Earth Quaker Action Team Promotes Citizen Rally for a Clean Future

Under a blazing summer sun, the Earth Quaker Action Team, EQAT, and supporters from around the country came together in Malvern, Pennsylvania on July 3rd to protest Vanguard's continued investment in fossil fuels.

Photo Credit: EQAT - Rachael Warriner

The company reports that in 2024 they have $9.3 trillion in assets under management. According

to Fossil Free Funds, 9.8% of those funds, $561.78 billion, is invested in fossil fuel stocks.

On a day in which high heat necessitated safety plans that included plenty of water stations, EQAT board member and activist Jonathan Ogle says that a group of approximately 300 diverse, intergenerational activists assembled at nearby Cedar Hollow Park for workshops on how to raise awareness, take back communities, and put pressure on Vanguard. Then the group marched in peaceful protest to the company gates.  

"It was a good day," says Ogle. "We had people from as far away as Alaska. We had speakers from speakers from Appalachia, North Carolina. A speaker who came from Boston, but is originally from Uganda, has been working on the fight against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline." Others included: Ms. Zulene Mayfield, who spoke about the work of CRCQL, Chester Residents Concerned for Quality Living, on environmental justice for Chester, PA; a busload of Summer of Heat activists came from New York, and a significant cohort of Quakers from a gathering at Haverford College.

After the workshops, people gathered in groups by region. Daniel Hunter, an environmental justice organizer and trainer, spoke about strategies for organizing an action and taking strategies back to their home communities. 

"There was a lot of really good energy," Ogle says. "So it was a really great opportunity to lift up the ways in which Vanguard has its fingers everywhere in destroying the future with its investments in polluting industries and in fossil fuels, and lifting up communities that are taking the brunt of it. Of course, no matter where we live, all of us are impacted, and all of us deserve clean air and clean water and a livable future."

EQAT activists are hopeful that the company will be more receptive to their message due to a recent change in leadership. The Vanguard Board of Directors appointed Salim Ramji as their new CEO, and while Ramji says in a statement on the company website that his focus will be on successful investments for the company’s clients, he also expects Vanguard to evolve to meet investor needs. Because Ramji is the first CEO brought in from outside of the company, the hope is that he will recognize that investor needs also include a healthy planet.

"We want Vanguard to really know that this is not just a bunch of people in southeastern Pennsylvania or around Malvern. This is people from all over who are really demanding a livable future," Ogle says.

After three years of its Vanguard S.O.S campaign, EQAT activists increased the pressure over the past year with its Never Vanguard action, in which they pushed for investors to withdraw their funds from the company and report back. 

At the July 3rd gathering, organizers announced that they’ve received reports of $40 million that has been pulled from the company. There was no direct response from Vanguard representatives. The day’s action was monitored by members of Vanguard's security and local police. 

Activists vow to continue their actions in the upcoming months to prompt the investment company to put people and the planet in front of profits, Ogle says. 

Eve Gutman, EQAT's media and research coordinator shared some of their tips for organizing:

1. What is the goal of the action? 

Actions need to have clear goals, because this helps to make decisions about what to prioritize. A good goal is specific. Rarely do we do an action to “raise awareness." Instead, we have actions to, for example:

• Bring attention to the issue to employees;

• Put pressure on senior leadership and the CEO;

• Get media attention to do the above two goals.

Once we are clear on our goal, then we can take action to achieve that specific goal. 

2.     Who is coming?

Actions don’t need to be big! An action can have 5 people and still be powerful. It’s important to be realistic about how many people will be coming, so you can plan an action that meets the size. One good rule of thumb for turnout is to assume you need to ask four times as many people to come as you want to be there. So if you want 15 people, you should ask 60. 

You are also more likely to get people to come if they have a role. Some roles we often have are action lead, props/art lead, marshal(s), police/security liaison, and debrief lead. 

3.     How will we amplify our message?

Actions aren’t just for people who are participating, or those who pass by – they are also for the broader community! It’s important to think about who the audience is for the action, and think about how to reach those people. For instance, if it’s for people in your community, you might email an email list for your place of worship or neighborhood after it’s over, and share photos. If the goal is for employees or executives of the company to see it, you might put out a press release and try to get on the evening news or in the paper. If you have an active online presence, you might share photos afterwards on Instagram or Facebook. There’s no need to do it all, the key is to think about who you’re trying to reach and make a plan for how to reach them.

4.     How will we learn? 

Actions are great learning opportunities for everyone involved. We love to plan actions where people get a chance to step a bit outside their comfort zone and have learned that it helps to debrief afterwards and reflect on how things went. What did we learn? What might we do differently next time? What should we do again? How are we feeling as we emotionally “come down” from taking action?