Mission & Impact

JUST’s Impact

JUST Capital’s mission is to demonstrate how just business – defined by the priorities of the public – is better business. Our goal? A world where business and markets are a force for the greater good, driving competition to build a better future for all.

We measure our impact in multiple ways: by the progress companies are making on the issues we track, our influence in shifting the national narrative on stakeholder leadership, our ability to direct capital toward just leaders, the strength of our engagement with corporate leaders, and the impact our programs are having in driving lasting change.

Compared to their Russell 1000 peers, JUST 100 companies, those leading our 2024 Rankings of America’s Most JUST Companies, on average:

Pay 11.8 percentage points more of their workers a family-sustaining living wage (78.3%).
Are 4.3 times more likely to have conducted a pay-gap analysis, and 3.7 times more likely to disclose pay-gap analysis results.
Provide 7.2 more hours of career development training per employee.
Offer 2 more weeks of paid parental leave for both primary caregivers and secondary caregivers.
Are 3.8 times more likely to disclose the amount spent on diverse suppliers.
Are 3.2 times more likely to publicly commit to not selling customer data.
Intake 99% less water per revenue dollar.
Emitted 42% less metric tons of CO2 per revenue dollar.
Used 29.6 percentage points more renewable energy as a proportion of their total energy use.
Are 2.4 times more likely to disclose net zero commitments through the Science-Based Target Initiative (SBTi).
Donated 2.6 times more in charitable giving.
Have a 4% higher profit margin, 2.9% higher return on equity, and 1.2% higher dividend yield.

We focus on the largest corporations in America because by shifting their behavior we can drive impact at scale. Our strategy comprises four core elements.

Measure

We turn to the public to learn what issues matter most and define a just company.

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Incentivize

We incentivize companies to change by ranking how they perform on the public's priorities, shifting the narrative on corporate success, and driving capital to those leading the way.

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Advance

We advance corporate justness by supporting companies with data and insights, multi-stakeholder programs, and targeted engagement initiatives.

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Scale

We scale these changes by cultivating cross-sector partnerships across finance, academia, media, policy; and through our growing team of staff, Board of Directors, Advisors, and supporters.

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Measuring the Public's Priorities

We leverage the power of business to drive solutions to our most pressing societal challenges by helping align corporate practices and policies with the priorities of the American public. Since 2015, we've surveyed more than 172,000 Americans representative of the U.S. population to identify which issues matter most when it comes to just business behavior.

Year over year, the polling shows Americans are consistent, clear, and united across political, economic, and demographic groups about what they want companies to focus on – and that’s workers, wages, and jobs.

[A good job is]…where you are paid what you're worth, where you have a flexible schedule, and a good benefit package that goes along with it and a company that really understands work-life balance.
Somewhat Conservative, Black American Respondent
Age 30-39, Low-Income, Hourly Workers Focus Group
…why there is a job shortage – well, labor shortage – is because people are understanding now that they're not valued.
Very Liberal, Hispanic/Native American Respondent
Age 30-34, Low-Income, Hourly Workers Focus Group
Companies need to communicate the truth about their business, be honest with the public and their consumers, their stakeholders. I wouldn't want to be led to think one thing and the company be doing something else.
Somewhat Conservative, White American Respondent
Age 40-44, General Population Focus Group

Incentivizing Improved Performance

JUST engages with hundreds of major U.S. employers each year – nearly 400 representing approximately 13.2 million workers, about 9% of the U.S. workforce, in 2023 alone.

A majority of Russell 1000 companies surveyed in 2022 agreed that “JUST Capital’s Rankings and data review process helped inform and/or prompt implementation of new policies, practices, or new public disclosures on the issues we cover.”

Companies want to understand their performance and learn from our analysis at a detailed level. After releasing our 2023 Rankings, we held 123 debrief calls with companies to unpack their performance. Of these, 60% have been with director-level or above.

We’re seeing the impact of these conversations and engagements in greater transparency and improved performance on the metrics we track in our Rankings year over year. For instance, over 120 Russell 1000 companies have lifted wages (up from 47 in 2018), benefiting 6.5 million workers. And, as of 2022, among the companies we analyze:

40%

disclose conducting pay equity analyses, up from 15% in 2019.

