MRTI meets in Puerto Rico, sees projects affected by PC(USA) advocacy

The Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) met in San Juan, Puerto Rico, March 12-13, for its spring meeting and to visit partners who have received support from PC(USA) entities.

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The two-day meeting brought committee members to the island of Puerto Rico to witness and understand the ongoing needs of the U.S. territory that has been ravaged by a series of hurricanes and an earthquake in recent years.

Beginning its work at the PC(USA)-affiliated Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico, committee members discussed proposed and upcoming shareholder resolutions that were filed with Antero Resources Corporation, Dollar General, Duke Energy, Oxy, Albertsons Companies, Delta, Expedia and Texas Instruments. All but the resolutions with Antero and Albertsons have been withdrawn in exchange for significant commitments from the named companies.

Additionally, in response to Walmart rolling back its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, MRTI signed on to an investor letter to encourage its reconsideration and dialogue with the company is ongoing.

“Success is hard — it’s a spectrum,” said Katie Carter, director of faith-based investing and shareholder engagement at the PC(USA) in response to comments about the long-term results of engagement with partners and corporate groups. Some of the most important conversations “would have never happened if we’d divested.”

Echoing the desire to stay engaged to effect corporate change, which cannot happen if the PC(USA) divests its holdings in a corporation, the Rev. Marci Glass, MRTI committee chair, said, “There is a win even if the needle is moving slowly — but that can’t happen if we leave.”

Carter informed the committee that MRTI had shifted its reporting structure as part of changes initiated by the Interim Unified Agency. MRTI, along with several advocacy committees, had previous reported to Barry Creech in the Presbyterian Mission Agency. With the merging of the Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly, MRTI now reports to Kerry Rice, deputy stated clerk, who had previously overseen OGA’s committees.

Further discussion on the “top 10” fossil fuel companies added to the PC(USA) 2025 Divestment List as required by the 226th General Assembly (ENV-06) included comments on the difficulty of engaging foreign companies, primarily different shareholder resolution regulation and processes, location and language, that limited the original engagement criteria to U.S.-based companies. In later business, the committee decided not to amend the top 10 fossil fuel list pending further advice from the General Assembly and the results of an evaluation of MRTI and its policies by the 1984 divestment policy task force.

While at the seminary, committee members heard from Prof. Emilio Pantojas, a sociology professor at the University of Puerto Rico, who spoke on the theme of “From Sugar Cane to Tax Haven,” chronicling the change in an economic situation that has resulted in mass investment in Puerto Rico with little return for the inhabitants of the island. With a low 4% tax rate for foreign investors, and the ability for the ultra-wealthy to use anonymous numbered accounts to move money, he noted, “Puerto Rico’s economy is still shrinking.”

Dr. Gonzalo Alers, a New Testament professor at the seminary, also spoke to the committee on the effects colonialism has had on the people of Puerto Rico and the theological implications.

“People have tried to say what Puerto Ricans are for many years,” he said. “But the only people who know who Puerto Ricans are us.”

Committee members discussed how to best represent the concerns they heard through their powers of corporate engagement. Although no corporations were named, the prospect of engaging private equity firms buying large amounts of land and developing properties that price local inhabitants out of their homes was proposed, in addition to adding criteria to the MRTI Guideline Metrics about how a company repairs past actions and harms.

To better understand from Puerto Ricans who they are and learn from their work on economic, environmental and social justice, committee members visited Fideicomiso del Caño Martín Peña (Martín Peña Canal Land Trust) and the ENLACE project that is restoring the canal connecting the harbor lagoons around San Juan. Project coordinator Estrella Santiago Pérez described the dramatic turnaround that has happened because of the cleanup and restoration effort, and toured portions of the canal and surrounding communities with MRTI committee members.

Fideicomiso del Caño Martín Peña and ENLACE have been supported by Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.

The following day, committee members visited another PDA-supported project, Taller Salud (Health Workshop) that began as a women’s collective dedicated to improving women's access to health care, reducing community violence, and fostering economic development through education and activism. Taller Salud’s executive director, Tania Rosario Méndez, gave committee members an overview of the organization’s 45-year grassroots efforts that included disaster relief in recent years in addition to its primary goals.

MRTI members also met with the National Presbyterian Hispanic Latino Caucus, which was concurrently holding its gathering in Puerto Rico. Members of the two groups discussed ways in which each could inform the work of the other, including a proposal for a letter of understanding that would allow the National Presbyterian Hispanic Latino Caucus to bring issues and concerns to MRTI for consideration.

A more detailed report on partner visits will be available in an upcoming article.

These sessions and other encounters informed the MRTI committee as they discussed the impact the visit will have on their future work.

“It’s given me a new perspective on Puerto Rico,” said Ken Whitehurst from Stone Mountain, Georgia. “Especially how many people here don’t want it to become the 51st state.”

Seeing first-hand the effects of environmental racism, committee member Kymberlaine Banks from Garland, Texas, said, “You just met someone who’s family members are dying, and that’s hard. These are people who need others to partner with them and say what needs to be said to corporate interests.”

On that note, committee members considered the question: What does courage in corporate engagement look like in the current political climate?

Committee member Brenton Thompson from Philadelphia suggested the work of MRTI could expand to include dialogue with other PC(USA) entities including PDA, the Presbyterian Committee on the Self-Development of People and the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy.

With the assumption that fewer shareholder resolutions will be filed in the next year, Simon Doong, associate for corporate, community and church engagement, proposed the approach of such engagements might change in the foreseeable future.

The asks may look slightly different, Doong says, but the goal and commitment remain the same.

“We used to lead with the moral imperative (of corporate responsibility) and then build the business case,” he said. “Now we need to lead with the business case and follow up with the moral imperative.”

MRTI was created in recognition of the PC(USA)'s unique opportunity to advance its mission faithfully and creatively through the financial resources entrusted it. MRTI implements the General Assembly’s policies on socially responsible investing — also called faith-based investing — by engaging corporations in which the church owns stock.