Proxydemocracy.org - Holding Corporations Responsible

Proxydemocracy is a nonprofit project which has the goal of helping shareholders and mutual fund owners have a say in the running of the companies they invest in. For mutual fund owners, proxydemocracy provides a search tool which allows you to check how your fund has voted on issues that concern you like executive compensation, labor standards or global warming. If you don’t like how your fund has voted, send them an email or switch to a fund that is more in line with your beliefs. Since approximately 50% of Americans own mutual funds, this tool is perhaps the only way that citizens have of holding corporations responsible. Proxydemocracy works a bit differently for shareholders, allowing them to search for a company they have shares in and to request notification when a respected shareholder activist has voiced that they are going to be voting in a certain way at an upcoming meeting. If you agree with the activist, you can then add your proxy vote to theirs.

“ProxyDemocracy provides tools to help investors use their voting power to produce positive changes in the companies they own. It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan project supported by foundations that are themselves interested in being responsible investors.”

In a day and age where average citizens are more politically aware but seem to lack the tools required to make real changes, proxydemocracy could be just what the doctor ordered. If enough people get active, the face of corporate America could be changed by the greater good. Corporations exercise huge influence over the people of the world but nobody has any say in what they do, hopefully, proxydemocracy can change this.

Perhaps an RSS feed would be a handy little add on? One that announces upcoming meetings and the major issues that could be influenced would be ideal.