Anti-'woke' activist investor group targets Kohl's with proposal to shareholders

A conservative activist investor is pressuring Kohl’s Corp. over the company’s philanthropic efforts directed at minority and LGBTQ anti-suicide organizations.

Kohl's shareholders should support creation of a committee "on corporate financial sustainability to oversee and review the impact of the Company’s policy positions, advocacy, partnerships and charitable giving on social and political matters, and the effect of those actions on the Company’s financial sustainability," according to the proposal by National Center for Public Policy Research.

The Washington D.C.-based group criticizes Kohl’s Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, particularly what it called a $1 million contribution “to the BLM movement and related causes since 2020.”

“These causes have been accused of squandering assets and supporting racism and antisemitism and highly divisive and dangerous programs such as police-defunding and ‘anti-racist’ racial discrimination,” the organization states.

The Kohl's board of directors unanimously urged shareholders to reject the group's efforts in balloting before the retailer's annual meeting on May 15. Shareholders are voting on more routine matters including board members, executive compensation, an independent accounting firm, and a long-term compensation plan. Results are expected to be tabulated after the meeting.

The Kohl's directors called the proposal “unnecessary, duplicative, and not an effective use of company resources," according to the proxy statement.

The company said the board and other standing committees “already devote substantial resources to the oversight of social and political matters, including Kohl’s policy positions, advocacy, partnerships, and charitable giving, and the related impacts on the company’s financial sustainability.”

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According to the proxy statement, the National Center for Public Policy Research has owned “at least $2,000” of Kohl’s stock for three years.

Group pressures other companies over philanthropic efforts

Kohl's is not the only company that the group has pressured over its philanthropic efforts.

The organization has about 60 such proposals with companies across the country., said Stefan Padfield, deputy director of the group's Free Enterprise Project.

“Most people would go to Kohl’s because they want good quality products at a reasonable price, right? And most people are not interested in being lectured to or having their money, whether that’s as consumers or as shareholders, used to advance divisive ideological issues,” Padfield said. “When that becomes revealed, you have a values problem.”

Christina O'Connell, senior campaign manager for shareholders investments for Eko, a nonprofit focused on corporate accountability, said the National Center for Public Policy Research is within its rights as a shareholder to make proposals on issues it feels to be important.

“They definitely, I would say, exaggerate their claims,” O’Connell said. “They’re part of a campaign to oppose what they call ‘woke capitalism.’ And all of this circles around claims that companies are giving in to what they describe as extreme or radical left-wing interests. And they see their goal as solving that through these proposals.”

O'Connell and Eko monitor the proposals the National Center for Public Policy Research directed at major companies like Kohl's, Target and Best Buy.

Group claims Kohl's gave money to Black Lives Matter

The group's appeal to investors includes a link to a database created by Claremount Institute for the American Way of Life, which lists Kohl’s as one of the companies that have contributed to the Black Lives Matter movement.

That database links to a 2020 company pledge to distribute $1 million to five local nonprofits: Milwaukee Urban League, Employ Milwaukee, Acts Housing, Safe & Sound and Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee.

None of those groups are directly connected to Black Lives Matter.

“We don’t have the resources to dig down layer after layer for every proposition,” Padfield said when asked about the discrepancy.

“So when we have a reputable organization, like Claremont, and they put out this information and we do a couple of checks and it seems very reasonable, then we find that’s appropriate to use as a basis, among the many other issues that we cite that are seemingly related in this sort of left-leaning, what seems like a left-leaning, agenda that Kohl’s is supporting.”

Padfield said the company has had plenty of opportunities to challenge the accusation it donated $1 million to Black Lives Matter “and related causes,” but “they haven’t done that.”

O'Connell said the group seemed to be engaging in a deliberate effort to embarrass Kohl's.

“They’re focused on Black Lives Matter and that kind of taking a set of local donations and claiming that they’re Black Lives Matter donations seems to be part of their strategy,” O’Connell said.

More: Store openings, layoffs, profits and executive changes: A year with Kohl's CEO Tom Kingsbury

Bradley Foundation supports National Center of Public Policy Research

The National Center for Public Policy Research was started in 1981 and became a non-profit in 1981, according to the group's website.

The Free Enterprise Project launched in 2007 is described as the “original and premier opponent of the woke takeover of American corporate life and defender of true capitalism.”  The group's president David Ridenour has a base salary of roughly $358,000.

The organization says it receives 350,000 donations a year from 60,000 active donors.

In 2021 the group received nearly $13.1 million in donations and grants, and in 2022 it received more than $12.2 million, according to filings with the Internal Revenue Service.

Because the National Center for Public Policy Research is a nonprofit, the donors are anonymous.  However organizations that donate to do report their contributions.

For example, the conservative and Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradly Foundation, started donating to the organization in 2019 when it gave $220,000 to support the Free Enterprise Project, according to IRS filings.

In 2020 and 2021, the Bradley Foundation gave $250,000 and $500,000 ,respectively, to the organization.  In 2022, the Bradley Foundation gave $1 million, and in 2023 donated $250,000.

Padfield said there are roughly 60 shareholder proposals currently in the process of being discussed or voted on with companies around the country.

When asked if any of the center's proposals have been approved by shareholders, Padfield’s response was blunt.

“No,” he said. “The approval rate for proposals is generally low and we typically have the Big 5 asset managers/proxy advisors against us as they lean demonstrably left.”

Padfield said the “Big 5” are Blackrock, State Street, and Vangauard, which invest in hundreds of companies around the country, and proxy advisors Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services.

O'Connell said calling a company like Blackrock, the world's largest asset manger with trillions of dollars of assets, a left-learning organizations is “pretty startling.”

“I’ve never thought of Blackrock as leading the leftwing extremists in our country,” O’Connell said adding these proposals get very little support from shareholders. “These are clearly not issues of grave concern to investors... far from it."

The Trevor Project contribution also criticized

In 2019, Kohl's announced a $100,000 contribution to The Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization that focuses primarily on LGBTQ+ youth, and provides information, research and a 24/7 hotline for those who are in need of help.

In the same press release, the company said it was donating $100,000 to the United Service Organization which helps military service members and their families.

The National Center for Public Policy Research criticized The Trevor Project donation and not the USO donation.

“Who doesn’t want to reduce childhood suicide?” Padfield said. “Who doesn’t want to affirm people, so they feel good? Again, once we look under the hood the problem is we see all sorts of issues that the country is deeply divided about. Should children have transition surgery? Should they be given puberty blockers? Should they be transitioned in schools behind the backs of their parents? Should men who identify as women be allowed to compete in team sports?”

O'Connell said the National Center for Public Policy Research in recent years has focused on gender and LGBTQ+ issues as part of the organization's strategy to push companies away from supporting those organizations.

“This kind of questioning of any support that they would give to an organization that helps to prevent youth suicide is really shocking,” O’Connell said. “Seeing that as ‘extreme’ or ‘radical’ and something to stop, is really a disturbing position to take.”

Padfield insisted the group doesn’t advocate for businesses to donate to conservative or right leaning organizations over progressive organizations.

“We have to pick our spots and we are conservative, so that’s going to be part of our guide. But we want corporations to get back to neutral.”

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Anti-'woke' activist investor group targets Kohl's with proposal