As an active and responsible institutional investor, United Church Funds (UCF) files shareholder resolutions every year to address areas of concern at many of the companies in which we invest. This year, 2025, was no different: UCF served as either lead filer or co-filer of eight resolutions pertaining to a number of different concerns:
- JP Morgan – Enhanced commitment to Indigenous Rights, specifically Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC)
- Molina Healthcare – Enhanced Lobbying Transparency
- International Paper – Enhanced Lobbying Transparency
- LabCorp – Enhanced Lobbying Transparency
- WorkDay – Enhanced Lobbying Transparency
- CitiBank – Enhanced Recognition of Indigenous Rights
- Dollar General – Adoption of Human Rights Policy
- Tesla – Disclosure of Political Contributions
What was markedly different in 2025 was the political climate in which these resolutions were filed. A new White House administration that is openly hostile to both Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) policies as well as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations has put pressure on companies to avoid adopting any reforms that address the concerns of responsible investors.
In addition, since March 2025, the SEC has significantly rolled back or dropped several key rules and proposals related to Responsible investing, which the acting chair has characterized as “costly and unnecessarily intrusive.”
For example, the agency placed tighter deadlines and more onerous reporting requirements on investors that ask companies for such things as disclosure of their climate risks or boosting gender equality on their boards. The SEC also made it easier for companies to exclude shareholder proposals from their proxy statements if those proposals were deemed not significantly related to their business. And the SEC gave companies an extra opportunity to convince regulators to allow specific proposals to be excluded on the basis of this new policy, but it has not afforded investors a similar opportunity for additional explanation.
In spite of these steep requirements and challenges, UCF was successful in getting the first five resolutions listed above withdrawn for agreement, meaning the company committed to specific actions requested in the proposal.
As a lead filer, UCF creates a shareholder resolution and submits this resolution to a company’s corporate secretary, requesting that it be placed on the upcoming proxy ballot. But there is always time to negotiate before the annual shareholder meeting takes place, and if the company agrees to take significant positive action, an agreement can be reached.
“Anytime a resolution we file is withdrawn for agreement, we regard it as a victory for the churches and faith-based organizations that invest with us,” said Matthew Illian, UCF’s Director of Responsible Investing. “Our clients are committed to creating a more just world through responsible investing, and these resolutions often provide a push for companies to do the right thing.”
The Tesla resolution was withdrawn by the lead filer, Newground Social Investment, prior to the shareholder meeting and before any negotiation with management. The CitiBank resolution received support from 13.5% of shareholders, and the Dollar General resolution received 22.9% votes in favor. “While not the results we were hoping for, both the CitiBank and Dollar General results demonstrate that a nonnegligible number of shareholders want to see action taken on these issues,” Illian pointed out. “We are going to keep at this work. This is not our first engagement with Dollar General, for example, and it certainly won’t be our last.”
UCF partners with and is a founding member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), a leading coalition of faith- and values-based investors. Each year, the ICCR summarizes the results of its annual proxy season across its membership, and this year’s report, “Catalyzing Corporate Change,” highlights four of the five UCF resolutions that were withdrawn for agreement in 2025.
In total, ICCR members filed 347 shareholder proposals this year on a range of issues, including climate and environmental concerns, worker and human rights, governance, health equity and supply chain issues. Of these, 66 resolutions were withdrawn for agreement, 148 proposals went to a vote and 13 won a majority vote by shareholders.
“We are very pleased to have been highlighted in the ICCR’s report, and we look forward to continuing this important work by partnering with them,” Illian added. “As we look to 2026, we know that we will face continued resistance and pushback. But these agreements show that shareholder advocacy still works, and that faith-based investors can still move corporations toward greater transparency and accountability. And while we may need to adjust our approach in some circumstances, our mission remains unchanged.”