Good afternoon. My name is Zac Katz, and I'm Grindr's General Counsel, Head of Global Affairs, and Corporate Secretary. I will act as Secretary of this meeting today. On behalf of Grindr's Officers and Directors and James Lu, the Chair of Grindr's Board, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Grindr 2025 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The meeting will now officially come to order. It is approximately 4:00 P.M. Pacific Time on Wednesday, July 30, 2025, and the polls are open for voting on all matters to be presented. As you know, we are hosting today's meeting through a virtual online platform hosted by Broadridge. Members of our Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team are in attendance at today's meeting.
Before we proceed with the formal business of the meeting, I'd also like to introduce representatives of Ernst & Young LLP, Grindr's independent registered public accounting firm, Elsie Fletcher-Rosenthal of Broadridge, who will serve as our Inspector of Elections, and representatives of Cooley LLP, the company's outside legal counsel, who are also in attendance virtually and available to respond to appropriate questions as needed. We will now proceed with the formal business of the meeting and the order set forth in the Notice of Annual Meeting and Proxy Statement. There are two management proposals and one stockholder proposal to be considered at this meeting. If time permits, we will address any properly submitted questions after all of the proposals have been presented, after which we will announce the preliminary results of the voting. After I describe each item to be voted on, we will close the polls.
We will not accept ballots, proxies, revocations, or changes after the polls are closed. If you already submitted your vote by proxy and do not wish to change your vote, you do not need to vote now, and your shares will be voted as previously instructed. If you intend to vote and have not already done so, you must submit your vote online now in order for it to be counted. If you have not yet voted, I encourage you to vote online now. You should have a copy of the rules of conduct for this meeting. In order to conduct an orderly meeting, we ask that you follow these rules.
Stockholders of record, as of the June 4, 2025 record date, may submit a question by using the control number provided in the notice and typing your question in the Ask a Question text box on the bottom left-hand corner of the annual meeting portal. We will screen incoming questions and will read only questions that are germane to the meeting and the issues presented before we respond. With respect to the mailing of the notice of the meeting, I have an affidavit certifying that on June 20, 2025, a Notice of Annual Meeting of Stockholders of the Company was deposited in the United States Mail to all stockholders of record at the close of business on June 4, 2025. Elsie, our Inspector of Elections, is present virtually and has taken and subscribed to the customary Oath of Office to execute her duties with strict impartiality.
We will follow this oath with the records of the meeting. Elsie's function is to decide upon the qualifications of voters, accept their votes, and when balloting on all matters is completed, to tally the final votes. Each share of common stock is entitled to one vote. With respect to the existence of a quorum, I've been informed by the Inspector of Elections that proxies have been received for a majority of the shares of common stock outstanding on the record date, which constitutes a quorum for the meeting today. As mentioned earlier, there are two management proposals and one stockholder proposal to be considered by the stockholders at this meeting. The first proposal is the election of eight directors to serve until the 2025 annual meeting and until their successors are duly elected and qualified, or until their earlier resignation or removal.
The nominees for director are George Arison , James Lu, Dan Baer, Chad Cohen, Michael Gearon, Nathan Richardson, Meghan Stabler , and Raymond Zage. For the reasons stated in our proxy statement, our Board of Directors recommends that you vote for the election of each of these nominees. The second proposal is the ratification of the selection by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors of Ernst & Young LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm of the company for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. For the reasons stated in our proxy statement, our Board of Directors recommends that you vote for this proposal. The third proposal is a non-binding stockholder proposal regarding adoption of a human rights policy covering freedom of association and collective bargaining. AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds has provided a pre-recorded presentation of the proposal.
Good morning. My name is Aaron Markowitz. On behalf of the AFL-CIO Equity Index Funds, I hereby introduce Proposal No. 3 on Grindr's Proxy Card that urges the Board of Directors to adopt and publicly disclose a human rights policy that includes a commitment to respect the international human rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. Freedom of association and collective bargaining are internationally recognized human rights according to the International Labor Organization and the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights. We believe that the freedom of working people to form labor unions and negotiate for protections against discrimination and harassment has proven to be vital for achieving LGBTQ equality in the workplace. These collective bargaining protections are particularly important in a political environment where the rights of LGBTQ people are under threat in various localities.
In our view, respecting workers' rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining also benefits the company and its stockholders. Recent white papers by the Global Unions Committee on Workers' Capital and Trillium Asset Management summarize various studies that find that freedom of association and collective bargaining can have significant positive benefits on employee turnover, productivity, health, and safety. In this period of heightened political attacks on the LGBTQ community, we believe that it is even more important for corporations to disclose their commitments to specific internationally recognized human rights. Many leading companies, including our company's direct competitor, Match Group, have adopted and publicly disclosed human rights policies. These policies offer specific commitments to human rights, acknowledging that human rights may not be adequately protected by state law or government jurisdiction.
In our view, a human rights policy statement on freedom of association and collective bargaining is particularly warranted at Grindr. On November 1, 2024, a Regional Director for the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint alleging that Grindr unilaterally changed its terms and conditions of employment to discourage its employees from forming a labor union. As a result of these changes to Grindr's employment policies, 2/3 of Grindr employees who were eligible to vote in the upcoming union election resigned, amounting to nearly half of Grindr's workforce. This case is still being adjudicated. Despite Grindr's alleged unfair labor practices, Grindr employees who are seeking to form a union with Grindr United CWA remain committed to the work of building a more just and inclusive tech industry.
Their goals include inclusive hiring practices and meaningful representation across LGBTQIA+ identities, a user-focused product roadmap featuring essential features like verification tools, unlimited blocks, and stronger data privacy, comprehensive healthcare including gender-affirming care, and transparent and equitable pay practices. Grindr's opposition statement to the shareholder proposal reads, quote, "It is unnecessary to adopt the policy requested in the proposal because the company already complies with local requirements with respect to freedom of association . In our view, Grindr's opposition statement appears to endorse the view that internationally recognized human rights should only be respected when protected by local law. Would the company take the same position on marriage equality or LGBTQ non-discrimination?
We believe that the answer to this question is that all human rights are universal, and therefore Grindr should adopt a human rights policy that includes a commitment to respect the international human rights of freedom of association and collective bargaining. For these reasons, we urge you to vote in favor of this proposal. Thank you.
Thank you. For the reasons stated in our proxy statement, our Board of Directors recommends that you vote against this proposal. That was the final proposal for today's meeting. We will now review if there are any questions submitted about the items presented before we close the polls. There are no questions. We will now pause briefly to allow additional time to vote. The time is now 4:08 P.M. Pacific, and the polls are closed for voting. Based on the preliminary information provided by the Inspector of Elections, I can report that: one, the proposal to elect the aforementioned eight individuals as directors of the company until the 2026 annual meeting of stockholders is carried. Two, the selection of Ernst & Young LLP as the company's independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025, is ratified.
Three, the non-binding stockholder proposal regarding adoption of a human rights policy covering freedom of association and collective bargaining was not approved. On behalf of the Chair, the annual meeting is now concluded. Finally, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the stockholders in attendance today. We thank you all for your continued support of Grindr. Good afternoon.