A bipartisan approach to corporate governance
RBI is a 501(c)(3) organization focused on strengthening corporate governance and navigating economic, legal, and reputational risks in a shifting political environment.
The background
U.S. companies operate in a political environment where federal regulatory direction reverses with each change in administration and congressional majority. Deregulation accelerates under one cycle, expansion under the next, and partisan divides around the role of business in society continue to deepen.
For publicly traded firms, financial institutions, and large private entities, the need for legal certainty, reputational risk management, and sound governance does not move with the political cycle. In fact, the volatility of the cycle makes those needs more urgent and more complex.
Increasingly, companies find themselves caught in the middle. On one side, a populist right skeptical of corporate engagement on nontraditional or politically sensitive issues. On the other, a progressive left demanding more action on climate, equity, human capital, and stakeholder accountability. The term ESG has largely been retired in corporate discourse, but the underlying pressures around climate risk, capital and banking access, workforce policy, supply chain resilience, AI governance, and reputational exposure continue to carry real legal, financial, and operational consequences.
The challenge
How can business leaders navigate an era of ideological polarization, policy reversals, and regulatory volatility while still upholding fiduciary duty, managing risk, pursuing opportunity, and creating long-term value with the certainty their organizations require?
Our mission
To support business leaders, investors, and policymakers in developing practical frameworks for responsible governance that are durable across political cycles, free from ideological labels, and grounded in financial relevance.
Our approach
RBI is a bipartisan policy and research initiative led by experienced practitioners in business, law, and public policy. We do not advocate for regulatory expansion or repeal. Instead, we seek to foster legal clarity, market stability, and business resilience in a volatile political environment, across the capital markets, from corporate governance and disclosure through banking regulation and climate disclosure to emerging questions in energy, permitting, digital assets, and AI governance.
What RBI does
Facilitate discussions
Between center-right and center-left experts, to clarify areas of conflict and common ground.
Conduct targeted research
Across the capital markets: the SEC and shareholder proposals, climate disclosure, banking regulation, energy and permitting, digital assets, and AI governance.
Coordinate stakeholder engagement
And convene expert panels and private roundtables bringing together business leaders, elected officials, academics, regulators, and stakeholders.
Brief policymakers
Clear, accessible briefings and materials for Members of Congress and their staff, helping them move past rhetoric toward the substance.
Develop policy recommendations
Focused on financially material risks and long-term value creation, within a framework that respects market-driven solutions and limited regulatory overreach.
The path forward
RBI does not seek to promote a one-size-fits-all model of responsibility. Instead, it provides a neutral forum for companies, investors, and policymakers to assess what good governance looks like in a divided America. Whether navigating state-level governance debates, fair-access and debanking questions, evolving disclosure regimes, or competing stakeholder demands, RBI’s goal is to help the private sector stay focused on risk, opportunity, and long-term value, not partisan distractions.
Our history
The Responsible Business Initiative was founded in 2024 by Tim Doyle, a Republican lawyer, and Bob Eccles, a Democratic academic, who both saw a need for bipartisanship and common sense in the highly polarized discussion of ESG, corporate governance, and the role of business in society.
Our experience
As public policy increasingly intersects with core business decisions, RBI draws on years of experience across the political and policy spectrum. What makes our approach distinct is an understanding of where policy, politics, and legal analysis meet.
RBI maintains relationships with decision-makers and thought leaders across the federal government, the business community, the investor class, academia, and the political spectrum. Those relationships allow us to steer thoughtful debate and reach bipartisan solutions.