| McDonald's. Home Depot. Apple. These are just some of the big fast-food chains, retailers and tech companies whose shareholders are demanding company leaders conduct a deep dive into the ways their operations are contributing to -- or counteracting-- racial and social equity. They vary by company, but the idea is to look at what role employees, suppliers and business operators are playing in reducing the impact of racial injustice and require them to take action on the bevy of race-related promises corporate America made two years ago. Shareholders are growing impatient. The number of environmental and social shareholder proposals over the last 12 months jumped by 61% from a year ago among companies in the Russell 1000, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Among the 298 proposals, roughly 230 were social resolutions, up by 50% from a year ago. At McDonald's, investors went against the company's recommendation and approved a proposal calling for an independent civil-rights audit, which passed narrowly with 52% of the vote. In fact, it was the only shareholder proposal to receive a majority of votes at the chain's annual meeting, while reports on lobbying activities and other spending faltered. "At the end of the day a report isn't going to solve racism, but it highlights the weak points that companies can then build a strategy around," said Rob Du Boff, senior ESG analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. Still, Du Boff cautions that the audits have their limits. Although companies are asked to gather details and put together reports, they're not legally bound to do so, he said. They've also spurred an uptick in "anti-woke" proposals that run counter to racial equity audits – the equivalent of "All Lives Matter" proposals -- and may dissuade companies from taking up the matter. What's interesting, though, is that even if the majority of shareholders don't vote to conduct an audit, in the case of JPMorgan, Citi and other companies, some have agreed to run a racial audit anyway. And that's probably the best outcome of the movement: That even if the majority hasn't come aboard, companies are listening to their shareholders' requests, acting in good faith and jumping on a train that has pretty clearly already left the station. —Jordyn Holman | 
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