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Corporate Accountability activates people power to challenge and change destructive corporations at every level — from communities to international democratic institutions.

The success of our campaigns is rooted in strategies that produce lasting change. And we don’t stop until we achieve that change. While responding quickly to unexpected opportunities and obstacles, we stay focused on the big picture to achieve our most ambitious goals.

There’s a fundamental imbalance of power in our world today. Transnational corporations and the wealthy few who own and control them have too much power. These corporations feed and exacerbate some of the deepest injustices in our society — from economic inequality to systemic racism.

With every action Corporate Accountability and our partners take, we are actively transforming this unjust system and correcting that fundamental power imbalance.

We employ a range of tactics that shift the cost-benefit ratio for transnational corporations — compelling major changes to industry leaders and across whole industries. And our long-term strategies shift the balance of power away from transnational corporations and back to people.

Read our manifesto

Our strategies

For four decades, our work has been guided by two grand strategies:
  1. Organize people around the world to apply direct and strategic pressure on transnational corporations.
  2. Lock in changes by strengthening democratic institutions and empowering governing bodies like the United Nations to exercise their authority over transnational corporations.

Putting strategy into practice

Our campaigns are dynamic. As conditions change, so does our organizing. That’s why we have an extended toolbox of tactics we can call upon as needed.

Here are a few of our tactics:

Organize large numbers of people to pressure corporations to make changes. We unite people and mobilize their collective strength to take on even the most powerful transnational corporations, employing tactics ranging from high-visibility actions to social media pressure to petition drives.

Generate media visibility to expose the reality behind corporate spin and shift the public conversation.

Mobilize shareholder activism to create changes in corporate practices.

Build enduring partnerships with allied organizations in the U.S. and around the world. We work with a broad range of people demanding change — community organizers, public officials, national nonprofits, international NGOs, and more — to present a united front powerful enough to take on the most dangerous transnational corporations.

Expose and challenge corporate influence over public policy. Never afraid to name names, we zero in on industry leaders from Nestlé to Exxon Mobil to transform the world’s largest industries.

Hold public officials accountable and advance democracy. We make sure public officials who are in the pockets of corporations feel the full weight of public outrage. We support those who act in the people’s interest and hold global corporations accountable.

Participate in negotiations with international governing bodies. We not only stop individual instances of corporate abuse, we secure international protections that hold abusive industries accountable around the globe. To that end, we maintain official status with:

  • The World Health Organization
  • The Secretariat of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
  • The United Nations Economic and Social Council
  • The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
We advance the human right to water. Our water campaign challenges corporations like Nestlé and Veolia that are behind the global water crisis. We challenge the commodification of our most precious resource. And we demand our water remain in public hands and accessible to people. Learn More
We are kicking Big Polluters out of climate policy. Our climate campaign demands the industries most responsible for climate change not be allowed to set the rules. It’s time Exxon Mobil, the fossil fuel industry, and their proxies pay for the destruction they have caused. Learn More
We are building a sustainable food system that nourishes people instead of making them sick. Our food campaign demands that McDonald’s and other giant food corporations end their abuses from seed to plate. We organize to champion children’s health, support workers’ rights, and protect the environment. Learn More
We challenge Big Tobacco for the lives it destroys. We prevent transnational corporations like Philip Morris International from continuing to expand and take the lives of seven million people each year. We are making the industry pay for its abuse and preventing it from derailing global, lifesaving laws. Learn More
We uplift Black voices, power Black-led movements, and challenge the racist systems that fuel corporate power. Founded and led by Black team members, the Black Collective educates our team and network of activists and donors on the centuries of suffering and resilience of Black communities in the United States. Learn More
We are reclaiming democracy from the corruptive influence of corporate power. We are building a powerful, grassroots corporate accountability movement to advance justice by ending the corrosive influence of corporate power on our democracy. Our campaigns advance international law that will hold all abusive industries accountable, stop corporate-driven trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and mobilize hundreds of thousands of people to take action through initiatives like the Corporate Hall of Shame. Learn More

Corporate Hall of Shame

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. The Corporate Hall of Shame shines a spotlight on transnational corporations that trample on our democracy, threaten the well-being of our communities, pollute the environment, and subject people to life-threatening dangers.

Each year, we ask you to cast your vote for the corporation doing the most harm in the world. The corporation with the most votes is inducted into the Corporate Hall of Shame. Then, we partner with allies to mobilize grassroots pressure to compel the corporation to change.

So cast your vote today. Which corporation most needs to change? Which one will we hold accountable, together?

Corporate Hall of Shame nominees

Past “Winners”

Koch Industries: For lavishing tens of millions of dollars on federal campaigns, lobbying, and front groups to bust unions, deny climate change, and block campaign finance reform.

Bayer: For manufacturing and profiting richly from pesticides linked to the alarming die-offs of bees, while funding junk science and public relations to deny culpability.

Monsanto: For mass producing toxic chemicals, aggressively running small farms out of business, and recklessly promoting genetically engineered seeds that exacerbate food scarcity globally. Monsanto has pushed legislation to prevent its GMO products from being regulated.

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Corporate Accountability is looking for a new Executive Director