First edition/June 2022 - welcome!
This is the first edition for the Impactful Animal Advocacy Community newsletter!
Who am I and why am I doing this?
My name is Sofia Balderson and I’ve been doing animal advocacy-related projects for over four years. I worked at Veganuary as a Project Manager, did pro-bono consulting for Equalia ONG and We Animals Media, ran a project for Rethink Priorities, and I am currently helping a number of EA organisations with fundraising.
I am very passionate about community building in animal advocacy and I’d like to start this project to help new and current community members connect, and stay abreast of the latest news, resources, and funding, regardless of whether they already have a job in the movement or not. My aim is to grow the animal advocacy community and help maximise our common impact by building meaningful connections.
I’m planning on doing many activities such as a community platform or events. I decided to start with this monthly newsletter!
In each publication, I’ll outline:
what’s been going on in the community
what topics people are discussing
any jobs, funding, or volunteering opportunities
useful resources for new and existing community members
community profiles, so that you can get to know the community better
I haven’t received any funding for this project, so if you’d like to support it, please consider donating here (any amount matters!) or email me at impactfulanimalgroup@gmail.com about donation options.
Community survey - tell me what you want to see done!
I’d be very grateful if you could fill out a quick survey about what community-building projects you’d like to see happening in animal advocacy over the next 6-12 months.
Topics being discussed and the latest research:
Comparison between the hedonic utility of human life and poultry living time
Q: Animal welfare orgs: what are your software and data analysis needs?
Sentient Institute Podcast: Jessica Scott-Reid: Carving out a space for animals in the media
Faunalitics Index from June 2022 - consider subscribing here.
Jobs I’ve seen around (please apply yourself, and share with your friends by forwarding this newsletter!):
Material Innovation Initiative is looking for an Events Manager and Chief Partnership Officer
Global Research & Insights Analyst at the Humane League (UK/US remote)
FWI is hiring for an Associate Director for their India team
Veganuary is looking for a Corporate and Comms Manager in India
Good Growth is currently looking for Research Fellows to help with their growing number of exciting projects!
For more jobs like this, please visit Animal Advocacy Career’s and 80,000 Hours job board
If you’re looking for a job, consider leaving your details on this EA Forum thread: Who wants to be hired? (May-September 2022)
Top tip: if you’re looking for a role, make sure to follow your favourite organisations (including the ones above) to get the news about the newest roles first.
A bit of self-promotion: I wrote How to Get an EA-aligned Job: My Experience last year and got a lot of feedback that it was useful.
Funding and resources:
If you’re new to animal advocacy or would like to make your efforts more impactful, I recommend checking out this compilation of resources on effective animal advocacy written by Saulius Šimčikas.
If you’re a 501c3 organisation, you can apply to get low-cost Google Ads here from Philanthropy University.
Open Philanthropy launched cause exploration prizes, including animal welfare (deadline 6th August)
If you have a longtermist project in mind, the Centre on Longterm Risk may be a good place to ask for funding that will alleviate long-term animal suffering - applications are open on an ongoing basis.
If you’re running a vegan campaign, VegFund is a good funding source.
If you’ve got a relatively small project in mind that will help animals, consider applying for the Vegan Hacktivist grant of $1000 max - they will also provide set-up support.
Community profile feature:
Good Growth is based in Hong Kong and does market research and service design for animal-friendly food systems in Asia. They have recently produced a valuable report on alternative proteins in China, and they are doing research work related to farmed animal welfare in Asia for non-profit and for-profit projects. Their main aim is to ensure that animal advocates and entrepreneurs in Asia are empowered with the best data and knowledge to start the most impactful projects possible in this neglected region. The project is led by Jah Ying Chung and Ella Wong, who have more than 17 years of experience combined in similar projects in Asia.
Good Growth is currently looking for Research Fellows to help with their growing number of exciting projects! These positions are for three months with an opportunity to continue.
Follow Good Growth on LinkedIn and get in touch with the team here.
Upcoming events
Very short notice - if you’re in London already, CE is hosting an Effective Animal Advocacy and Global Health meetup on the 14th of June.
CARE (Conference of Animal Rights) early bird ticket sale finishes on 30th June - don’t miss out!
Registration for a new conference - Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit in Washington D.C.- will be open in late June - save the date!
I also recommend attending Effective Altruism Global conferences (EAG) and its version for newer community members (EAGx). They don’t solely focus on animals, but there are always people there from the animal advocacy community, and most of the time, there are relevant events you can attend. All events have travel stipends available.
EA Global: San Francisco (29 - 31 July)
EA Global: Washington, D.C. (23 - 25 September)
EAGxAustralia (8 - 10 July)
EAGxSingapore (3 - 4 September)
EAGxBerlin (16 - 18 September)
If I didn’t mention your relevant event, please let me know and I’ll include it in the next issue.
Send me your news
Want me to feature your news or jobs in this newsletter? Please send it to impactfulanimalgroup@gmail.com and I’ll consider including it.
Please consider leaving anonymous feedback about this newsletter here. This will help me to produce a more useful version for you next time!
Fancy a chat?
If you’re new in the community or haven’t met me yet - please feel free to book a short call with me to say hello, I’d love to talk! You can share what you’re working on, bounce some ideas off, and I’ll do my best to connect you with people and resources in the community. Alternatively, add me on LinkedIn and stay in touch!
Have you been forwarded this newsletter?
I am Modou Dumbuya from the Gambia and current president of Animal Welfare Advocates Association of The Gambia