About us
This website, "TRACKING CORPORATE POLITICAL DONATIONS 2: The Hub", will be launched in February 2022. Its mission is to pull together in one place articles and reports about companies that support (and those that decline to support) U.S. candidates who do not adequately protect the environment, combat climate change, and/or respect democracy & human rights.
In February we will also launch a sister website, "TRACKING CORPORATE POLITICAL DONATIONS 1: Democracy in the USA", which will provide an accessible, updated list of those companies and trade associations that continue to fund the Senate & House members who sought to undermine democracy by voting against certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election. That site will include rankings of companies and trade associations with the worst donation records (those that have donated to the largest number of politicians after they voted to overturn the election results).
Both websites will be widely publicized in the U.S. and abroad, including to the CEO, board members and employees at companies and trade associations; voting rights and civil rights organizations; journalists (including business journalists at Wall Street Journal, New York Times, CNBC, Bloomberg Television, Forbes, Fortune, Bloomberg Businessweek, Economist, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company); ESG rating agencies; investors including leading pension funds and endowment investment officers of major universities; university presidents; business school deans; business school officers who deal with corporate recruiters; student organizations at universities and business schools; business organizations; corporate accountability organizations; human rights organizations; those publishing rankings of the best companies to work for including Forbes, Fortune, Glassdoor, Great Place to Work Institute; and those publishing other business rankings including “America's Most Responsible Companies” (Newsweek), “World’s Most Ethical Companies” (Ethisphere), “100 Most Influential Companies” (Time), “America’s Best Employers for Diversity” (Forbes), “The 100 Best Workplaces for Diversity” (Fortune), “America’s Best Employers for Women” (Forbes).
The information on both websites will also be brought to the attention of the United Nations Working Group on Business and Human Rights, the United Nations Global Compact, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. The United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights require all companies to respect human rights. Guiding Principle 13 makes clear that this requirement applies to a company’s actions or omissions, and to its business relationships.
Companies & trade associations are invited to contact us if they wish to submit a statement, response or clarification.
This site is run on a non-profit, non-funded basis by the independent initiative TRACKING CORPORATE POLITICAL DONATIONS. The initiative is not connected with any political party or political group.
The Founder-Director of TRACKING CORPORATE POLITICAL DONATIONS is Christopher Avery, a U.S. citizen based in the USA. He was formerly Founding Director (2002-2013) of the non-profit Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, headquartered in London with an office in New York City and staff across the world. The Resource Centre tracks the human rights impacts (positive and negative) of thousands of companies worldwide -- including their environmental impacts affecting human health. Since 2003 Mary Robinson, formerly President of Ireland and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has chaired the Resource Centre's International Advisory Network of over 70 experts; 23 institutions recognized internationally for their expertise in issues relevant to business and human rights comprise the Centre's Academic Partners. The Resource Centre was recipient of the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights in 2013, awarded by the University of Connecticut to recognize "individuals or groups who have made significant efforts to advance the cause of international justice and global human rights". In 2013 the Ford Foundation announced that it would give $6.25 million in grants "to seven leading human rights organizations [including the Resource Centre] to reshape the global human rights movement...and enable it to confront the abuses that continue to violate the dignity and lives of the most vulnerable". From 1983 to 1995 Chris worked at the International Secretariat of Amnesty International in London, first as Legal Adviser, then as Deputy Head of the 130-member Research Department. Amnesty International had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977. Chris's work at Amnesty included providing advice on international law, representing the organization at the United Nations in Geneva, participating in research missions and trial observations, ensuring the quality of country research, and serving as a member of the Senior Management Group. Chris is currently Chair of Human Rights and Business Award Foundation, which gives an annual award for outstanding work by human rights defenders in the Global South or former Soviet Union addressing the human rights impacts of business. TRACKING CORPORATE POLITICAL DONATIONS has no connection with the organizations mentioned above. Chris was educated at Stanford University (BA), University of California Davis School of Law (JD), and Columbia University School of Law (LLM).