St. Louis Organizers Win Ethical Investment Resolution

A local Palestine solidarity committee championed the resolution to divest city funds from corporations complicit in human rights violations.

Organizers in St. Louis City Hall. Courtesy of Not Another Nickel Campaign.

A diverse coalition of organizers in St. Louis, Missouri, has succeeded in making the city the largest in the nation to pass an ethical investment resolution. On November 7, 2025, the city’s Board of Aldermen voted to divest public pension dollars from companies complicit in violence at home or abroad, in accordance with American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) guidelines.

“St. Louis can lead by example and show that you don’t have to choose between financial responsibility and moral responsibility,” said Alderman Rashid Aldridge, the resolution’s primary sponsor, in a press release. Board President Megan Green, Alderwoman Alisha Sonnier, and Alderman Shane Cohn co-sponsored the resolution.

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Its passage marks the latest win in a series for the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee. The group has been organizing at the grassroots for more than a decade, after coming together in response to Israel’s attacks on Gaza during the 2008–2009 Gaza War. Since then, it has led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions efforts in St. Louis, including a successful campaign to cancel a municipal contract with French corporation Veolia, which had stakes in infrastructure projects in illegal Israeli settlements until 2015, when it withdrew under mounting international pressure.

More recently, in January 2024, the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee succeeded in mobilizing the Board of Aldermen to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. This March, with partners including local branches of Jewish Voice for Peace and Democratic Socialists of America, it launched the Not Another Nickel campaign, which championed the divestment resolution passed this week.

“We’ve seen our city take a bold stand for justice in calling for an end to the genocide in Gaza. Now, the city has taken the next step—ensuring our resources are not being used to fund human rights violations anywhere,” said Ray Brown, spokesperson for the Not Another Nickel Campaign and JVP member, in a press release.

Not Another Nickel identified 17 companies “complicit in perpetuating violence against people within our city or abroad,” in an audit of St. Louis city retirement funds’ investments. Bringing the portfolio in line with AFSC ethical investment guidelines will mean divesting about $8 million, or about 1% of holdings, from those firms, which include Boeing, Chevron, Caterpillar, and Lockheed Martin. AFSC guidelines take into account not only a company’s products but also the impact its activities have on communities.

“The necessity for this resolution is obvious. There are very clear human rights violations happening in Gaza, Sudan, and Congo, but they are also happening to our immigrant communities in our own backyards,” said Mafaza Khan, organizer for the Not Another Nickel campaign, in a press release.

The win in St. Louis could set a precedent for other state and local governments, whose investments fund violence, including Israel’s attacks on Palestinians. Besides investments in weapons manufacturers, tech companies, and fossil fuel giants, at least $1.6 billion in Israel Bonds is held between state governments, municipal governments, and public pension funds nationwide. Palm Beach, Florida, made headlines last year for purchasing $660 million in those bonds, which Israel sells to raise funds for its government and military. Bondholders maintain no oversight of how the funds are spent once invested.

Now that the resolution has passed, organizers with the Not Another Nickel campaign are looking forward to working with the board of trustees that oversees investments of public pension funds to make divestment a reality. “When we drafted this resolution, we knew it wasn’t the finish line,” organizers said. “We’ll keep pushing to stop city resources from funding corporations that profit from genocide, environmental destruction, and exploitation.”

Not Another Nickel is also challenging St. Louis to strip tax exemptions from companies operating in the city that are complicit in human rights violations, including Boeing and ICL. Both are accused of manufacturing weapons that have been used to kill tens of thousands of Palestinians since Israel began its genocide in Gaza in October 2023.

Organizers told me, “This divestment win shows what’s possible when organized people act together and that St. Louis is ready to keep fighting for justice.”

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