The Share-Capital Foundation is in the “business” of fostering discussion leading to action in the area of economic activism.
Activism to Share-Capital has only one face: it is the face of volunteerism—economic volunteerism. And this form of activism is all about volunteer capital—not donation. Activism and volunteerism—these two ideas go together—and when this combination is supported at a grassroots level—the effect on Managers can be palpable.
Why can’t our politicians lead the activism encouraged by Share-Capital?
Share-Capital reminds us that public policy has historically been a process that works in arrears. When we legislate voting rights for everyone as we did in 1964 (after nearly 200 years of history as a nation)—it hardly meets any standard one might describe as proactive. Public policy is about the insight we glean through hindsight.
The fact that citizens choose to forget that legislation is reactionary—not pro-active, does not make Washington, D.C. more prescient or helpful. Only capital markets and volunteers pro-act.
When capital volunteers itself—things happen. Volunteer capital is code for: investment. Think about it. To have a chance at fulfilling a mission, no matter how modest or bold the initiative (a family or a big company) resources as capital (opportunity and treasure) must first show up. The capital necessary for progress and growth comes in many forms—leadership, cash, equipment, facilities, networks, and relationships.
Economic activism, understood as the investment of volunteer capital, is about leading through ownership—and in the Share-Capital model the ownership position of choice is the ownership currency of the shareholder.
To what end?
Watchdog groups, for some time, have purchased a small number of shares of a given company in order to have access to annual meetings where a protest or objection can be formally expressed to Managers. This form of ownership, by shareholder advocates or watchdog groups, by definition, is adversarial to Managers. In the Share-Capital model Managers are the change agents. When the Managers want to change—things happen.
Managers, not always the CEO or the employees, are the “grassroots” engine of a company. Workers are critical but Managers alone have the ability to deliver change—because they are expected to be able to message concurrently in more than one direction—to employees, customers, suppliers, directors and key shareholders. Share-Capital holds that Managers are the secret sauce of change within corporations. The competitive nature of the Manager culture, however, makes it almost impossible for Managers to cooperate among themselves spontaneously. This is a big problem. This means the tip of the spear must come from outside—enter: Share-Capital as shareholder.
Share-Capital also seeks to engage the management of companies that appear to be socially IRRESPONSIBLE. Yup. The more egregious the Managers are perceived to be, the better.
Really? Think about it. If one avoids companies who externalize costs, who exploit tax laws, corrupt the lobbying process, defeat environmental codes, and stress labor conditions—they have to be thrilled when the “socially responsible” choose to go elsewhere—to reside among the green, the ethical and the firms with high satisfaction ratings by employees. The companies with scary Managers are the companies worth engaging.
To change behavior? Nope! To simply put light on the behavior.
As shareholder, Share-Capital engages Managers and then reports what it learns by email and web site to its members—who are numerous, located everywhere, and anonymous.
As shareholder, Share-Capital engages Managers and then reports what it learns by email and web site to its members—who are numerous, located everywhere, and anonymous.
The goal of Share-Capital is to acknowledge aggressive Managers for aggressing in the name of competition and in the pursuit of creating shareholder value. These are the two defenses that rationalize so much Manager content. We all know (or suspect) that shareholder value and the pursuit of value creation does not require Managers to marginalize people or the environment, or to avoid recognizing the social costs of a given process or product.
Share-Capital focuses on three key economic sectors—food, energy and pharma. These sectors represent basic security issues for people the world-around. The Share-Capital model of socially responsible investing is thereby a grassroots way to consider economic activism with a chance of making a difference. With the focus on Managers, who are not always paragons of social responsibility—the outcome can be transformative.
To advance your thinking about the Share-Capital message, consider reviewing the concept of People Denominated Capitalization (PDC) as found on the web site www.share-capital.com under the tab “Programs”.
Until next time we post, we bid you peace.
