High Meadows Institute is a Boston-based think tank and policy institute focused on the role of business leadership in creating a sustainable society.
Who We Are
Who we are
We are a Boston-based policy institute focused on strengthening the role of business leadership in creating a sustainable society.
Learn MoreOur work
We conduct research, lead programs and develop frameworks to increase private sector contribution in addressing the challenges of the 21st century.
See MorePrograms
Three key challenges in today’s global economic system underpin our work. Find out more about these challenges and how we are working to address them.
Learn MoreFinancial Times Moral Money Forum
In partnership with High Meadows Institute
When Should Business Take A Stand?
As business leaders are increasingly speaking up on a range of issues, from human rights to racial justice to environmental sustainability, the rise of the corporation as a political actor is still heavily contested. Companies are facing more pressure to take a stand, from employees, consumers and investors, but defining the social and political responsibilities of business is harder than ever in an increasingly polarized society.
The first Moral Money Forum report of 2022 explores how the powerful voices of business leaders are shaping the social, environmental and geopolitical debates of our time and sets out a timely guide to what constitutes best practice in this emerging field of corporate political responsibility.
To engage or divest: How should investors clean up the world’s dirtiest companies?
Activists have long held that the clearest path to doing better by the environment is divesting from the businesses most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions. But others question whether exclusion really creates enough incentive to change a company’s behavior. Where do investors have the most leverage: in dumping “dirty” assets or in engaging with boards to clean up their act?
The second Moral Money Forum report of 2022 explores the complex financial, sustainability and strategic considerations behind the divest or engage conversation and whether a third approach might reshape the debate.
Our Most Recent Projects and Resources
Our Most Recent News and Briefings
Blog
From ESG Integration (Sustainable Finance 2.0) to Impact (Sustainable Finance 3.0)
HMI President & CEO Chris Pinney tracks the evolution of sustainable finance and introduces our latest report, Sustainability in Capital Markets: ESG Integration and Impact.
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Accountable Sustainability
Steve Lydenberg of The Investment Integration Project explores how the creation of the ISSB paves the way for greater sustainability accountability and new standards for social and environmental data disclosure.
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Mobilizing a Just Climate Transition – Emerging Topics for Investors
Our latest briefing notes examines emerging topics for investors as they navigate the evolving climate transition space against a backdrop of cross-sectoral collaboration, justice, and regeneration.
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Beyond ESG: Corporate Activism and Moral Leadership
HMI President & CEO Chris Pinney looks at the new ways business leaders are stepping up to moral and political challenges of the 21st century and where they still need to go.
ReadPublications from Our Fellows
Moving Beyond Modern Portfolio Theory: Investing That Matters
Jon Lukomnik and James P. Hawley offer a bold critique of Modern Portfolio Theory and propose a new imperative to improve finance’s ability to fulfill its twin main purposes: providing adequate returns to individuals and directing capital to where it is needed in the economy.
21st Century Investing: Redirecting Financial Strategies to Drive Systems Change
William Burckart and Steve Lydenberg explore how investment has evolved since the 20th century and how institutions and individuals can go beyond conventional and sustainable investing to address complex problems such as income inequality and climate change on a deep, systemic level.