Letter

Dear friend,

As I look back over the year, I’m reminded of Black feminist author bell hook’s urging to move in love, rather than fear. She writes that fear, particularly fear of the other, is “the primary force upholding structures of domination.” We saw that play out this year with preventable tragedies rooted in white supremacy and brutal capitalism. The systems we live under devalue the lives and well-being of so many people and pit us against each other in order to maintain the power of the few. Corporations in particular, and those doing their bidding, are determined to keep the system working for the elite few, at greater and greater cost. They steamroll policy and bankroll hate and violence (no matter what their PR departments say). They’ve engineered a right-wing Supreme Court in the U.S. and engaged in price gouging and union busting around the world.

At Corporate Accountability, we’ve worked to choose love and the unifying force of people-power as a way to move against fear and separation. The core of our work is organizing, and the core of organizing is relationships rooted in love for ourselves, each other, and the world we are building toward. This love is a fierce and rigorous force for change. Specifically, this year we continued to prioritize our work on racial justice internally and externally.

In this moment, there are many roles for progressive organizations and movements in creating a vastly different future. At Corporate Accountability, we are clear about our role. We challenge corporate power, expose the truths behind corporate lies, achieve tangible wins, and plant seeds that blossom to reach far beyond our individual organization. We go deep to go far. And this year, we continued to make powerful progress toward that mission—from advancing liability across abusive industries; to kicking Big Polluters out of climate policy; to helping secure billions of dollars for U.S. water infrastructure, stopping a federal giveaway to water privatizers; to exposing corporate capture of food and public health policies.

At the same time, we are engaged in a spiral of learning and collaborating, toward new visions of organizing. Our staff and board has become increasingly more racially, culturally, and nationally diverse. And we continue to learn and grow to be in right relationship with each other, our allies, and our partners. This year, I am particularly proud of the work and impact of the Black Collective and that more campaign leaders from the Global South joined our board of directors. As our team builds depth of experience in organizing and fundraising, we are distributing more leadership across the organization, focusing particularly on leadership of those in the Global South.  

As always, I am heartened by your support. In this moment, when despair would be an easy—and understandable—option, you rise up with us as we organize toward transformation. Every day, I am inspired to show up because I know the work we do together, rooted in fierce love, will resonate across the decades to come.

Onward,

Patti Lynn,
Executive Director