SumOfUs is a global non-profit

advocacy Advocacy is an Action (philosophy), activity by an individual or advocacy group, group that aims to influence decision making, decisions within political, economic, and social institutions. Advocacy includes activities and publications to infl ...

organization and online community that campaigns to hold corporations accountable on issues such as

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...

discrimination Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

, and corporate power grab. The organization renamed itself to Ekō in 2023.

Founding

Australian-American activist Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman is the founder of SumOfUs and was its executive director from 2011 to 2016. In November 2016, Hannah Lownsbrough replaced Stinebricker-Kauffman as the executive director of SumOfUs. In January 2020, Emma Ruby-Sachs, the daughter of activist Clayton Ruby, took over as the organization's new executive director.

History

SumOfUs was launched in 2011 with campaigns targeting

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

's links to the US Chamber of Commerce, a campaign to thank

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

for supporting same-sex marriage in the United States, and calling on

Apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

to force its suppliers to treat their workers more ethically. The organization says that since its launch, it has expanded to have five million members. SumOfUs has staff in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Notable campaigns and reports

In December 2013, after a week of pressure from SumOfUs members, Zara and major UK retailers Topshop and

Asos ASOS or Asos may refer to: * Asos, a village in Greece * ASOS (retailer), a UK online fashion store * '' A Storm of Swords'', a book in the ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga by G. R. R. Martin * Action short of strike, industrial action undertake ...

committed to stop selling Angora from rabbits that were plucked live for their fur. In February 2014, SumOfUs demanded in a petition that "the cereal maker ellogg'sget tough with Wilmar or end its supply and distribution joint venture with the company".

Kellogg's Kellanova, formerly known as the Kellogg Company and commonly known as Kellogg's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational food manufacturing company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, US. Kellanova produces and markets con ...

subsequently committed to buy only sustainably sourced palm oil. In 2015, SumOfUs helped to push airline companies such as

Delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...

to stop shipping hunting trophies, lobbied Canadian officials to charge Nestle responsible water rates for drawing water from public lands, and helped get

Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, Wholesale banking, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retai ...

to cancel its financing of Adani's giant Australian coal mine. In January 2024, Ekō's released a report that assessed the impact of popular social media platforms on young users. The report documented over 33 million posts on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

and

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

directing "problematic content directed at young users", including content promoting misogyny, suicide, and eating disorders. Following Israel's 9-day siege on Gaza in 2021, 140,000 Ekō members contacted one of the world's biggest sports brands, PUMA, to withdraw their sponsorship of the Israel Football Association. They met with the CEO of PUMA to get their message across. PUMA ended its relationship with the Israel Football Federation last year, months after the current Israeli invasion. Boycott movements also led a long-running campaign calling for Puma to end its sponsorship of Israel's national soccer team, which began in 2018. While the German sports brand terminated its sponsorship deal in December.

Methodology

SumOfUs uses digital technology to organize and communicate globally, connecting consumers, workers and investors from around the world. One of SumOfUs' primary functions is to amplify other corporate accountability organizations' campaigns by launching rapid-response campaigns. The online campaigning NGO operates using lean start-up methodology, by adapting the " minimum viable product" model to the online campaigning field. SumOfUs mirrors corporations' global perspective and power base – and transcends national boundaries to take advantage of transnational companies' vulnerabilities.

Financial contributors

SumOfUs is a registered 501(c)(4) social welfare nonprofit. Around 85% of SumOfUs funds come from small donations from its members. SumOfUs publishes the source of revenues every year on its web site. According to the Form 990 SumOfUs filed for 2016, $631,515 was contributed by a single anonymous person. According to the Form 990 SumOfUs filed for 2015, $595,000 was contributed by two anonymous donors.

References