The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia

1974

The General Council of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia established the Investment Portfolio.

1979

The congregation joined PACRI (Philadelphia Area Coalition for Responsible Investment)/ICCR (Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility).

1980

The Sisters of St. Francis Committee for Responsible Investment was established.

1981

First shareholder resolutions filed with General Electric (GE) and AT&T on nuclear weapons production.

1983

Publicly divested in nuclear weapons contractors. Gave presentations on corporate responsibility throughout the congregation.

1985

First alternative investment made to Philadelphians Concerned About Housing.

1987

Completed divestment of South Africa stock. Boycotted Shell Oil, Texaco, and Mobil.

1988

Nestlé and GE boycotted. Neumann College joined PACRI.

1989

Divested from tobacco companies.

1992

• GE’s CEO, Jack Welch, helicoptered to Aston to attend a meeting about economic conversion.

• Restricted Investment List started

1993

Restrictions lifted on investment in South Africa and GE boycott ends. Goal established for Community Development Investment is 2% of total portfolio.

1997

Corporate Social Responsibility Director featured in New York Times in controversy spurred by a CEO’s very public objection to being called to include women and minorities as Board Members.

1998

The National Labor Committee presented Congress with a petition bearing 250,000 signatures to end child labor and sweatshop abuses (many Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia signed this petition).

1999

The Ceres Principles were endorsed by American Airlines; the MacBride Principles were endorsed by GE, Toys "R" Us, and other companies.

2000

The Sisters of St. Francis enabled a substantial breakthrough in Coca Cola’s approach to policy change.

2002

Our active advocacy efforts with the Tri-State Coalition led to the EPA signing the ROD (Record of Division), holding GE accountable for the cleanup of toxic waste in the Hudson River, at a cost to GE of more than $500 million.

2003

As a result of many years of work with the tobacco issue, a Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) by the World Health Organization (WHO) was adopted; 172 countries agreed to the adoption. This was the first global health treaty of any kind.

2004

• Our Schering Plough resolution on Access and Affordability regarding healthcare was withdrawn. The company allocated $30,000 in grant money toward Hepatitis C in the city of Newark, NJ, which has one of the highest Hepatitis C rates in the nation.

• The Sisters of St. Francis were very active in establishing more effective rating and monitoring systems for violent video games. We initiated a letter writing campaign, wrote an article in the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) magazine, and participated in many dialogues with retail companies.

• Revised goal for community development to 2 ½% of total portfolio.

2005

• The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia filed a resolution with Textron requesting the Board to establish a policy that separates the roles of Chairperson and CEO. The resolution passed with a vote of 51.4%. 

• The 34th Annual General Meeting of ICCR was hosted by Our Lady of Angels Convent and the Franciscan Spiritual Center in June 2005. It was the first time an annual meeting was held in the Philadelphia region.

2006

• The Sisters of St. Francis continued to play an active role in addressing violence in video games in 2006 by way of parent/teacher presentations, Senate hearings on the issue, communication with Media and the Family, the Federal Trade Commission, and The American Psychological Association. 

• The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia were the primary filers of a resolution on diversity and violence in one of Lockheed Martin’s workplaces. The resolution received an astounding 19.39% of the vote at the 2006 annual meeting. Lockheed Martin participated in a very effective dialogue.

2007

In 2007, the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia received special commendation from ICCR for being one of the most active filers. The Sisters filed or co-filed over 30 resolutions and participated in over 30 corporate dialogues.

2008

• As active members of a Human Trafficking sub-committee of ICCR, the Sisters of St. Francis asked hotel chains, cruise lines, and airlines to adopt the ECPAT code preventing sexual exploitation of minors on company premises.   

• The Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia joined IEHN (Investor Environmental Health Network), CHEJ ( Center for Health, Environment and Justice) and other shareholders to address the issue of PVC (polyvinyl chloride) with many companies.