‘Celebration Of Collective Power’: DoD Contractor Pushes ‘Climate Action’ With Org That Seeks To Defund US Military

A firm that receives nearly half a billion in Department of Defense contracts annually is pushing “climate action” with a left-wing advocacy group that supports defunding the police and the U.S. military.

Deloitte, the world’s largest accounting firm and recipient of more than $3 billion in federal government contracts for fiscal year 2024, co-hosted a panel on Nov. 12 with the Female Quotient (FQ), a female empowerment group, on the topic of “advancing gender equality in climate action.” A representative of NDN Collective, an “indigenous rights” group that advocates for demilitarization and ending U.S. military aid to Israel, participated in the panel discussion, which occurred at the United Nations’ annual climate conference held this year in Baku, Azerbaijan.

“We do support defunding the police and U.S. military which continue terrorizing Indigenous, Black, LGBTQIAS+ and poor people across the planet, because we have seen firsthand the destruction caused by state violence and control,” NDN Collective wrote in a press release on June 7, 2023.

Deloitte described the panel that featured Thalia Carroll-Cachimuel, NDN Collective’s director of philanthropic networks, as “an electrifying session where thought leaders unveil the intrinsic connection between gender equality and climate resilience,” according to a document detailing the firm’s planned events during the climate summit.

“It’s an exploration and a celebration of collective power—every voice and every action has the potential to make an impact,” Deloitte added.

A Deloitte spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation that an “outside organization” — confirmed by the DCNF as the FQ — hosted the event, but did not elaborate on the firm’s role in sponsoring the panel. The discussion occurred in Deloitte’s “Green Zone” pavilion booth and the panelists spoke in front of a large Deloitte sign, according to an NDN Collective Instagram story capturing the event.

“NDN Collective advocates for the multi-stakeholder partnerships that prioritize Indigenous women’s leadership,” Thalia Carroll-Cachimuel, NDN Collective’s director of philanthropic networks, said during the thirty-minute panel discussion, according to an NDN Collective Instagram story recording the event. “Philanthropy and businesses can and should collaborate with organizations like NDN to bring these vital voices to the forefront.”

Whether Carroll-Cachimuel spoke about NDN Collective’s frequent advocacy in support of defunding the U.S. military and “Palestinian liberation” is unclear. NDN Collective did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

A day prior to the panel discussion, NDN Collective marked Veterans Day by posting a message to social media decrying “the harmful influence of the United States government and military-industrial complex on Indigenous lifeways.”

NDN Collective also plugged its 2021 manifesto on defunding the U.S. military in the advocacy group’s Veterans Day message.

“We, as a collective of Indigenous people, stand with all Indigenous people everywhere who face the ongoing effects of colonialism, imperialism, climate change, capitalism, and genocide, in our position for demilitarization and Indigenous liberation as antimilitarist,” the “position paper” from 2021 states.

NDN Collective personnel have also sought to blame the U.S. military as the worst offender in contributing to climate change.

“The biggest polluter in the world is the United States military,” Lorenzo Serna, director of tactical media for NDN Collective, said during a march in New York City protesting Israel’s attacks on members of Hezbollah that the advocacy group livestreamed on its Youtube channel on Sept. 24. “Climate change is a huge concern for them and they acknowledged that it’s going to mess up their warmongering.”

Carroll-Cachimuel, speaking in her capacity as a representative of NDN Collective, has accused the United States of funding genocide in Gaza.

“I think about how our tax dollars are being sent to literally desecrate an entire community in Gaza,” Caroll-Cachimuel said during an “environmental justice movement” panel in New York City on Sept. 23.

NDN Collective has also disparaged the Israeli military by dubbing their troops as the “Israeli Occupation Forces,” and the advocacy group’s director of policy and advocacy criticized Israeli troops as “f****** MONSTERS!!!” on an Instagram story published on July 22.

“The individual you referenced, and the organization she is affiliated with, in no way represent the views of Deloitte,” a Deloitte spokesperson told the DCNF. The FQ did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.

The DoD declined to comment.

Republicans sharply criticized Deloitte this September after a senior Deloitte employee shared personal text messages he previously had with Vice President-elect JD Vance with the Washington Post in a likely attempt to embarrass the candidate for previously critiquing Trump.

“Maybe it’s time for the GOP to end Deloitte’s taxpayer funded gravy train,” Donald Trump Jr. wrote on X on Sept. 27.

(Featured Image Media Credit: “The Pentagon,” https://flic.kr/p/4m7mNY] by David B. Gleason is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/)

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