EU animal welfare reforms, Hive Executive Director search, and Sentient Futures Project Incubator
Your farmed animal advocacy update for late July 2026
Hi there! 👋 Sofia here.
Big news in this edition, starting with major EU animal welfare reforms, a free incubator on AI and animals, and an exciting job opportunity that is very close to my heart:
In case you haven’t heard, I’ll be stepping down as Hive’s Executive Director later this year. We are hiring for my replacement! Because of you and everyone in our community, Hive is stronger than ever. You’ve achieved a record number of high-impact outcomes with us this year, and farmed animal advocates across the world are better connected thanks to Hive’s programs.
Because of this progress, now feels like the right time to hand over to someone who can take us even further. More details below. But first, let’s get into the newsletter!
The most popular link from Hive Highlights early July 2026 was Vegan Hacktivists' registration opening for Amplify, a series of free online courses for animal advocates.
To kick off today’s Hive Highlights, here are our 3 top picks from across the movement:
From Movement News
⚖️ Policy, Legislation, and Law: The European Commission publishes its EU Livestock Strategy, committing to legislative proposals on animal welfare by the end of 2026, including cage bans and an end to male chick killing.
From Jobs & Opportunities
💼 Jobs: Hive is searching for its next Executive Director, and we'd love to see someone from this community step up! If you have experience in fundraising, strategy, and team management and know the farmed animal movement, we want to hear from you. Apply by 9 August. Join our webinar on 30 July to learn more.
🔥 Opportunities: Sentient Futures opens applications for its fall 2026 Project Incubator, a 10-week remote mentorship program on a concrete project exploring AI’s impact on animals, among other topics at the frontier of nonhuman welfare. Apply by 9 August.
We appreciate your curiosity about the latest efforts to help more farmed animals around the world. Thank you for reading!
Warmly,
Sofia, Chelsea, and the Hive team
How to navigate Hive Highlights
Every two weeks, Hive sends you the latest updates (click to jump):
Movement news: Covering 🐖 Animal Welfare, 🥗 Plant-Based Food & Alternative Protein, ⚖️ Policy, Legislation, and Law, 💪🏾 Animal Advocacy Org Updates, and 🎲 Other
Jobs & Opportunities: Covering 💼 Jobs, 💡 Skilled volunteering, 🔥 Opportunities, 💰 Funding, and 🤝 Upcoming External Events
Resources: Covering 📚 Research, 🎙️ Podcasts, 📙 Books, and 🎥 Videos
Hive updates: Covering the latest from our team!
Other ways to read this newsletter: Extensions Jetwriter AI (to summarize posts) or Read Aloud.
🐖 Animal Welfare
China’s foie gras industry expands rapidly, potentially surpassing France as the world’s largest producer, raising concerns about the global scale of force-feeding practices.
McDonald’s Ukraine announces 100% cage-free eggs across its 120+ restaurants, setting a public precedent in a market where approximately 98% of hens remain in cages.
Project Phoenix explores whether some animal welfare reforms may unintentionally strengthen factory farming systems rather than weaken them.
🥗 Plant-Based Food & Alternative Protein
California invests $500 million in school kitchen infrastructure to upgrade facilities and expand plant-based and non-dairy meal options across the state.
The Educated Choices Program publishes a report making the case for education as an underinvested strategy for food systems change.
The EU publishes its Protein Action Plan, recognizing the need for protein crop diversification and acknowledging plant-based foods as well established in Europe.
Those Vegan Cowboys launch Margaret’s Finest, a collaborative research program exploring the potential of animal-free casein proteins through precision fermentation.
⚖️ Policy, Legislation, and Law
Colima becomes the first Mexican state to pass a law requiring plant-based food options in workplaces and public spaces and prioritizing legumes as a primary protein source.
Poland advances a bill that would make it harder for residents to take legal action against industrial factory farms, despite objections from animal and environmental advocacy groups.
The UK’s Food Standards Agency publishes new guidance for cultivated meat regulatory approvals, as the country negotiates an EU trade agreement that could affect novel food standards.
💪 Animal Advocacy Org Updates
Compassion in World Farming releases EggTrack 2025, finding the average global cage-free transition rate has reached 85%, with more than 160 million hens now in cage-free systems.
