Our Story
Viewpoint Diversity Score brings together leaders from business, civil society, and academia who are committed to preserving the freedom of expression and freedom of religion or belief in the market, workplace, and public square.
We recognize that powerful companies in the tech and financial services industries have emerged as de facto gatekeepers of essential services and become crucial mediums of expression in the digital public square. While many of these companies make important contributions to our economy and society, they undermine trust and the institutions of democratic self-government when they engage in censorship, enable cancel culture inside their organizations, or take divisive stands on controversial political issues.
That’s why we’re calling on companies to respect viewpoint diversity in how they do business, manage their workforces, and engage external stakeholders.
Through our Business Index and Resources we’re providing a roadmap for businesses to meaningfully respect customers, and other external stakeholders who hold diverse religious and ideological beliefs, foster viewpoint diversity in their workplaces, and reflect a commitment to the underlying principles of American democracy through their giving and political engagement.
Viewpoint Diversity Score is a project of Alliance Defending Freedom, one of the nation’s most respected and successful Supreme Court advocates, working to preserve the fundamental freedoms of speech and religion for all Americans. Collaborating is Inspire Insight, a Christian financial technology firm informing investment decisions on billions of dollars around the globe.
Find out more about who is involved in this coalition below or visit our FAQ page for additional information. You can also contact us to learn about how you or your organization can get involved.
Jeremy Tedesco is Senior Counsel, Senior Vice President of Corporate Engagement at Alliance Defending Freedom. Tedesco is a leading voice in highlighting the threats that major corporations pose to the fundamental freedoms of every American.
While calling attention to these threats—which include the censorial aims of ESG, discriminatory DE&I policies, religious and political de-banking and more—Tedesco seeks to provide major corporations an off-ramp from woke corporatism by adopting policies that respect customers, shareholders, and employees at America’s top companies.
Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index
Tedesco, whose two-decade career in First Amendment litigation includes participating in three victories at the U.S. Supreme Court, spearheaded the launch of the Viewpoint Diversity Score Business Index in 2022. The premier benchmark for measuring corporate respect for free speech and religious freedom, the Business Index scored 75 publicly traded corporations across 43 performance indicators in its second year (2023) and is scheduled to launch its third-year report in the Spring of 2024.
Shareholder Engagement
Leveraging findings of the Index, Tedesco and his team at ADF are regularly involved in supporting shareholder proposals aimed at preventing viewpoint discrimination and providing much-needed transparency into decision-making at Big Tech and financial services corporations like Apple, JPMorgan Chase, and PayPal.
Political and Religious De-banking
Tedesco and his team are also at the forefront of countering a dangerous trend of political and religious de-banking at major financial institutions. In early 2024, Tedesco testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government following revelations that the federal government had warned major banks that ADF was a potential “domestic terrorist” group. After Bank of America canceled ADF client Indigenous Advance Ministries’ account in 2023, Tedesco’s team successfully advocated for Tennessee’s first-of-its-kind consumer protection bill that prohibits big banks from canceling accounts based on constitutionally protected speech and religious exercise.
Members of the ADF Viewpoint Diversity Team also include:
- Michael Ross, Legal Counsel
- Georgia Cline-Miller, Research Analyst
- Madeleine Kennedy, Research Analyst
- Jay Hobbs, Strategic Campaigns & Initiatives Director
- Bob Pruitt, Sr. Counsel, Corporate Affairs Director
- Patrick Luchuk, Jr. Research & Data Analyst
- Marina Moreira, Corporate Engagement Program Administrator
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