Last week I was in Boston, the historical capital of Massachusetts.   By the time I arrived, the “water crisis” of 2010 had just been resolved.  No, they are not running out of water in Boston yet.  Rather a massive water main broke and the city lost potable water for 4 days.  That meant bottled water was required for drinking, brushing teeth, etc.  Maybe it was just a window into the future telling us we need to get a better handle on addressing the longer term issue of water scarcity.  But I digress…

I traveled to Boston to attend the Ceres Conference that is attended by leaders in shareholder advocacy and public companies that are trailblazers in corporate social responsibility.   Given time constraints and space limitations, I can’t go into details on all the wonderful things I learned at the conference.  But, I can summarize the event by saying that public companies that aren’t integrating sustainable business practices into their core business plans don’t stand a chance in the new global landscape.

However, I want to congratulate the two winners of the Joan Bavaria Awards which were given at the conference.  Bavaria was an early pioneer in socially responsible investing and founded Trillium Asset Management and Ceres.  She passed away in 2008.  These awards, which were given to Tim Smith of Walden Asset Management and the Center for Political Accountability, continue her legacy.  Both winning organizations are advocates on Moxy Vote.

Mr. Smith received the Bavaria Award for Impact.   Walden Asset Management is a leading Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) firm located in Boston.  For over 40 years Tim has been a passionate leader in the SRI field.  He is a past executive director of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, and he also served five years as chair of the Social Investment Forum.  He has engaged many large multinational corporations throughout the years and forced them to change for the better.  In his current role at Walden Asset Management, he leads their team of SRI professionals.

The Center for Political Accountability (CPA) was the winner of the Bavaria Innovation Award. CPA President Bruce Freed was on hand to accept the award. When describing CPA, Cheryl Smith of Trillium Asset Management Corporation said “Investors have long observed with great frustration the disproportionate influence of corporations in the political process.  CPA has been groundbreaking in advancing how corporate political contributions are brought into the light.”  As we have blogged about in the past, the recent Supreme Court decision on the Citizens United case increases the importance on the work of CPA as they force disclosure of corporate political spending.

Congratulations again to Tim Smith and the Center for Political Accountability.  Moxy Vote is honored to have such prestigious advocates on our site.

And, by the way, nominations for the 2011 Bavaria Awards are now being accepted via the Ceres website.