We cannot begin a discussion of this quarter without acknowledging the tragedies taking place in Israel and Palestine, and increasingly across the world amid rising antisemitic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric and violence. Despite our years of work in human rights, seeing the way this crisis has unfol...

For many years, we have known that corporations capture data to categorize people based on various similarities, preferences, and patterns and then use targeted advertising to generate revenue. This has often been accomplished by providing us with “free information” through internet searches, of...

There was a moment in our recent history that felt like real progress was happening—for women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and many others. Perhaps the backlash we’re currently experiencing shouldn’t be surprising. Nevertheless, it can feel highly disappointing and frightening....

2022 is Over! Not long ago, a man who lost his election for office in New Mexico hired four gunmen to threaten and intimidate the Democrats who had won various statewide elections. As we prepared this letter, there were mass killings in California and elsewhere, revelations of murder by police in Me...

There is a large, framed photograph in our office that NorthStar acquired shortly after we won equal marriage rights in Massachusetts. The photograph is of a sign that was held high during the June gay pride parade in 2004 that says, “Brown, Roe, Goodridge.” As I sat in the office with a beloved...

Many years ago, during a rainstorm, I ran outside to pick some tomatoes from my garden and, while doing so, was suctioned into the wet, mucky soil. Worried about my meal prep (and my boots!), I pulled my feet out of my boots, jumped aside onto solid ground, and then leaned over and carefully pulled ...

We certainly have started 2022 with a bang. Market volatility in both equities and fixed income appears to be the path we are on, while staff shortages are more numerous and more impactful than they have been since the beginning of the pandemic....

Looking Ahead Eighteen months into this pandemic and we have all had enough. Stock market volatility at the end of September was the icing on the cake for those of us on the Investment Committee. Soaring oil prices, the unresolved debt ceiling, fear of inflation, the reconciliation bill, the Build B...

In the wake of George Floyd’s death, corporate leaders from 66% of the S&P 500 companies made public statements, many of which condemned racism or affirmed the need for a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But these same corporate leaders run companies where Black people’s existence is r...

I don’t know about you, but I am taking a rest from my constant monitoring of the evening news. I am tired of five years of unrelenting political controversy. This does not mean that violent shootings of unarmed black men and mass shootings are not on my radar, but in order to remain hopeful that ...