We want our financial investments to follow our beliefs. We’ve done socially responsible investment through Everence and its Praxis Mutual Fund. We were very disappointed to learn that a trustee of the Praxis Fund is an officer in a company owned by Charles and David Koch. The Koch companies have an appalling environmental record. The Koch brothers are among the primary funders of climate-change denial and opposition to effective climate change policy. This is the moral equivalent of helping to sink a ship and then shooting holes in the life­boat. How can Praxis invest to address climate change with a Koch company officer on its board?

In the spirit of Matthew 18, we have raised this concern both with the individual involved and with Praxis. Both failed to take meaningful action. On April 28, Praxis will ask its shareholders to re-elect its board. Since Everence and the Mennonite Foundation are Praxis’ largest share­hold­ers, we urge all readers with connections with these institutions to ask them to vote their shares to remove from the Praxis board this Koch company officer. Everence and Praxis must be able to pursue responsible environmental investment without any suggestion of a conflict of interest. Any who have already sent in their proxy letter can contact Everence to revoke that request and direct them to vote their shares to remove the Koch officer from the Praxis board.

Ruth and Timothy Stoltzfus Jost
Harrisonburg, Va.