For many investors, the relationship with an ETF begins and ends with a ticker symbol: buy, hold, and watch the line — hopefully — trend upward. But for those holding the Adasina Social Justice All Cap Global ETF (JSTC), the firm’s 2025 Impact Report suggests a different angle. Rather than signaling a move away from divestment, the report underscores how Adasina continues to pair divestment and collective action as complementary strategies, using each where it is most effective to drive meaningful change.
The $1.14 Trillion Coalition
The core of Adasina’s strategy is not its own balance sheet, but its ability to organize a broad, community-centered coalition. JSTC is a relatively small fund. However, it operates as a coordinator within a network of 173 members representing $1.14 trillion in assets.
This coalition is intentionally diverse, spanning individual investors, advocacy organizations, asset managers, and data partners. Participants include values-aligned asset managers (such as Zevin Asset Management and Nia Impact Capital), social justice groups (like the Trans Women of Color Collective and Friends of the Earth), and research partners (including Surveillance Watch and FreeCap Financial).
By acting as a central hub for these stakeholders, Adasina builds movement-aligned influence rooted in solidarity with impacted communities, rather than seeking to replicate the traditional access model of large passive asset managers. The coalition’s strength lies not in mimicking institutional power structures, but in coordinating values-driven pressure that connects capital with community priorities.
Adasina positions JSTC not as a passive, “set-and-forget” index fund, but as a catalyst for active transformation. This impact-first strategy seeks to reimagine the global core of an investor’s portfolio, using strategic alliances to amplify its voice beyond its individual assets under management.
See More: An Impact-First Strategy That Reimagines the Global Core
Proxy Voting and Compensation Pushback
The 2025 data reveals a highly values-driven proxy voting record. Over the last fiscal year, Adasina voted against more than 600 management compensation packages, citing a misalignment between executive pay and broader stakeholder outcomes. Additionally, it supported 110 social justice-related shareholder proposals, reflecting a consistent approach to principled, community-informed stewardship aligned with investor values.
Targeted Corporate Campaigns
The report details specific instances where Adasina leveraged its investor status to influence corporate behavior. One notable campaign targeted lobbying transparency. Following McDonald’s exit from the National Restaurant Association — a group that has historically lobbied against minimum wage increases — Adasina collaborated with Mercy Investments and ICCR on a joint investor response, ensuring coordinated advocacy and shared credit across partners. The goal was to frame trade association memberships as a material risk to brand reputation.
On the labor front, Adasina activated a specialized subset of its network, partnering with the Trans Women of Color Collective to organize a $4 billion gender justice investor coalition. This figure represents a meaningful milestone in its own right, reflecting a purpose-built campaign focused on strengthening workplace protections for transgender employees. As of today, Adasina’s broader coalition base has grown to $13.2 billion, but each campaign coalition is designed to stand independently based on its objectives.
Structural Changes: From Firm to Employee-Owned
In a shift from standard corporate governance in the asset management industry, Adasina announced in 2025 its planned transition to a broad-based employee ownership model, with implementation currently underway for 2026.
While this move aligns with the firm’s external advocacy, it is also a deeper expression of its economic justice values — rooted in a commitment to redistribute wealth to the people who helped build the organization, rather than solely serving as a strategic extension of its investment philosophy.
Navigating the “Anti-ESG” Environment
The report arrives during a period of significant legal and political friction for DEI and ESG frameworks. Rather than scaling back, Adasina is expanding its focus to emerging risks, specifically identifying artificial intelligence and surveillance systems as new areas for investor advocacy.
The firm’s 2026 outlook is forward-looking and affirmative, centered on expanding campaigns, forging new partnerships, and deepening alignment with social justice movements.
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