“This year’s annual stakeholder meetings underscore CEOs and investors increasingly seeing the danger of placing politics above profitability and prosperity,” writes Carolyn Berkowitz, President & CEO of the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP)
Fairfax, VA – April and May are traditionally seen as the height of the annual corporate shareholder meeting season, and the corporate commitment to ESG and CSR policies remains strong despite backlash from a minority of politicians who continue their attacks.
In a new guest opinion editorial published in Investment News titled, “Why the ESG backlash has little effect on corporations: Politicians’ manufactured controversies are having minimal impact in boardrooms,” Carolyn Berkowitz, president and CEO of the Association of Corporate Citizenship Professionals (ACCP), the nation’s leading advocate for corporate social impact professionals, writes:
“As ‘anti-woke’ politicians continue to manufacture controversies to derail commitments to corporate citizenship, their influence is having minimal impact in the boardrooms of America’s top companies.
Annual corporate shareholder meetings have become the epicenter for public debates around ESG practices and investments. In 2023, shareholder meetings are more likely than ever to promote the value that environmental, social and governance and corporate social responsibility programs provide to their businesses’ bottom lines.
This year’s proxy season is the latest signal that meaningless attacks on ESG and CSR aren’t influencing corporate America’s resolve to contribute to, rather than detract from proactive investments in meaningful corporate responsibility initiatives.”
The piece authored by Berkowitz was published recently in Investment News, the leading source of news, analysis, and insights for financial advisors and wealth-management professionals.
Carolyn Berkowitz, president and CEO of ACCP, is a nationally recognized corporate social impact leader who is regularly sought out for commentary and analysis on the state of CSR and ESG policies and practices in Corporate America.
Prior to joining ACCP, Berkowitz led Capital One’s community affairs efforts, spearheading the company’s initiative to re-imagine its CSR strategy with a $450 million, 10-year investment to prepare low- and moderate-income people for future success.
To speak with ACCP President and CEO Carolyn Berkowitz, please contact Jeanne Metzger, VP of Communications at jeanne@accp.org.
