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Sister Gabriella Lohan, SHSp, serving as mistress of ceremonies, introduced Brother Thomas Krieter, CSC, who gave a brief history of SRIC, noting it began in 1982 as the Texas Coalition for Responsible Investment (Texas CRI), which became a program of the Intercongregational Justice and Peace Office, Camino a la Paz. When that program ended in 1997, the group incorporated as the nonprofit SRIC.
The evening’s invocation was given by Bishop Michael Pfeifer, OMI, of the Diocese of San Angelo, who was provincial for the Oblates when Texas CRI started. “He remembers getting up in the founding workshop and saying: ‘The Oblates are in! Let’s do it!’” said Sister Gabriella. “Well, the Oblates are still in!” she said with a smile.
Bishop Pfeifer thanked God for opening the hearts of those involved with SRIC to a new way “and especially for the times you moved us through your powerful spirit to be your agents of justice, truth and peace here on planet Earth.”
Sister Imelda Gonzalez, CDP, introduced guest speaker Tim Smith, whom she described as “a man inspired by faith and committed to action.” Smith, senior vice president and director of socially responsible investing at Walden Asset Management, was formerly with the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) in New York for 29 years, serving as its executive director for 24 years. SRIC is an active member of ICCR.
Noting that members of SRIC “constantly have to blend the mandate of the Gospel with financial decisions,” Smith described their work as providing a platform for religious communities to use their moral voice and financial vote — “your faith and your finance, your values and your power, to protect God’s earth and promote justice.”
Referring to the early founders of the socially responsible investment movement as “fools with faith,” Smith recalled how they went against the mantra of the 1970s and 1980s business world, which was that the job of a business was solely to make a profit for its shareholders.
One of the early issues the pioneers in the new movement took on was addressing apartheid in South Africa. When they first raised the question of U.S. financial institutions lending money to the government of South Africa, they were told, “You can’t mix morals and finance,” Smith said. Eventually, banks did withdraw from this lending, however, and began to examine the human rights impact of loans made around the world.
Other issues addressed by religious investors included infant formula abuse in Third World countries, the environment and climate change, maquiladoras and diversity in the workplace, said Smith, noting SRIC was often in the forefront, “emboldened by their faith, but inspired also by the incredible leadership of a ‘frequent flyer nun,’ (Sister) Susan Mika, OSB, who helped guide them.”
He recalled that, under the Texas CRI name, the organization had arranged a fact-finding visit for ICCR to the border so the realities of the maquiladoras could be seen first-hand. “You captivated the energy of a broad cross section of religious investors,” he said, “who used their investment dollars and knocked on the door of scores and scores of companies that had maquila operations, calling them to live up to higher standards, to better principles ... .”
Very specific changes in the business community took place because of their efforts, he noted, including attention to global warming by Ford, BP and AIG and monitoring by companies such as NIKE, Reebok and Dell to make sure their products were not being produced in sweatshop conditions.
“Wal-Mart is doing some extraordinary things on the environment and vendor standards,” he said, “even though they find it very, very hard to deal with the issue of their labor standards and benefits for workers.”
Investors had a rude awakening, he related, when the wave of corporate scandals started, involving such corporations as ENRON, WorldCom and Adelphia. Suddenly, investors became concerned that companies be held accountable through better corporate governance and began to pay attention to issues that SRIC and others had been
raising.
While corporations may have paid little heed in earlier years to issues raised by a religious congregation, the picture changed as larger investors with trillions of dollars behind them raised questions. This marked a new era, said Smith, one of new alliances, albeit with different motivations.
Smith, chairman of the board of the Social Investment Forum, a secular trade association similar to ICCR, noted that this group does a Trends Report every two years and has found the human rights issue in the Sudan and Darfur to be an increasingly important one. Rather than being initiated by the social investment community or the faith community, this movement began as a grassroots effort by college students, with 20 of the top U.S. universities taking the position that investment should be withdrawn from companies who play a major role in what is happening there.
“That’s surely taking a page from the social investment work that focused on apartheid in South Africa,” Smith said.
The issue that garners the most attention, however, is that of corporate governance, he observed. CEOs of some companies drawing $400 million salaries is not sitting well with shareholders, he said.
He related that this year the Benedictine Sisters have placed shareholder resolutions before around 50 companies, requesting that share owners be given an advisory vote annually on the amount of executive pay packages. Such resolutions are getting an increasingly larger number of votes these days, he said, because traditional shareholders are “voting their pocketbooks,” seeing this as making good business sense.
“Everyone in this room can imagine the day when our resolutions on diversity and maquiladoras and sweatshops and climate change start getting 50, 60 percent of the vote,” he said. “The day may be closer than we think.”
Still, Smith sees the need to keep a balanced perspective, being enthusiastic over the work accomplished, but looking ahead at the challenges to be faced. He called for redoubled efforts in reducing environmental threats contributing to climate change, protecting employees in factories throughout the world whose goods we use, and breaking the glass ceiling that prevents women and persons of color from moving up the job ladder. Also of grave importance is the issue of the role of companies in addressing broadening global poverty and being a creative force in combating the AIDS/HIV crisis in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
“The bottom line is that our work is not done — and the bottom line is it is more important than ever,” he said. “We should acknowledge and be proud tonight that the social investment movement, that huge growth that I talked about, is riding on the shoulders and building on the legacy of ICCR. And in all of this, and the work that ICCR did too, we stand on the shoulders of the work of SRIC here in Texas.”
Following Smith’s speech, acknowledgments were made to Sister Susan Mika, OSB, SRIC’s executive director from 1982 to 1990 and, again, starting in 2004, and to former directors Linda Southers, Father Warren Brown, OMI, Michael Hess and James Donovan.
Acknowledgments were then given to the current and past executive committee members. These included present members: Esther Ng, representing the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio; Sister Barbara Netek, IWBS, representing the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament, Corpus Christi; and Brother Thomas Krieter, CSC, of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
Honored as former members were Sister Theresa Anne Billeaud, CDP, of New Orleans, and Father Rufus Whitley, OMI, presently of Rome, who were present, and Father Tom Byrne, CSSp, John Canty and Sister Brigida Smiley, CCVI, who were unable to attend.
Lifetime achievement awards were presented to Sister John Marie Crowley, CCVI, and Sister Frances Lorene Lange, CDP.
Sister John Marie, a mentor to many in her efforts to bring about corporate responsibility both nationally and in Texas, was introduced by Brother Tom Krieter who recalled her traveling to the headquarters of General Electric to ensure GE’s withdrawal from managing Sandia Labs. “You quietly but firmly spoke truth to power, Sister John Marie,” he said to her. “We are in your debt. You have stood for the poor, the downtrodden, those without voice. You have made sure that women were lifted up. You have believed in community development so communities have funds to help with building the infrastructure they need for a better life.”
Sister Susan noted that Sister Frances Lorene, had “kept the dream alive in her heart” of a socially responsible investment group here, doing so for many years. Newly elected to her council in 1974, Sister Frances Lorene had brought before them a letter from Father Michael Crosby, OFM Cap., who was seeking a host community for such an undertaking. The time was not right, but she did not give up the dream which finally came to fruition in 1982 in the founding of Texas CRI. “I truly feel that we would not be here today if it had not been for her,” said Sister Susan.
Sponsors, staff and others who had helped in special ways with the evening’s success were also recognized, including the worker-owned company in Piedras Negras that had sewn the cotton SRIC tote bags given attendees. The label in them proudly proclaimed, “¡Justicia!” — letting it be known that they were produced under just circumstances. “Many of them have been fired from other maquiladoras,” said Sister Gabriella, “because they raised questions about the working conditions.” |