Mercy For Animals invites animal advocacy organizations to submit target companies for collaborative corporate outreach through its Collaborative Corporate Connections project.
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Australia launches a certification pathway for the Better Chicken Commitment, requiring slower-growing breeds and improved welfare conditions.
💼 Jobs
Career Advising Specialist, Content & Communications Specialist, and Talent Sourcing Specialist, Animal Advocacy Careers. Remote, global (Europe preferred). Apply by 23 July.
Head of Content Strategy, Animal Legal Defense Fund. Remote, US. Apply by 29 July.
Operations Coordinator, Shrimp Welfare Project. Remote, UK. Apply by 31 July.
Senior Fundraising Administrator, The Humane League UK. Remote, UK. Apply by 2 August.
Executive Director, Made In Hackney. Hackney, London. Apply by 7 August.
Office Manager, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) UK. Hybrid, London. Apply by 7 August.
People Operations and Organizational Care Team Member, Food Empowerment Project. Remote, US. Apply by 17 August.
Operations Manager, Salesforce Administrator & Developer, and Social Media Strategist, Animal Equality. Remote, US.
Digital Content Manager, PETA UK. Remote, mainland UK (monthly London office attendance).
Event Manager, New Roots Institute. Remote, North America.
Sector Development Strategist, Good Food Institute. Remote, Asia-Pacific region.
Director of Industry Partnerships and Founder in Residence, Spring Innovation Fund. Remote, US.
Job search tip: Browse Hive’s Jobs and Careers Resources and follow our Slack’s job feed in the #job-posting channel for new positions daily! You can also view the Animal Advocacy Careers, AltProtein.Jobs, Food Impact Careers, and Probably Good job boards.
💡 Job hunting? Also consider skilled volunteering
Volunteering helps you build skills, connections, context, and credentials, all while creating change for farmed animals. For many people, volunteering is a key step towards working professionally in the movement. For others, volunteering is one of several impactful ways to contribute.
Three places to find volunteering opportunities helping farmed animals:
The Hive Slack Community (that’s us!)
🔥 Opportunities
Worldshapers offers free media training for farmed animal and food system advocates. Sign up by 22 July (that’s today!).
The Animal Defender Project hosts a free webinar, Implementing Good Governance: Nonprofit Board Orientation, for animal advocacy organizations, on 23 July.
Rethink Priorities hosts a free webinar, How AI is Affecting Farmed Aquatic Animals, covering AI deployment across aquaculture and its welfare implications for fish and shrimp, on 28 July.
Vegan Summit Budapest invites international speaker applications for its 7 November 2026 event. Submit a brief introduction, relevant experience, and speaking history to raul@prove.hu by 31 July.
Electric Sheep opens applications for the Futurekind Fellowship, a free 12-week program at the intersection of AI and animal protection. Apply by 5 August.
Faunalytics hosts Fauna Connections, a free virtual symposium connecting animal advocates with research to support their work, on 10 September.
Ethical Transformation Impact opens applications for the Just Food Systems Leadership Fellowship, a six-week program for African university students in food systems and animal advocacy.
Indraloka offers the Resilient Professionals Mastery Series, a program supporting animal advocates with burnout, compassion fatigue, and secondary trauma.
International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE) seeks volunteer mentors to support Animal Rights and Vegan Advocacy Network mentees in advancing their animal rights advocacy, research, or career transitions.
💰 Funding
Liz Wheeler (Philanthropy Manager at Faunalytics) leads Hive’s Fundraising Community Call on 20 August, a community-led conversation about fundraising within the animal protection movement.
Fundraising tip: Hive’s Fundraising Guide includes a database of current opportunities and key resources on how to fundraise.
🤝 Upcoming External Events
EAGxBerkeley, 21–23 August. Berkeley, US.
New Food Conference, 25 August. Berlin, Germany.
EAGxSingapore, 29–30 August. Singapore, Singapore.
Animal Grantmakers Conference, 16–17 September. Oklahoma City, US.
CARE Conference, 17–20 September. Warsaw, Poland.
EAGxIndia, 19–20 September. New Delhi, India.
Plant Forward, 21–23 September. Saskatoon, Canada.
