Pennsylvania Family Targets `ESG and DEI Stuff’ in Proxy Season

Roughly 400 miles from Wall Street in a small town in Pennsylvania’s Rust Belt, Jerry Bowyer, his wife and five of their children have been working around a dining room table, sifting through corporate data on hot-button issues such as abortion, DEI and climate change.

Their goal: Shift more power to conservative investors at company annual meetings. And, with the 2025 proxy season kicking into gear this month, there are signs that the Bowyers are winning some converts.

Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., which influences how millions of shares are voted each year, offers Bowyer Research’s guidelines among its ...