But the Christian investor who helped lead a shareholder campaign demanding more transparency from Nike says he wants a reason to buy another pair."For me, what resonates is forgiveness," Schwarzenberger told OutKick."If companies make changes, we need to applaud them."NIKE FORGOT THAT REPUBLICANS BUY SNEAKERS, TOO, AND NOW IT'S GETTING BOOTED FROM THE S&P 100"I would like to get back to buying the shoes, but I can’t rationalize doing that when Nike has become so activist," he said.
"If the company can change, I would be the first to applaud them and get in line."Tim Schwarzenberger explains why Nike's perfect Human Rights Campaign score and DEI ties sparked a shareholder proposal at its annual meeting.(REUTERS/Tingshu Wang)Schwarzenberger is a portfolio manager and director of corporate engagement at Inspire Investing, a faith-based firm that represents investors who own Nike stock.
Those investors make money if Nike succeeds, not if it collapses."We’re long-term investors," he said."Our primary goal is to earn competitive performance for the investors we serve, and we want companies to do well."Nike shareholders rejected Proposal 5 during the company’s annual meeting Sept.
8.Inspire backed the proposal on behalf of client William C.
Cunningham.The resolution asked Nike to evaluate and issue a report analyzing the "benefits, costs, and legal, reputational, competitive, and other relevant risks" associated with its charitable support.The proposal’s supporting statement specifically cited Nike’s verified score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.Inspire argued that the score raises questions about whether Nike’s employee health plan covers gender-transition procedures for minors, including surgery, cross-sex hormone therapy, menstruation suppression and puberty blockers.Schwarzenberger said Nike has not publicly answered whether it provides those benefits to minor dependents.HRC's 2026 criteria require transgender-inc...