The Shareholder Action Guide: Unleash Your Hidden Powers to Hold Corporations Accountable

by Andrew Behar

Corporations are the most powerful entities on the planet. Unfortunately, many have had a long record of unprecedented and unbridled environmental degradation, social transgressions, and governance secrecy. Since by law they are beholden to their shareholders, some philanthropic trusts, pension funds, and other institutional investors have used shareholder advocacy to press for changes in corporate policy. But individual investors have largely been silent, thinking themselves powerless. They're not!
The Shareholder Action Guide is designed to inform, inspire, and instruct investors in how to exercise their power to effect meaningful change on critical issues including climate change, food toxicity, executive compensation, worker's rights, sustainability, and much more. Owners of as little as $2,000 worth of stock in a publicly traded corporation have the power to be heard. This book is a call to action designed to build a movement of active investors. Behar shows investors exactly how to stop abdicating their power and own what they own.
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208 pages, Paperback

Published November 14, 2016

About the author

Andrew Behar, As You Sow CEO, has 30 years of experience as a Senior Executive and strategist in the clean-tech, communications, and life science sectors. Prior to joining As You Sow, Andrew founded and was CEO of a clean-tech start-up developing innovative fuel cell technologies. He served as COO for a social media agency focused in the sustainability space and has been a strategic consultant in the nonprofit sector. He has founded and run start-ups in the medical device and communications areas and serves on the boards of several high-tech innovation companies. Andrew is also an elected board member of US-SIF, the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment.

Reviews

[Jack Fernandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe that The Shareholder Action Guide is THE manifesto for socially and environmentally minded investors. Did you know that owning even one share in a company gives you rights and privileges that can help to shape the company’s future? Did you know that owning as little as $2000 worth of a stock gives you the power to file a shareholder’s resolution that must be made accessible to all of the company’s investors, and voted on? Did you know that you, as an individual, can use a little bit of knowledge about corporate governance to encourage companies to divest from coal, implement more environmentally friendly processes, or increase the diversity of the board of directors? If you are interested in shaping the destiny of corporations through financial advocacy, this book is a great place to start.