Finance-Focused Strategies Initiative

In 2023, Whistle Stop launched the Finance-Focused Strategies Initiative, an interdisciplinary effort by technologists, companies, investors, and human rights experts.

It is supported by the NetGain Partnership, a consortium of major foundations committed to responsible technology development founded in 2015. The Initiative builds on years of existing research by Whistle Stop and Open MIC. The Ford Foundation provides additional direct support.

Our guiding question is as follows:

How might attention to governance, privacy, and human rights support long-term value creation and benefit portfolio returns?

To address this, we have created a set of Tech Accountability Criteria to measure major tech companies’ governance and privacy practices, and to identify where these affect long-term financial performance.

This research identifies which human rights concerns within the tech sector link most clearly to financial performance. In doing this, we illustrate which governance systems, policies, and practices support positive outcomes for investors, companies, and society.