Nia Impact Capital: Active ownership for social justice
The case is about a sustainable investor firm, Nia Impact Capital (Nia) (Oakland, California), and its founder and CEO, Kristin Hull. Hull aims to invest in gender and racial justice and to make money with meaning and purpose. She brings the logic of impact investing to public markets, exercising active ownership, and engaging with portfolio companies, including Tesla, IBM, and Apple. Hull has a crusade for social justice and against mandatory arbitration. For that purpose, she filled shareholders resolutions and has had proxy votes in the 2020 and 2021 proxy seasons. The case focuses on Nia’s engagement with Tesla and the 2021 proxy season. Tesla is a leader across the renewable energy sector but is in the news for sexual harassment and racial discrimination. In 2020, Nia submitted a shareholder resolution on Tesla’s mandatory employee arbitration to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In her speech during the Tesla’s shareholders in September 2020, Hull made her case against the company’s forced arbitration for employee sexual harassment and racial discrimination claims. Tesla disputed the proposal, and Nia didn’t get a shareholder’s winning vote. Hull’s crusade in 2020 towards Tesla received extensive media coverage and showed her strategy as an activist investor. In her words, “it was a win because it was an important move in a much larger and longer campaign.” As part of her battle, Hull decided to raise her voice and fill again in October 2021. She thought that Nia’s advocacy at Tesla was advocacy for the entire US. Nia’s resolution on Tesla’s proxy ballot was crucial to her strategy for “connecting the dots about forced arbitration.” At the end of the case, Hull must prepare a proposal to the SEC and a speech to Tesla’s Board. She thought about the impact on Nia’s future strategy if they didn’t get 50% of the shareholders’ vote in Tesla’s board meeting on 7 October 2021.
- Recognize sustainable investing in the social capital spectrum.
- Explain active ownership in public markets towards sustainable investing as a sustainable investing strategy.
- Analyse stewardship rights and ESG responsibilities of activist investors through active ownership to influence corporate strategy.
- Summarize the active ownership key practices for proactive engagement with companies.
- Critically reflect on the role of personal values and intentionality in an activist investor’s leadership.
Nia Impact Capital, Finance and Insurance, Banking, Finance and Insurance
2021
Cranfield University
Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]
Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]
NUCB Business School
1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]
IMD retains all proprietary interests in its case studies and notes. Without prior written permission, IMD cases and notes may not be reproduced, used, translated, included in books or other publications, distributed in any form or by any means, stored in a database or in other retrieval systems. For additional copyright information related to case studies, please contact Case Services.
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Did our predictions for 2024 come true, a turbulent election year, bitcoin and CBDC, COP29 and electric cars, China, EU integration and Euro football
Companies don’t operate in a vacuum. Corporate leaders have to navigate political dynamics, and in Chapter 12 we discuss nonmarket strategies. But there’s a global dimension to sustainability that’s worth a separate discussion. Will rising geopoli...
In the past, many business leaders could operate much like the generic merchants in Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations. They could pursue their own personal and corporate ends, while resting assured that an “invisible hand” would promote the pub...
In today’s complex and fast-paced business environment, sustainability has evolved from a buzzword into an essential element of long-term success. Yet the concept is often misunderstood or oversimplified. Some critics question the necessity ...
As any executive will tell you, moral suasion will not convince most companies to commit to sustainability. Even major long-term threats will not do it. Companies need positive reasons to undertake significant investments. Fortunately, sustainabil...
Based on extensive research conducted in the past several years at the International Institute for Management Development in Switzerland (IMD), Leading the Sustainable Business Transformation: A Playbook from IMD helps readers understand why susta...
Green and sustainability-linked bonds offer companies new funding to reach sustainability goals. Salvatore Cantale and Barry Gavin explain how to balance processes with outcomes to tap into a booming market.
Anne, a newly appointed CFO at a global manufacturing group, transitions from consultant to leader, embracing delegation, strategic thinking, and career growth.
Narrow views of systemic sustainability risks can result in ecological concerns being neglected, as well as giving rise to unequal distribution and exploitation of natural resources, creating injustice. Given recent advancements in integrating jus...
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 47-57 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 19-32 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 9-18 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Binder, Julia Katharina (Ed.); Haanaes, Knut Bjarne (Ed.) / Leading the sustainable business transformation: A playbook from IMD, pp. 33-45 / Hoboken: Wiley, 2025
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in I by IMD
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications
in Journal of Business Ethics 16 December 2024, ePub before print, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05860-3
Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications