The Toro Company - 1792 Exchange

Rating Overview

The Toro Company is Medium Risk.

The Toro Company is Medium Risk. The company often yields to political activism in shaping corporate governance, potentially alienating consumers, dividing employees, and harming shareholders. The company implements race and identity-based policies that replace merit, excellence, and integrity with preferential treatment and outcomes. The company occasionally embraces corporate initiatives that redirect its central focus from business goals to partisan policies and divisive issues at times. This approach fails to safeguard free exercise, free speech, and free enterprise.

Rating Criteria

Corporate Weaponization Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Cancellations	Medium Risk
Discriminatory Philanthropy	Lower Risk
Employment Protection	High Risk

Corporate Weaponization ⓘ

Corporate Governance and Public Policy Risk Levels
Criteria	Risk Level
Advocacy Bias	Medium Risk
Funding	Lower Risk
Political Actions	No Data

Corporate Governance and Public Policy ⓘ

Rating Criteria Detail

Criteria Risk Level Rationale

Corporate Weaponization

Criteria:

Has canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

The Toro Company integrates ESG into its business practices. From its 2025 Sustainability Report: “We continue to advance our supplier excellence approach through a dedicated Supplier Excellence team, enhanced audits to include ESG criteria, and implemented a tiered supplier system focused on partners aligned with our values” (1). The Toro Company has not publicly canceled customers, suppliers, or vendors based on political views or religious beliefs (2).

Criteria:

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

The Toro Company does not appear to discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or beliefs (1).

Criteria:

Employment policies fail to protect against viewpoint or other discrimination and/or are ideological in nature.

Risk Level:

High

Rationale:

The Toro Company appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its leadership composition. From its 2023 Proxy Statement: “When reviewing the requisite skills and characteristics of potential new director nominees, the Nominating & Governance Committee, pursuant to our Corporate Governance Guidelines, will consider a variety of criteria, including an individual’s independence, diversity, age, skills, and current and past business, professional and industry experience, each in the context of the needs of the Board as a whole. Although the Committee does not have a formal policy regarding consideration of diversity in identifying director nominees, the Committee will evaluate a nominee based on his or her background, skills, business and professional experiences, industry affiliations, viewpoints, and geographical representation, as well as more traditional diversity factors. As a result, the composition of the current Board reflects diversity in business and professional experiences, age, gender, race/ethnicity, background and skills. In addition, the Committee and the Board are committed to having a Board that is diverse from a gender, race and/or ethnicity perspective and will look to add individuals to our Board that have such diversity attributes, along with requisite experience, to further bolster the diversity of our Board as opportunities arise” (1). The Toro Company does not provide viewpoint protections for its employees (2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy

Criteria:

Uses corporate reputation to support causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Medium

Rationale:

The Toro Company supports ESG within its business practices. From its 2022 Sustainability Report: “committed to improving our procurement processes and implementing relevant global standards, including human rights standards, to enable consistent ESG expectations throughout our supply chain” (1). After mass protests against federal immigration enforcement and fatal shootings in Minnesota, The Toro Company’s CEO Rick Olson signed an open letter calling for the immediate de-escalation of violence and for state, local, and federal authorities to work together to restore peace in Minnesota (2). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of the company using its reputation to advance ideological causes or policies (3).

Criteria:

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level:

Lower

Rationale:

The Toro Company funds The United Way, which funds Planned Parenthood (1). The Toro Company has not used corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (2).

Criteria:

Uses corporate political actions and/or financial contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level:

N/A

Rationale:

The Toro Company does not operate a PAC or engage in lobbying at this time (1)(2)(3).