SEPTEMBER 14, 2015: During the 2015 proxy season, Trillium Asset Management filed more than two dozen shareholder proposals with publicly traded U.S. companies and engaged with scores more through direct outreach, sign-on letters and in-person meetings. Our corporate engagement addressed a wide range of issues including climate change, board diversity, workplace discrimination, political and lobbying spending, privacy and data security, as well as Indigenous rights. You can find a summary and annotated list of the shareholder proposals that we filed during the proxy season here. …

August 18, 2015: Shareholders sent a strong message to the management of JM Smucker (NYSE: SJM) last week when nearly $1.9B worth of shares voted in favor of a proposal requesting greater disclosure around the company’s renewable energy opportunities. The 21% vote in favor is an indication that shareholders are concerned the company is not doing enough to evaluate renewable energy opportunities within its operations. The shareholder proposal filed by Trillium Asset Management, along with co-filers Calvert Investments, Clean Yield Asset Management, and Green Century Capital Management requests the Board of Directors to: “[I]ssue a public report, at reasonable cost …

AUGUST 6, 2015: Jeremy Cote, CFA, who is one of Trillium’s Research Analysts, was recently interviewed by the Wall Street Journal for a story on Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which concerns the reporting of conflict minerals. Kristin Lin and Emily Chasan write: “…At Trillium Asset Management, a Boston-based sustainability-focused investment firm that manages $2.2 billion, research analyst Jeremy Cote says conflict minerals was one of the top issues considered, along with efficient water usage and human capital management, in its just-completed review of the semiconductor industry. ‘How a company manages their conflict minerals program is a marker of …

AUGUST 5, 2015: Crain’s Cleveland Business recently published an Op-ed which is co-authored by Brianna Murphy, Trillium’s Vice President of Shareholder Advocacy and Stu Dalheim, Vice President of Shareholder Advocacy at Calvert Investments. The column says, in part: “This fall, Ohio’s elected leaders have an opportunity to put common sense, cost-saving clean energy policies back in place. In 2014, the General Assembly and the governor decided to freeze Ohio’s successful renewable-energy and energy-efficiency standards by passing Senate Bill 310… …As lawmakers prepare their recommendations for the legislature and consider future legislation, we urge them to listen to businesses and investors …

AUGUST 4, 2015: Trillium Asset Management has joined 365 companies and investors who sent letters to more than two dozen governors across the United States voicing support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan for existing power plants and encouraging “timely finalization” of implementation plans to meet the new standards. The letter states, in part: “These standards, also called the Clean Power Plan, are critical for moving our country toward a clean energy economy. The Plan’s flexible approach provides an exciting opportunity for states to customize their own energy portfolio, expand clean energy solutions, attract new industries to the …

JULY 24, 2015: Following a productive dialogue between Trillium Asset Management (Trillium) and United Natural Foods (Nasdaq: UNFI), the company has expanded its Equal Opportunity Employment policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Trillium believes that companies and workers benefit from consistent, corporate-wide, efforts to prevent discrimination, ensuring a respectful and supportive atmosphere for all employees. United Natural Foods now joins the growing ranks of companies who are providing protections for their gay, lesbian and bisexual employees. Trillium is pleased that the company has formally taken this important step toward workplace equality which, in our view, …

JULY 22, 2015: Each year, companies seek votes from shareholders on items that are pending on their annual proxy ballots, ranging from the approval of boards of directors to shareholder proposals on social and environmental issues like those we file every year. At Trillium, we take that voting very seriously. You can download a list of our proxy votes for the 2014 – 2015 shareholder season here. …

JULY 8, 2015: Following engagement with investors and advocates, General Mills has become the first major packaged foods company to improve policies to protect bees and other pollinators from the impacts of pesticides. A shareholder resolution filed by investor advocacy non-profit As You Sow and Clean Yield Asset Management was withdrawn after the company agreed to update its Global Responsibility Report with a commitment to support the White House’s Pollinator Health Task Force strategy. “Leadership in sustainability means tackling the tough issues,” said Harriett Crosby, General Mills stockholder and great-granddaughter of General Mills co-founder John Crosby. “General Mills did the …