How Your Money is Pushing Back to Protect Diversity and Climate Change

A majority of working Americans have some kind of retirement savings through some combination of pension plans, 401(k)s, or IRAs. But most workers are not aware of the details of how their money is invested or its potential for playing an impactful role on some of the policy issues raising the most widespread concerns. While President Trump is doing his best to wipe out any programs that even recognize, much less advocate for diversity, inclusion, and equity, and rolling back climate protections and disclosures, the meeting this week of the largest group of those who manage these funds for working families shows that there is widespread support for attention to DEI programs and climate, not based on “woke” politics but on quantifiable investment risks.

Here is a summary of the some of the most significant moments of the meeting:

The Council of Institutional Investors, representing $5 trillion in investment capital, celebrated its 40th anniversary at its annual spring conference in Washington DC March 10–12. The opening session was a look back with Jon Lukomnik and former CII heads Ken Bertsch and Amy Borrus interviewed by the current director, Bob McCormick, about the organization’s origins, when then-California state treasurer Jesse Unruh reached out to other pension funds following the greenmail…