Third Act Initiative (Third Act) is a left-of-center advocacy group that organizes elderly volunteers to protest and campaign for environmentalist policies as well as eliminating election integrity laws. It supports a total transition to environmentalist energy and has organized campaigns that allege voter identification laws only exist to prevent an increase in Democratic Party voters. ^{1 2}

Third Act organized a demonstration in March 2023 in Washington, D.C. at which elderly volunteers emphatically cut up credit cards to call for a boycott of banks that work with conventional energy companies and advocated total elimination of conventional energy use. ³

Background

Third Act’s non-electoral activitiy is fiscally sponsored of the nonprofit organization Sustainable Markets Foundation. Third Act’s donation webpage also accepts donations to Third Act that are not tax deductible because it participates in election-related advocacy. ⁴

Third Act recruits elderly volunteers to engage in protests advocating for environmentalism and in support of left-of-center policies. It states that donations are used to pay organizers to plan protests as well as provide food and “materials” for elderly volunteers. In 2022, Third Act reported having over 40,000 active volunteers. ⁵

Advocacy

Third Act Initiative advocates for policies such as the Paris Climate Agreement to end the use of conventional energy sources and for a total transition to weather-dependent energy. In addition to supporting environmentalist policies, Third Act advocates for individuals to boycott banks that provide loans to conventional energy companies as a way for environmentalist activists to support the elimination of conventional energy use. ⁶

Third Act has a webpage dedicated to a calculator that allegedly calculates the amount of carbon emissions individuals are responsible for based on how much money they have in an account, depending on what bank they have and how much each bank supposedly funds conventional energy projects. It uses the calculator to condemn banks and individuals who use banks that work with conventional energy companies. ⁷

In March 2023, Third Act organized a protest where senior citizen activists held a protest on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., protesting banks that do business with conventional energy companies. Participants went so far as to cut up credit cards to dramatize their push for individuals to boycott such banks. ⁸ Third Act reports that it held over 100 protests across 30 states, calling for a boycott of Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, and Wells Fargo if they do not end their accounts with conventional energy companies. It also reported that activists spammed the fax machines of the banks as part of the protest. ⁹

Third Act’s website states that it campaigns against election integrity laws. It criticizes voter identification laws and restrictions on mail-in voting as so-called attacks on an alleged increases in Democratic voters. ¹⁰

Leadership

Third Act Initiative run by an Advisory Council, which its website states is led by Akaya Windwood. Windwood is also the founder of New Universal, a Black women’s empowerment organization. She is a faculty member for the Just Economy Institute and serves as a director for the Thriving Roots Fund, a women’s empowerment organization. ¹¹

1. “Banking on Our Future.” Third Act, March 27, 2023. https://thirdact.org/our-work/banking-on-our-future/.
2. “Safeguarding Our Democracy.” Third Act, November 18, 2022. https://thirdact.org/our-work/safeguarding-our-democracy/.
3. Reuters. Twitter, March 22, 2023. https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1638339709230366721?s=20.
4. “Donate.” Third Act, February 28, 2023. https://thirdact.org/donate/.
5. “Donate.” Third Act, February 28, 2023. https://thirdact.org/donate/.
6. “Banking on Our Future.” Third Act, March 27, 2023. https://thirdact.org/our-work/banking-on-our-future/.
7. “Calculate Your Bank Account’s Carbon Emissions.” Third Act, March 15, 2023. https://thirdact.org/act/bank-emissions-calculator/.
8. Reuters. Twitter, March 22, 2023. https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1638339709230366721?s=20.
9. “Stop Dirty Banks Day of Action.” Third Act, March 31, 2023. https://thirdact.org/national-day-of-action/.
10. “Safeguarding Our Democracy.” Third Act, November 18, 2022. https://thirdact.org/our-work/safeguarding-our-democracy/.
11. “Who We Are.” Third Act, January 26, 2023. https://thirdact.org/about/who-we-are/.