New Investor Tool Reveals How 6,000 Mutual Funds and ETFs Scored on Social Justice
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Ryon Harms, [email protected], (310) 730-9407
El Cerrito, CA—October 30, 2025—As You Sow today released Social Justice Funds, a free online platform scoring thousands of investment funds on racial justice, gender equality, corporate diversity, and LGBTQ+ equity. Social Justice Funds is the ninth tool in As You Sow’s Invest Your Values platform providing environmental and social ratings for mutual funds and ETFs.
The new social justice-focused tool leverages the Racial Justice and Workplace Equity scorecards from As You Sow, Equileap’s Gender Equity research, and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index.
“Knowing what you own means that you can capitalize a future you want to live in,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “Currently 100 million American workers are blindly investing over $10 trillion of their hard-earned savings in mutual funds held within their company 401(k) plans. Our Invest Your Values tools empower everyone to take off their blinders and clearly see what’s inside these funds whether it’s fossil fuels, gender or racial injustice, or private prisons. It’s time for everyone to take back the power of their money, then tell your plan administrators that you want investments that align with your values.”
Results provide evidence for a “diversity dividend”
Responsible investors favor justice-aligned investments not only as a way to invest their values, but because these investments have been demonstrated to correlate with financial outperformance. Research from As You Sow and Whistle Stop Capital showed evidence of a statistically significant link between diverse leadership and corporate financial success, making a clear business and investor case for a diverse workforce as a material factor for investor consideration. The new fund results align with previous research, showing a statistically significant positive correlation between social justice grades and long-term financial performance.
“Research supports what is also intuitive: when people have the same experiences in life, for example, the same shared gender, race, and education, they look at problem solving and innovation through the same lenses,” said Meredith Benton, workplace equity manager at As You Sow, and founder of Whistle Stop Capital. “They have been raised and trained to see things in the same way, solving problems through the same solutions. Investors seek companies able to capture growth, innovation, and positive contributions that society values: things that haven't been thought of before. For that, companies need to encourage diverse thinking and belonging for all of their employees.”
Social Justice Funds rates nearly 6,000 investment products, including mutual funds, ETFs, collective trusts, and variable annuities. The tool allows investors to filter funds based on investment strategy, sort results by ratings and financial returns, and compare funds to each other.
Top 12 sustainable funds earning A or B grades on all Social Justice Funds ratings, by AUM:
1. Vanguard Global ESG Select Stock Fund
2. Parnassus Mid Cap Growth Fund
3. Trillium ESG Global Equity Fund
4. Putnam Sustainable Future Fund
5. Boston Trust Asset Management Fund
6. DWS ESG Core Equity Fund
7. Boston Trust Walden Equity Fund
8. Amplify Etho Climate Leadership U.S. ETF
9. Boston Trust Walden Balanced Fund
10. Quantified Common Ground Fund
11. Boston Common ESG Impact U.S. Equity Fund
12. Trillium ESG Small/Mid Cap Fund
Investors and companies remain committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion
Despite partisan attacks on corporate DEI initiatives, investor and consumer support for these programs remains strong. In 2025, 98% of shareholders have overwhelmingly voted to endorse current merit-based diversity programs at over 20 major corporations in the spring proxy season including Visa, Deere, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Levi’s, American Express, Coca-Cola, Berkshire Hathaway, McDonalds, Amazon, Netflix, Walmart, Alphabet, American Airlines, Caterpillar, Best Buy, and Mastercard. Consumers have also voted in favor of DEI programs with their pocketbooks, boycotting brands that have rolled back their DEI programs, costing companies billions in revenue and share value.
The new tool also tracks fund exposure to private prisons and military weapons
Social Justice Funds also integrates research from previous Invest Your Values tools, including Prison Free Funds and Weapon Free Funds. As You Sow initially developed the Racial Justice Scorecard used by Social Justice Funds in response to the 2020 police murder of George Floyd, and the systemic racism it exposed. Ethical investors frequently avoid businesses involved in mass incarceration, military weapons, or border and immigration enforcement to avoid contributing to human rights abuses, including racial and gender-based injustice.
“Nearly 90% of people in ICE custody are held in facilities run by private companies. If you’re invested in private prison stocks, you’re effectively a part owner of a whole network of immigration detention centers,” said Andrew Montes, Director of Digital Strategies at As You Sow. “When ICE raids are filling detention centers, it could be your 401(k) that helped finance that facility.”
Social Justice Funds is As You Sow’s ninth Invest Your Values online educational tool, joining Fossil Free Funds, Gender Equality Funds, Deforestation Free Funds, Tobacco Free Funds, Weapon Free Funds, Prison Free Funds, Gun Free Funds, and the Retirement Plan Sustainability Scorecard.
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As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. As You Sow does not provide investment, financial planning, legal, or tax advice. Click here to use As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker. Click here for our legal disclaimer.