33%

disclose detailed employee demographic details (EEO-1 report or equivalent), up from 3% in 2019.

55%

report increased board gender diversity (30% or more women), up from 27% in 2019.

9%

offer paid parental leave parity, up from 4% in 2019.

43%

link executive pay with ESG performance, up from 14% in 2019.

68%

disclose Scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions, up from 43% in 2019.

66%

disclose a human rights policy, up from 50% in 2019.

I’m a generalist across a 100-person team. Your work and Rankings provide me with a thoughtful framework that helps me think about how to break down issues and how to engage colleagues about improving performance.
Large Health Insurance Provider
We find that JUST tends to be a bit ahead of the curve compared to ESG raters and rankers, so going through the data review process is a great forecast on what we should be focusing on.
Multinational Entertainment Corporation
Your support in breaking down our performance into specific opportunities helped us present the results to our executive team and informed priorities to focus on in the coming year.
Multinational Consumer Packaged Goods Company
I take great pride in HPE's recognition as a leader by JUST Capital, particularly on the issues vital to Americans. Our purpose is to advance the way people live and work, which is evidenced in our commitment to reducing environmental impacts throughout our value chain, nurturing our team members with exceptional benefits and talent programs, and supporting our communities and supply chain. HPE’s recognition underscores the tangible results realized through the company’s concerted efforts to integrate ESG considerations into its strategy, operations, and culture.
Antonio Neri
CEO and President of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

More and more JUST 100 companies and Industry leaders also leverage JUST Capital’s brand affiliation, Seal, and media platforms to highlight their leadership.

  • Digital Advertising

    Delta and Bank of America tout their leadership in advertising campaigns.

  • CNBC Spotlights

    Interviews with JUST 100 Leaders across dayside programming.

Shifting the Narrative 

We highlight the leadership of these companies through our media partnership with CNBC. Across broadcast, digital, and events platforms we are expanding our reach and influence with the top business and financial leaders in America, helping redefine business leadership and inspire companies to take action.

In the News: Our Partnership with

Paul Tudor Jones: Your company’s stock performance will be rewarded if you do what Americans want

Here’s the JUST 100 ranking of companies that focus on workers, wages and social issues

JUST Capital: JP Morgan, Slack among companies investing in formerly incarcerated workers

JUST Survey: Companies should be paying workers a living wage

Companies investing in diversity and wage equality outperform peers

Just Capital reveals top companies for Moms

https://www.cnbc.com/video/2023/03/14/equal-pay-day-gender-wage-gap-barely-budges-from-2002-to-2022.html

Workday tops Just Capital’s list of greenest companies in 2023
Through our exclusive media partnership with CNBC, we're lifting up our unique polling insights, putting corporate stakeholder performance metrics on par with traditional markets data, and showcasing what good looks like through JUST CEO interviews reaching an audience of 547 million business leaders and investors across CNBC's platforms each month.
1.7 million website page views in 2022 – an over 611% increase since 2017.
15,000+ subscribers to The JUST Report, our weekly round-up of stakeholder capitalism news and insights – a 1,513% increase since 2018.
Nearly 7 million website pageviews since 2017.

JUST Capital in the News

Americans know what they want from companies. It’s time to listen

Most U.S. Companies Aren't Disclosing Gender Pay Gap Analysis

U.S. companies promised more racial diversity and equity in the workplace. How are they doing now?

​​Americans think wages should rise to match inflation–and they’re right. It’s time to dispel the wage-price spiral myth

​​Americans agree — companies should invest in workers, including paying employees a livable wage

U.S. poll finds bipartisan concern over high CEO pay

Workforce disclosures surge amid pressure for diversity

Republican Attacks on ESG May Be Overlooking US Workers

Driving Capital

We consistently see that just leadership is good for business and good for investors. That’s why we continue to see opportunities for investors to invest in products that align with the values of the American people. JUST’s data supports 8 different financial products with over $400million in assets under influence and has 12 data license agreements, up from 6 in 2019.. 

  • JUONE

    From its March 2019 inception, the JUST 100 Index (JUONE), which tracks the top 100 companies in our Rankings of America's Most JUST Companies, outperformed the Russell 1000 Equal Weighted Index by 33.38% through December 30, 2023.

