Marcela I. Pinilla
Director of Sustainable Investing
A Quarter of Impact: Publications and Advocacy
Q2 was an active quarter for Zevin Asset Management as we summed up our work participating in critical shareholder advocacy and joining investor coalitions on pressing policy issues. Our work continues to be centered on a recurring theme: corporate governance is not keeping pace with the infrastructure it is meant to oversee.
Publications & Thought Leadership
This quarter, we published our 2026 Impact Report. Looking back across two years of activity, it reflects on what we have learned, and where we are going, as we continue to address the real-world outcomes of our investment decisions through engagements, policy advocacy, and collaboration.
We also published our "Technology and Human Rights" stance, articulating Zevin Asset Management's position on one of the most consequential issues of our time. As AI and cloud infrastructure proliferate, we focus on an uncomfortable truth: technology built for perfectly legitimate purposes can be repurposed for surveillance, immigration detention, censorship, or military use. This dual-use reality is a concerning feature of the infrastructure age. We remain invested because the architecture of digital life will be built, with or without us. And whether it is built with adequate governance depends, in part, on whether investors demand it.
Shareholder Advocacy & Proxy Season
Proxy season brought significant activity, with vote outcomes reflective of the times we live in.
Alphabet/GOOGL Engagement:
At Alphabet's annual meeting on June 6, a former Google employee stepped forward to present our shareholder statement, articulating the profound risks they perceive in the company's data practices. This was a testimony from someone who has seen the interior of these systems and understands their implications. As public and media attention to the risks in Google's data practices continues to grow, our proposal adds Zevin's voice alongside a broader coalition of investors raising the same concerns. Press coverage is available on our website.
Home Depot:
Our proposal was presented at the company's annual meeting on May 21. A technology expert from Atlanta presented our concerns, speaking from direct experience uncovering vulnerabilities in Flock Safety's license plate database access.
We agree with Home Depot that the company does not intend its parking lot cameras to become instruments of federal enforcement. But intent is not outcome. When customer and parking lot license plate data is shared with third-party vendors like Flock Safety, our question is: how can Home Depot ensure that data is used for its intended purposes, preventing theft and organized crime, rather than repurposed for immigration enforcement?
Day laborers gathering outside Home Depot stores are part of the ecosystem that drives demand for the products sold inside. Knowing these individuals are targeted by ICE, customers and citizen groups have organized against the administration's actions and the surveillance technology that enables enforcement. During the year—and on the day of the company's annual meeting—anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles and Atlanta called attention to Home Depot's non-interfering stance. These protests may or may not be contributing to a trend we are monitoring: in the last four quarters, transactions at Home Depot stores have declined.
The regulatory environment is shifting. California's Senate Judiciary Committee recently passed legislation requiring Home Depot to disclose immigration enforcement activity at its stores. That bill is moving, alongside state-level data privacy legislation across the country—both of which may accelerate as consumer and investor attention intensifies.
The vote outcome of 9 percent of shareholder votes cast in Favor reflects the turbulent political environment, as well as the novelty of data privacy governance risk. Notably, Home Depot plans to publish changes made to its data governance and third-party vendor risk management. We will be following up.
Microsoft Human Rights Due Diligence Proposal:
ZAM co-filed a shareholder proposal at Microsoft alongside 55 co-filers, collectively holding over $300 million in Microsoft stock, nearly four times the holdings represented in last year's filing. The proposal, like last year, requests reporting on the effectiveness of the company's human rights due diligence processes, particularly regarding its AI and cloud products. Last year's proposal received 26% shareholder support, a notable result in a challenging political climate. We continue to hold quarterly meetings with the company, helping to advance dialogue.
Policy & Coalition Letters
Zevin joined several investor coalitions on key policy matters this quarter:
We signed onto an Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) statement opposing the SEC's attempt to repeal the 2024 climate disclosure rule, arguing that weakening transparency harms investor decision-making and market efficiency. We also supported an ICCR statement questioning excessive executive compensation. With CEO pay rising over 1,000% in fifty years*, we believe compensation practices must better align with shareholder performance and long-term value creation.
We joined a letter to major defense contractors (Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics, RTX, and Boeing) urging them to strengthen human rights due diligence, cease production of weapons prohibited under international law, and suspend sales connected to the Israel/Gaza conflict where there's credible risk of contributing to humanitarian law violations. (led by Investor Advocates for Social Justice)
We joined a letter alongside donors and investors who have entrusted Fidelity Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, and Charles Schwab with assets and philanthropic giving. These institutions blocked account holders from directing grants to the Southern Poverty Law Center following a federal indictment by the Trump administration's Department of Justice. In our message we argue that treating unproven allegations as a basis to restrict lawful charitable giving sets an untenable precedent and should not trigger grant restrictions. We questioned the inconsistent and politically selective application of these policies in meetings we held all three firms.
We signed onto the Investor Statement on Regulating Autonomous Weapons Systems, joining the Stop Killer Robots Coalition in calling for an international treaty. The statement warns of "digital dehumanisation"—where humans are reduced to data points in automated decisions. We believe machines should not make life-and-death decisions, and we support international these meaningful initial set of norms ensuring meaningful human control over the use of force.
Looking Ahead
Q3 is already in motion. We will track and share vote outcomes, follow up engagement results, and share developments.
* epi.org/publication/ceo-pay
Thank you for reading and sharing. For more on this work and our broader advocacy, visit our website, and join us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. And please don’t hesitate to contact Marcela Pinilla, Zevin Asset Management’s director of sustainable investing, at marcela@zevin.com with your questions, thoughts, and suggestions.
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