EAGxOxford, 25–27 September. Oxford, UK
Animal Law Advocacy Conference, 2–4 October. Toronto, Canada.
EA Global: New York City, 16–18 October. New York, New York, US.
The Animals, Technology and Law Conference, 23–25 October. Washington, D.C. US.
Events tip: View more on the Connect for Animals (CFA) event list, the Effective Altruism Global event page, and our Conference Database.
📚 Research
Asia Farming Solutions publishes a scoping study on sow housing conditions and the feasibility of transitioning to higher-welfare systems in Philippine smallholder pig farming.
Eurogroup for Animals publishes a report on five pressing health and biological risks from insect farming in the EU, with recommendations for policymakers.
ICARE argues that the EU Livestock Strategy opens doors for animal welfare reform but risks reducing animal welfare to a competitiveness and branding strategy rather than legal protection for animals.
Research shows that consumers in the US and Germany are more accepting of cultivated meat when labelled as “cultivated meat” rather than “lab-grown meat.”
Researchers find that meat-free dietary identity, perceived barriers, and social environment are the strongest predictors of sustained participation in Meat Free Monday campaigns.
Researchers find that public acceptance of genome editing in farmed animals hinges on clear animal welfare benefits, transparency, and institutional trust.
Wildlife and Countryside Link publishes a report exposing the scale of bycatch deaths caused by the UK’s commercial fishing industry.
🎙️ Podcasts
The Animal Liberation Hour
Interview with Almira Tanner, lead organizer of Direct Action Everywhere
Interview with Brian R. Hackett, Director of Government & Community Relations at Associated Humane Societies
Fork the System
How I Learned to Love Shrimp
Lives Well Lived
A life of kindness with Amy Aela
Our Hen House
The Hen Report: “Everything Changes, Yet Nothing Changes” | Horse Carriage Ban, Vegan Food Policy & Animal Testing News
🎥 Videos
Animal Defense Partnership releases Creator Collaborations: The Contracts Behind the Content, a webinar covering practical insights for nonprofits partnering with creators and influencers.
Aula Animal offers Education in Respect for Animals: Addressing Speciesism from the Classroom, exploring 15 years of bringing anti-speciesism education into schools.
Faunalytics releases a live demo of the Faunalytics Lens, walking through how the free AI research assistant works.
🧡A note on my transition and the ED role
As mentioned above, I’ll be stepping down as Executive Director, and we’re opening a public search for my successor. I’ll be running the search, handing over properly, staying on the Hive board, and sticking around in the community!
All applications are evaluated blind where possible, so everyone starts on equal footing. We’re hosting a webinar about the role on 30 July, and the start date is flexible, between October 2026 and February 2027. Applications close 9 August.
Know someone outside the community who’d be great for this? Send this link their way. Send your questions to hiring@joinhive.org, or bring them to the webinar!
🤝 2 more virtual events from Hive
Inside the Program: How to Make Your AVA Session Submission Stand Out, 29 July. Thinking about applying to speak or facilitate at AVA Summit Thailand? Join Hive and AVA International for a walkthrough of the program, what the selection team looks for, and how to make your session submission stand out, plus a live Q&A with AVA’s Program Coordinator, Brinda Poojary. RSVP now.
Hive Community Conversations, 31 July. Come hang out for a laid-back mix of 1:1s and small-group chats, an easy way to meet farmed animal advocates from around the world. RSVP now.
💬 AVA Summit Ghana wrapped, but the conversation doesn't have to
If you were there at AVA Summit Ghana, we want to hear from you in the e-ava-summit channel in our Hive Slack community! We invite you to share a reflection, your photos, key takeaways, or a note of appreciation to someone you met (don’t forget to tag them!). Sharing your AVA takeaways in the e-ava-summit channel is a great way to turn your conference experience into momentum in your work for farmed animals. You’ll strengthen your network and visibility. Plus, post this month and you’ll be entered to win a little surprise from the Hive team.
Not a Hive Slack community member yet? Register here.
Thanks for reading our Hive Highlights: late July 2026 edition 🧡 It’s made possible by the incredible work of animal advocates like you.
📰 Submit inclusions for the next edition: deadline is 10 August, 2026.
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