Corporate Responsibility
To our Stakeholders,
Stratus Properties Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, Stratus) has been on a sustainability journey for more than 20 years. We understand intuitively the intrinsic value that a healthy environment and healthy people bring to our real estate development projects, our company and our stakeholders. And we recognize that our everyday decisions can positively influence the greater good.
In the early 2000s, we began to see opportunities to incorporate sustainable building practices in our retail, residential, office, hospitality and entertainment projects. We started designing and building our projects to promote environmental and health benefits. We were among the early adopters of sustainable development, meshing respect for our environment with our bottom-line business objectives, and creating lasting, well-designed and healthy projects for our tenants and purchasers. We also used national and local best practice green building rating systems - The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED standards and Austin Energy Green Building - to inform our design and guide our performance. And while we have made great strides on this sustainability journey, we haven't fully shared our story - until now. This Corporate Responsibility section of our website provides further detail about our history, progress and continuing commitments, including descriptions of notable projects that mark important milestones as we continue to strive to be a leader in sustainable real estate development.
We also recognize the importance of our people in accomplishing our goals - financial, social, and philanthropic. We believe that without a diverse, dedicated and talented team, we would not have achieved our successes. We are committed to supporting diversity in our workplace and encouraging the health and well-being of our employees. Of our 31 employees as of December 15, 2022, 61 percent are women and 26 percent are ethnically diverse. Women represent 80 percent of our executive and senior management positions. We provide our employees with a robust set of benefits to promote a healthy, positive and productive work environment. Our focus on diversity extends to our Board of Directors: of our 7 directors, 2 are women and 1 is African American. Please see "People" for additional information.
Strong corporate governance is the foundation of our corporate responsibility program. Of our directors, 6 out of 7 are independent. In addition to Board diversity and independence, we are committed to Board refreshment. Three new diverse independent directors have joined our Board in the past two years. We believe these new directors bring, in addition to diversity, relevant skills, extensive experience, and fresh perspectives and ideas to our Board. The "Governance" tab in this Corporate Responsibility section of our website contains additional information about our commitment to strong and effective governance practices.
Our corporate responsibility practices are integral to our business strategy and commitment to creating long-term shareholder value. We have also adopted a Vendor Code of Conduct setting forth our expectations that our vendors conduct themselves honestly and ethically and encouraging them to make commitments similar to ours. We believe that by continuing to incorporate sustainable development and building methods, promote an inclusive and healthy corporate culture, and follow strong corporate governance practices, we will produce the best results for all of our stakeholders. As we look forward, we intend to continue our efforts in this direction and also to enhance our environmental, social and governance disclosures. We want to thank all our stakeholders, including our team, for their support and contribution to Stratus and its corporate responsibility efforts.
December 15, 2022
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William H. Armstrong III Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer |
Kate B. Henriksen Director and Chair of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee |
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