Whereas: Corporate charitable partnerships have a direct, significant impact on both brand value and market value. When companies rely on organizations engaged in highly controversial activities for guidance, they expose themselves to significant reputational & legal risks. These risks can materially affect Amazon’s brand and market value. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is a prime example of such a partnership. While historically known for legal victories against hate groups, the SPLC now maintains a list1 of “hate groups” that inaccurately equates mainstream conservatives and Christians, including parental rights organizations, mainstream Catholics,2 Alliance Defending Freedom, Dr. Ben Carson, and Franklin Graham with extremists. The SPLC’s use of persistently undefined terms like “hate” to vet nonprofits is of deep concern to shareholders, as rhetoric around “hate” generates real-world consequences, including the 2012 Family Research Council shooting and, more recently, the assassination3 of Charlie Kirk, whose organization, Turning Point USA, the SPLC had recently described as hateful. In both cases, rhetoric surrounding vague terms such as “hate” (and in the case of the Family Research Council, the SPLC’s “hate map” was explicitly mentioned4) was cited as a factor in these violent acts. Despite condemning these attacks, the SPLC has not removed the targeted organizations4 from the hate map. The SPLC’s recent lambasting of Turning Point USA5 and Focus on the Family6 as “hate groups” has intensified criticism,7 including from federal lawmakers,6 that it targets conservative and Christian groups for their beliefs. Despite this, Amazon relied8 on SPLC data to vet charities in its former AmazonSmile program, resulting in the removal of groups such as D. James Kennedy Ministries and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) in 2017 and 2018. This practice raises concernsamongshareholdersregardingwhetherAmazoncontinuestouseSPLCdatainotherfacetsofitscorporatepractice, and the potential reputational risks of doing so. Continued support for the SPLC may be perceived as endorsement of its controversial practices, potentially harming Amazon’s brand value and, by extension, its market value. Amazon is one of the most valuable brands in the world, with its brand value9 estimated at over $500 billion, comprising a significant portion10 of its more than $2 trillion market capitalization. The reputational risk associated with supporting controversial organizations like the SPLC is a significant concern for shareholders and can have long-term implications for the company’s standing and value. Many leading companies have shifted their reliance to internal vetting systems to better ensure political neutrality, fulfill fiduciary duty and mitigate the reputational risk of politicized policies. It is time for Amazon to commit to political neutrality in this critical area.