San Francisco, April 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adasina Social Capital (“Adasina”), an investment and financial activism firm that serves as a critical bridge between financial markets and social justice movements, today announced the launch of BRIDGE: a free, public resource that aggregates data about the behavior of publicly-traded companies and their impact on racial, human rights, economic, and climate issues. Developed in collaboration with YourStake – a premier data aggregator in the ESG field that collects and filters high-integrity, third-party data – as well as world-leading social justice organizations, BRIDGE is now available as a resource for individual investors, institutions, and financial advisors with ESG and social justice values.
BRIDGE uses metrics determined by social justice organizations to provide investors with a complete and intersectional perspective of how their investments could contribute to systemic injustices and oppressive practices.
Additionally, Adasina will add two new investment screens to the BRIDGE platform and to the Adasina Social Justice Index:
- The Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Screen: A subset of the Adasina Social Justice Investment Criteria, this data identifies corporations that exhibit a practice of violating the rights and protections of Indigenous Peoples; have a pattern of criminal or exploitative behavior towards Indigenous Peoples; use imagery, language, and other appropriation of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property; deploy capital that infringes on Indigenous land rights; and/or engage in the desecration of sacred places.
- The Extractive Agriculture Screen: A subset of the Adasina Social Justice Investment Criteria, this data identifies corporations that participate in harmful practices associated with: agrochemicals and pesticides, synthetic fertilizer, commercial seeds, livestock breeding and genetics, agricultural commodity traders, gene editing in food, and/or meat and alternatives.
Unlike traditional ESG scores, which separate impact issues into distinct categories, BRIDGE takes a more holistic approach by collecting data on a range of intersectional topics – including racial, human rights, economic, and climate issues, with plans to add gender issues soon – to measure the overall impact of public companies on people and the planet. For example, environmentally-harmful development projects also directly impact Indigenous and local communities that depend on the land and natural resources.
“Investors deserve to know exactly how their money impacts the world they live in,” said Renee Morgan, Social Justice Director at Adasina. “If we want to change the existing power structures, everyone needs equal access to unbiased, credible data sourced by the communities and movements most impacted. BRIDGE is proud to be at the forefront of this effort, providing a simple and accessible way to access this information.”
The coalition behind BRIDGE is collectively focused on bridging the gap between investors and those on the frontline of social justice movements. Participants include:
Data Collectors:
Advisory Board:
- American Friends Service Committee: Donate
- ETC Group: Donate
- First Peoples Worldwide: Donate
- Native Women Lead: Donate
- Movement for Black Lives: Donate
- Movement Strategy Center: Donate
“We are proud to be able to process and power the analytics for all the various community data to be useful in an investment process,” said Gabe Rissman, President at YourStake, creator of NoScore ESG and the data aggregation platform that built BRIDGE. “We believe the future of ESG data is transparent, and this project furthers that effort."
For more information, visit www.bridgejustice.org. For media inquiries, contact media@adasina.com.
ABOUT ADASINA SOCIAL CAPITAL
Adasina Social Capital (“Adasina”) is an investment and financial activism firm that serves as a critical bridge between financial markets and social justice movements for the benefit of people and our planet. Adasina uses four interlocking levers to enact large-scale, systemic change: People, Investments, Campaigns, and Education.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Adasina is majority-owned and operated by women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. For more information, visit www.adasina.com.
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