To help people visualize what stakeholder leadership looks like, the Enterprise Engagement Alliance has begun an effort to highlight examples of leaders, companies, and other organizations. These organizations, leaders, or academics, are chosen solely based on their demonstrated work or actions advocating for or demonstrating the value of harmonizing the interests of all shareholders and stakeholders toward a common purpose, goals, objectives, and values.
One a week will be selected and posted on Linkedin on Sundays and added to this list until the Golden Rule Alliance web site is launched containing a database of organizations committed to these principles.
Here are links to a library of information on the principles of stakeholder capitalism upon which this growing selection is based. Here is a library of research on the financial impact of stakeholder capitalism.
Here is a list of the people, companies and organizations highlighted to date.
Joe Hinrichs, President and CEO of CSX
His actions and active social media presence demonstrate a sincere focus on creating 
sustainable returns for investors by harmonizing the interests of the company’s shareholders, customers, employees, supply chain and distribution partners, and communities.
Click here for the Linkedin post announcing this designation.
As of 2025, CSX has and is facing multiple challenges due to the Baltimore bridge disaster, hurricanes in the Southeast, tariff uncertainties and other economic factors totally out of its control.
Stakeholder capitalism principles cannot prevent the storms nor eliminate the pain and animosities caused by painful tradeoffs, but they can help organizations survive and come out of thriving.
Whatever the outcome, it will be an example of stakeholder capitalism principles in business.
Check out this feature article and YouTube interview with Joe the EEA had with him last year.
R. Edward Freeman, Professor at the Darden School at the University of Virginia.
Freeman is considered by many to be the “father” of stakeholder capitalism.
Very few people have ever heard of stakeholder capitalism and even fewer of R. Edward Freeman, but his 1984 work, Strategic Management, a Stakeholder Approach, is the foundation of a simple proposition: organizations that build the concept of the Golden Rule into their business plans have a greater chance of success than those that don’t.
Click here for a link to the Linkedin post announcing this designation.
That means better lives for shareholders, employees, customers, distribution and supply chain partners, communities, and a healthier environment.
Stakeholder capitalism isn’t a well-known movement, perhaps because most people don’t know about it, don’t understand it, or feel powerless to do anything about capitalism.
They can’t fire the CEOs, whereas at least they can vote out the politicians.
So the revolution is being led by little-known people like Freeman, whose academic work reportedly inspired the founders of Costco, Whole Foods, and others to focus on creating value through people rather than extracting it from them.
His framework was drawn upon by the Business Roundtable when in 2019 it updated its charter of the corporation to address the interests of all stakeholders. I think he was astonished when his practical approach to value creation got caught up in the anti-ESG and virtue-signaling debate.
His work has helped inspire professors evident in the work Strategy Management Society’s Stakeholder Strategy interest group, so that the principles he proposed are increasingly incorporated into business school education.
If some day it becomes the norm for CEOs to embrace an approach to capitalism focused only on creating value for customers, employees, on all stakeholders, we will have R. Edward Freeman in part to thank.
To better understand his views, click here for an EEA YouTube show interview with Freeman.
JUST Capital—Chief Advocate for Stakeholder Capitalism
Here’s simple explanation for the enormous economic inequality in the richest country in the world: the failure of business to follow the Golden Rule.
We honor JUST Capital because no organization I know of is doing more to promote a more sustainable approach to capitalism that creates wealth by growing, rather than dividing the pie in the words of Alex Edmans. Click here for the Linkedin post announcing this designation.
Imagine what the US would be like if every business owner treated employees, customers, distribution and supply chain partners, communities and the environment as they would wish to be treated.
Wouldn’t most CEOs wish to be paid at least living wages in a safe workplace if they were workers? Then why do so many fail to do so?
Don’t we all wish to buy high quality products and services sold and backed up by effective customer service? Then why do so many companies fail in this regard?
If CEOs were distribution or supply chain partners, wouldn’t they wish fair payment terms? Then why do so many make their partners wait 120 days to get paid?
Don’t CEOs wish to live in communities with clean air and water free of abandoned factories and buildings? Why do so many companies leave big messes behind.
JUST Capital is making a big investment to convince CEOs that stakeholder capitalism is just better business.
Click here for an interview with Martin Whittaker, CEO.
Costco Is a Golden Rule Company
Contrary to the red-herrings thrown about by left- and right-wing opponents, Costco
proves that stakeholder capitalism is not about virtue signaling or making donations to worthy causes, it’s based on building value creation for all stakeholders into your business model.
It’s total quality management for people, not just processes. Click here for a link to the Linkedin post announcing this designation.
A focus on value creation was the vision of founders James Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman in 1983 and lives on today under the leadership of Ron Vachris, who started as a forklift operator.
Its stock is up 214% over the last five years (vs. 117% for the S&P 500) while paying its employees far above the going wages for pay and benefits while maintaining remarkable customer loyalty.
It pays to do onto others what you would have done on to you.
For More Information
Bruce Bolger, Founder; Enterprise Engagement Alliance; 914-591-7600, ext. 230; Bolger@TheEEA.org