Caroline Le Couteur jokes that she has no intention of becoming a nun but she is planning to emulate the tactics used by religious sisters to encourage companies to be environmentally and socially responsible.
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Ms Le Couteur, a former Greens member of the ACT Legislative Assembly and director of Australian Ethical Investments, is the founding executive director of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility.
The centre's formation was inspired by the successes of the Interfaith Centre for Corporate Responsibility in the US and the Ecumenical Council for Corporate Responsibility in Britain.
Nuns who manage their orders' investments are one of the main driving forces behind the American group.
One of Ms Le Couteur's immediate challenges is to try to convince the ACT government to support executive turned climate change activist Ian Dunlop's candidacy for the board of BHP-Billiton.
She said the territory had tens of millions of dollars worth of shares in BHP-Billiton and should use its vote at the company's annual general meeting later this month to support Mr Dunlop.
"He knows what he's talking about. It's not like some random activist who decides that, 'Yes, I should make a statement','' she said.
"Ian Dunlop is someone who I think would add value to the BHP board, regardless.
"For the ACT government it's no-brainer - it's a risk-free option.''
A spokesman for the ACT government said it was not appropriate or feasible for ministers to involve themselves in the decision-making processes of individual companies.
The government tabled a responsible investment policy last year.
The Centre for Corporate Responsibility hopes to work with charitable foundations and churches, which could use their shareholdings to influence the behaviour of corporations.
"Most churches have a fund of many millions and they have an interest in the environment and what's going on,'' Ms Le Couteur said. ''It hasn't really hit their consciousness yet.
"We want to engage with them and show how they can engage with the companies.''
The Centre for for Corporate Responsibility is sharing an office with left-wing think tank the Australia Institute in Civic.
Former federal Liberal leader John Hewson will speak at the Centre for Corporate Responsibility's Melbourne launch later this month.