The Corporate Citizenship Project Writes Open Letter to Institutional Shareholder Services About Executive Diversity

The think-tank penned the letter to ask the proxy advisory firm to respond to concerns that it has an all-white management team

DES MOINES, Iowa, March 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The Corporate Citizenship Project, a think-tank focused on a data-driven approach to corporate governance issues, today released a letter to Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS") regarding the diversity of its management team and the management team of its ownership companies.

The letter reads as follows:

Does ISS have an All-White Management Team?

Dear Mr. Retelny,

On behalf of The Corporate Citizenship Project, I am writing to request your assistance in obtaining certain information related to the management team of Institutional Shareholder Services ("ISS"). In our review of your 17-member management team listed on your website, it appears that ISS lacks representation from even a single person of color. Moreover, it does not appear that ISS's two corporate owners---Genstar Capital and Deutsche Boerse---have even a single person of color on their executive teams. This is troubling to us given the fact that you have claimed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is a priority to ISS and have asked   publicly traded companies to make commitments towards those ends.

We understand that appearances can be deceiving. Therefore, we are asking you to provide us with the following information on the self-identified race/ethnicity of each of the following ISS stakeholders and key executives:

• Members of ISS's management team (listed on ISS's website)
• Partners and C-level executives at Genstar Capital, a 20% owner of ISS
• Executive Board Members at Deutsche Boerse, an 80% owner of ISS

We look forward to receiving this information as soon as possible to put our concerns about the integrity of ISS to rest. Please do not hesitate to contact us at 515-259-6929 or at [email protected].

Sincerely,

Ghada Salahuddin
President & CEO
The Corporate Citizenship Project
www.CorporateCitizenshipProject.com 

Ghada Salahuddin, President &CEO of The Corporate Citizenship Project, had the following statement regarding the letter:

"If ISS is positioning itself as a leader in the field of ESG and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, it is critical that they model the behavior they push others to accept. We look forward to hearing from ISS regarding the diversity of their management team and the management team of their parent companies."

Contact

Ghada Salahuddin
515-259-6929
[email protected]

SOURCE Corporate Citizenship Project