As those who attended the 2014 GA heard from our Treasurer, Tim Brennan, two of our advocacy successes of the last year were persuading Visa, Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline  to cease funding the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).  ALEC is a conservative lobbying group that routinely seeks to obstruct or reverse progress on environmental and social issues: for example, one of its most recent efforts seeks to roll back renewable energy requirements for power generation.  Along with many other investors associated with the Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment and the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility, the UUA has worked to raise awareness about the fact that ALEC’s positions are often at odds with the more positive social and environmental practices of its donor- members.  Together we have so far persuaded over 80 major companies to cut their ties to the group.  And it’s having an effect:  ALEC recently put out a call for new donations, citing the threat it faces from activists including “Common Cause and the Unitarian Universalist Church.”  We’re honored to be named as one of the public faces of this broad and effective shareholder coalition.  See here for more: