News Archives » Faith Responsible Investing
Northern Virginia Community Organization Develops $30 Million Redevelopment Fund October 1st, 2013
VOICE, the northern Virginia community organization that has been addressing housing blight in the region, was highlighted in a Washington Post article recently. The organization has put together the $30 million “Prince William, VA Restoration Fund” from mortgage lenders responsible for a major foreclosure crisis in the area. The fund is designed to address neighborhood blight caused by the foreclosure & predatory loan crisis in town home communities like Georgetown South in Manassas, VA. The Oblates have actively supported VOICE’s efforts to develop this community redevelopment fund through our activist shareholder connections.
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Financial Transparency Coalition Meets in Africa on Problem of Illicit Financial Flows September 30th, 2013
The new Financial Transparency Coalition is meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania on October 1-2. The theme for the conference, is “Towards Transparency: Making the Global Financial System Work for Development.” Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI, US JPIC Office Director, is officially representing ICCR (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility) at the conference.
Nearly a trillion dollars a year has been secreted out of developing countries, robbing them of revenue needed desperately for development. The coalition was formed to do something about this problem that is central to the development of poor countries. According to the Coalition, half of the illicit financial flows – a staggering $500 billion – is coming from Africa. Flowing from crime, corruption, and tax evasion, these illicit transfers represent a drain on developing economies that is equivalent to eight times the size of global foreign aid.
The US JPIC Office is involved in several inter-connected organizations in Washington, DC, working for greater financial justice and transparency. These include the Tax Justice Network USA, (where Fr. Finn serves on the Board), and the FACT coalition (Financial Accountability and Corporate Transparency Campaign). The international Financial Transparency Coalition was launched in May of 2013, in response to the growing awareness and activism around the problem of illicit financial flows.
Sr. Barbara Aires, SC and Vidette Bullock Mixon Winners Of ICCR’s 2013 Legacy Award September 18th, 2013
Leaders in shareholder advocacy to be honored at ICCR’s “Breaking the Bonds” event on 9/26 in NYC.
The Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) has announced the recipients of this year’s Legacy Award. Sr. Barbara Aires SC of the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth, NJ and Vidette Bullock Mixon of Wespath Investments will be honored at the ICCR annual fundraising event in New York on September 26. The ICCR Legacy Award was created to honor those whose work has provided a strong moral foundation and an enduring record of demonstrated influence on corporate policies.
Learn more about these leaders in faith-based shareholder advocacy…
The Business of Guns September 13th, 2013
Gun manufacturing and sales is big business in the United States – surprisingly big business. America is the global leader in terms of gun ownership. There are nearly 9 guns for every 10 Americans, a proportion 40% gun ownership rate that Yemen, which ranks second in the world.
Learn more about the scope and strength of the gun industry in this one minute video designed for MBA students. Watch The Business of Guns here.
Take action on the proliferation of guns. Visit: Faiths United to Prevent Gun Violence
Vatican Hosts Mining CEO’s in a “Day of Reflection” September 11th, 2013
Participants of the “Vatican Day of Reflection on Mining” in front of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace in Rome
The CEOs of some of the world’s top mining companies went to the Vatican for a day-long meeting last Saturday to discuss better ways to operate in communities that are increasingly protesting the destructive impacts of mining. Communities are fearful – with good reason – of the impacts of mining on their water, land and air.
Saturday’s “day of reflection with the mining industry,” was organized, at the request of leaders in the mining sector, by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. It included the CEOs of Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Newmont Mining, who alone represented companies with well more than $100-billion (U.S.) in market value. The chairmen, presidents or senior executives of dozens of other companies, ranging from AngloGold Ashanti to African Rainbow Minerals, were also present. Fr. Seamus Finn OMI, from the USP JPIC team in Washington DC, was invited to be a part of the team that prepared the day of reflection and offered input during the day. Pope Francis offered a message of greeting and challenge to the group and offered his prayers and blessings on the event.
The companies were interested “to open a dialogue where mining interfaces with the community … to hear other views with the promise of all of us making a difference.”
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