University

 

Neil Wollman; Ph. D.; Senior Fellow, Bentley Alliance for Ethics and Social Responsibility; Bentley University; Waltham, MA, 02452; NWollman@Bentley.edu; 260-568-0116

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