  • Indexes

    From its November 2016 inception, our flagship Index (JULCD) that tracks the top 50% of ranked companies by industry outperformed the Russell 1000 by 8.91% through December 30, 2022

Advancing Corporate Change

We also work directly with companies to drive change on the issues that matter most. Our Corporate Impact Lab – which includes the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative, Corporate Racial Equity Alliance, and the Corporate Care Network – provides assessments, resources, and communities of practice to help corporate leaders take action and create value for their most important stakeholder, their workers.

We launched the Worker Financial Wellness Initiative in 2020 and, since then, have built a community of practice among corporate leaders working to assess and improve their workers’ financial well-being.

In addition to wage increases or benefits expansions, participating companies have taken actions including: updating scheduling practices, implementing policies to provide greater predictability for hourly retail workers, building a new cafeteria at a remote manufacturing facility to help offset the costs of food and travel, creating ownership/shareholder opportunities for workers at all levels of the company, and implementing a new emergency savings program.

Our work with the Corporate Racial Equity Alliance has helped major companies follow through on their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments through resources like the CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity:

As Target continues to build on our 15 years of progress in creating a diverse workforce, and setting diversity and inclusion goals for our team and business, the CEO Blueprint served as a valuable resource for informing our Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) committee’s efforts and commitments. Through the CEO Blueprint’s insights and guidance, we can collectively help accelerate opportunity and equity across our workforces and the communities we serve to drive for change that is good for all.
Amanda Nusz
Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility and President of the Target Foundation, Target

Scaling Change Through Collaboration

Our multi-stakeholder partnerships with key players in business, finance, academia, media, and policy help us to accelerate changes in just corporate behavior at the widest scale.

Aligning corporate practices with the American public’s priorities calls for cross-sector collaborations. Since our founding, we’ve focused on building those relationships and partnering with foundations, investors, academic and research institutions, nonprofits, and media outlets to shift how we view business success and leadership.

In 2023, we grew our partnerships with foundations, investors, academic and research institutions, and nonprofits. Some of our partners include:

FOUNDATION PARTNERS

We are also developing ways for companies to support our work and demonstrate their alignment with our mission. In 2023, fifteen companies supported our work either as program partners or corporate sponsors, and we continue to build out this group over the coming year and beyond.

PROGRAM PARTNERS

How We’re Building Just Business

The vast majority of Americans want capitalism to work better for them, their families, and their communities. They increasingly want to work for, invest in, and buy from companies doing right by their workers, customers, communities, and the environment.

At the same time, companies increasingly recognize that creating lasting value for all their stakeholders is the key to long-term success. Founded in 2014, JUST Capital is the leading nonprofit providing the data, measurements, programs, and incentives needed to achieve this vision. By aligning business behavior with the priorities of the public we leverage the power of business as a force multiplier for the greater good.

JUST Capital has built in a very short period of time a highly impactful, efficient method and methodology of impacting business behavior. Their vision inspired my colleagues at the Ford Foundation and I to see the centrality of business in generating and delivering more shared prosperity and less inequality in the world – and in doing so, to create more stability in our society more broadly.
Darren Walker
Ford Foundation President

Our leadership in the stakeholder capitalism movement, and related impact, is bolstered by our growing team, including staff, board members, advisors, and JUSTGen. 

  • Our Board of Directors consists of executives, CEOs, chairpersons, and presidents of leading companies and institutions. 
  • Our CEO Advisory Council is comprised of former CEOs of leading, influential entities who provide strategic input on the most effective ways to engage corporations to drive long-term change.
  • JUSTGen, our community of student and early-career changemakers dedicated to furthering stakeholder capitalism,has 150+ members across five different countries and 22 states.

 

 

Financial Overview

 

 

YEAR IN REVIEWS

IRS FORMS 990

 

 

Please Join Us


JUST Capital is well-positioned to drive meaningful and measurable change to improve the lives of millions of American workers, and as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization we rely on philanthropic support and partner collaboration to accelerate our impact. To learn about becoming a partner and how you can get involved, please reach out and connect. We look forward to hearing from you. 

Have questions about our research and rankings?  We want to hear from you!