ESG Metrics

The private sector in the US plays a central role in the economy, accounting for the vast majority of jobs and investments. Beyond its immense economic strength, it also shapes public policy, both directly through lobbying and indirectly by shaping public narratives, marketing and advertising, and through associations that advocate on their behalf. While ESG reporting has become increasingly ubiquitous in the corporate world, especially among the top companies, one area that does not get enough visibility is their corporate political influence. Top companies often position themselves as leaders on sustainability and social equity, yet their lobbying and political engagement sometimes contradict those commitments by delaying action on social and environmental issues or by supporting policymakers who directly undermine such measures. However, newly graduated students coming out of the university system have significant power to influence this behavior by choosing employers based on their broader social, environmental, and political impacts. Our project aims to equip graduates with the information necessary to make this choice, thereby increasing incentives for the employers to improve ratings in order to attract top talent.

The aspect of this project that attracted me was its bottom-up approach, focusing on fresh graduates as its primary userbase and building a tool that would be of significant use to them. I believe in its principles and the idea of driving a race among top companies and employers to improve their environmental and political standards by giving more power to graduates to make choices. Coming from a technical background in climate science, decarbonization, and energy systems, I also saw this project as a chance to explore a new field and develop a broader skill set. It sits at the intersection of sustainability, labor markets and political economy, which I find both intellectually engaging and highly relevant. The private sector is a powerful driver of both positive and negative change, and understanding how to channel this influence more responsibly is a critical question for the future of climate action, human rights, and economic stability. 

Over the past several weeks, my team and I have been working towards building a database of employers based on their ESG and political impacts. I feel fortunate to have found incredibly talented and dedicated teammates, and our collaboration has been smooth and productive. But that’s not to say there haven't been any challenges. So far, data availability has been a significant hurdle. ESG disclosures are relatively transparent, especially among leading companies, but information on corporate political influence is often fragmented, entirely unavailable, or remain behind closed doors. Choosing the most relevant KPIs for evaluating and ranking employers has also proven challenging. We are considering metrics such as net-zero commitments, workforce diversity and labor practices, political spending and advocacy, and ownership and governance structures. Each of these requires careful consideration to ensure it is meaningful to prospective graduate students and accurately reflects a company’s broader social and environmental impact. 

To address these challenges, we have been exploring external data sources, including publicly available databases and prior research, to supplement our work and reduce duplication of effort. This process has taught me the importance of combining quantitative analysis with a qualitative understanding of context, as raw data alone cannot always capture the full story of a company’s behavior. Despite the complexities, I feel confident that we are making meaningful progress. I see a clear path toward creating a tool that will be genuinely useful for graduate students, helping them make informed decisions about their future employers and increasing pressure on companies to act responsibly. Ultimately, the project reinforces the idea that the power balance in the private sector can shift toward employees when they are equipped with the right information. This project is deeply meaningful to me because I’m also one among its intended end users as I graduate and prepare to enter the workforce in a few months. By enabling transparency, we can encourage employers to improve their broader societal impact and empower employees to make informed decisions that drive meaningful change.