“Today there is a host of new players who also have a claim on business and the determinants of its legitimacy. They are consumer activists, environmental watchdogs, social responsibility advocates, champions of women’s rights in business and in society, and ethical investors, to mention a few.

They are called stakeholders because, while most may not own stock, they believe they are, by virtue of the power a corporation holds, just as invested in what companies do — or do not do — that affects the lives, health, economic well-being, ecosystem and human rights of everyone. They are determined to use their influence to change the way companies do business by working inside the system of capitalism itself.

Smart boards of the 1980s should begin to take note of the rising tide of what I have been calling stakeholder capitalism. It portends a sea change in the way the whole world of business works, just as Ralph Nader and Rachel Carson did for car makers and chemical producers”.

~ J. Richard Finlay, excerpt from  a speech to The Conference Board of Canada, “The Board of Directors: Coping with Changing Expectations,” November, 1983.

The Finlay Centre for Corporate & Public Governance is the first and oldest independent think tank dedicated to advancing higher standards of ethics, transparency, social purposefulness and accountability in major corporations and public institutions. We were trailblazing these attributes long before the arrival of ESG. And we coined the term stakeholder capitalism in the 1980s.

The Finlay Centre for Corporate & Public Governance was founded by J. Richard Finlay, one of the world’s most prescient voices for sound boardroom practices, sanity in CEO pay and the ethical responsibilities of trusted leaders.

To illuminate the promise of sound governance and trusted leadership — and the ethical practices that shape it.

We hold a unique track record of major contributions to modern governance standards. With unmatched prescience in foreseeing the consequences of their absence and predicting the downfall of countless corporations and public players, we bring a skill set and perspective unlike any other think tank.  Now in our fourth decade, we are one of the world’s longest and continuously cited voices championing a culture of integrity in the boardroom, sanity in CEO pay and trusted leadership in a time of turbulence.

By contributing to the evolution of private enterprise and public trust, we add value to business and society and to the common humanity we all depend upon for the future our civilization and our planet deserve.