8. Shareholders have the right to attempt to influence the actions of the management. They can do this by putting nonbinding proposals forward-called resolutions-to be voted upon at annual shareholder meetings. (Small shareholders rarely attend the meeting, but may vote by proxy.) Until the 1970 s, shareholder resolutions tended to focus on bottom line concerns. But in 1971, the Episcopal Church filed the first church-sponsored shareholder resolution, challenging General Motor's operations in the apartheid regime in South Africa, and sparking others to make proposals related to corporate social responsibility. Today, shareholder activism continues to grow, with proposals each year on a range of issues, from executive compensation to diversity to the environment. Research: Locate a shareholder resolution dealing with environmental issues. Did it make it onto the proxy statement for voting? If so, with what result? .