Download our 2005 Social Impact Updates (PDF Format).

1st Quarter '05

2nd Quarter '05

3rd Quarter '05

4th Quarter '05

As a shareholder in the Domini Funds, you make a difference in the world. Listed below are highlights of how you made a difference in 2005.

Corporate Engagement

Freedom of Expression and the Internet:Domini, Boston Common Asset Management, and Reporters Without Borders drafted a joint statement of investors calling on Internet businesses to support freedom of expression worldwide, in response to recent revelations that U.S. companies are helping repressive regimes to censor the Internet and jail dissidents. The statement was endorsed by more than 25 institutions in four countries, representing more than $20 billion in assets.

Environment:  Domini helped convince JPMorgan Chase — a $1.1 trillion bank with operations in more than 50 countries — to adopt a comprehensive environmental policy, addressing global warming, illegal logging, protection of habitats, and the rights of indigenous peoples. It will impact the bank’s loans, investments, research and lobbying activities, employee training, and internal operations. Our coalition, led by Christian Brothers Investment Services, helped convince the bank to hire its first Director of Environmental Affairs in 2004.

Global Labor Standards:  In response to a shareholder resolution filed by Domini, Apple Computer adopted a code of conduct for the suppliers that manufacture its products around the world. The code, which incorporates significant comments from our shareholder coalition, covers the core conventions of the International Labor Organization, including strong provisions on freedom of association, collective bargaining, and forced labor.

Nondiscrimination:  After a five-year campaign, Emerson Electric agreed to amend its company-wide nondiscrimination policy to prohibit discrimination against its gay and lesbian employees.

Retail Store Siting:  Domini and Christian Brothers Investment Services released Outside the Box: Guidelines for Retail Store Siting, a 38-page report including a set of nine social and environmental guidelines for big-box retailers to use in making decisions about store site locations, land procurement, and leasing. The guidelines were supported by an additional 16 institutional investors and mutual fund families representing $32 billion in assets under management.

Global Poverty and Trade:  Domini coauthored the report Post-Multifiber Arrangement Challenges, presenting the results of a survey of 65 American companies on their response to the expiration of the Multifiber Arrangement, an international treaty that established country quotas for garment production. It suggested how companies can lessen the negative impact on developing countries. (The report, published by the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility in its “Corporate Examiner,” is available at www.iccr.org)