Mari began her career in the field of socially responsible investing (SRI) in 2008 at a dedicated SRI firm where she rose through the ranks to become the Director of Shareholder Activism and Engagement. Her role entailed serving as the chief architect behind the firm's shareholder advocacy program, co-developing the firm's theory of change with the CEO, fully operationalizing the firm's advocacy program, and designing and executing rigorous academic-style research that the firm used to support its groundbreaking advocacy work.
During her 15-year tenure at that firm, Mari led over 350 corporate engagements, including filing over 200 shareholder proposals, with senior-level officials at publicly traded corporations around the US and the world. Topics of these engagements varied widely, including:
With a particular strength in rigorous academic-style research and writing industry-moving thought leadership. The research projects that Mari has conceptualized and carried out seek to marry the practical work of corporate engagement with serious goals of protecting marginalized groups and other often-overlooked stakeholders. In 2018, while at her prior employer, NorthStar Asset Management, Mari was the lead author and investigator on a paper seeking to understand the ubiquity of prison labor in the U.S. and its likelihood of exposure in the corporate supply chain. This paper has been cited by academic researchers and nonprofit activists as a pinnacle source of information on an otherwise opaque field of research.
While still at her prior firm, her significant contribution to the firm's 2023 paper on fair chance employment (the intentional recruitment of formerly incarcerated people) was the output of a 2-year research project that culled together best practices on fair chance employment from experts and directly affected people in the field and argued the case for peer investors to support this critical work. In both cases, her research papers have led to concrete positive outcomes that benefited corporate shareholders and key external stakeholders. Both of these projects take an intersectional approach, leaning upon academic resources about systemic racism in the criminal justice system, while also engendering practical steps that companies can take to improve outcomes for all.
Mari launched her consulting firm in 2023 to offer her talents to a wide network of investors and nonprofit leaders who seek to make their mark in shareholder advocacy. Learn more about Mari's career on her LinkedIn page.
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Our mission is to catalyze a world where strategic insights, impactful narratives, and collaborative partnerships converge to drive systemic transformation. Through our dedication to rigorous analysis, eloquent communication, and proactive collaboration with organizations, we aim to inspire actionable solutions, foster inclusive dialogue, and pave the way for a more equitable and sustainable future for all.
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