AVA Grantee Day, Southeast Asia Fellowship, and Entrepreneurial Paths
Your farmed animal advocacy update for late February 2026
Hi there! 👋 Our top picks this edition include two Asia-specific opportunities: a fellowship for newer advocates and two Entrepreneur-in-Residence roles for builders. Beyond that, there are plenty of other paths to impact in this issue. Whether you’re a student seeking a paid internship, a researcher, or an operations professional, we hope something here clicks as your next step!
The most popular link from Hive Highlights early February 2026 was for openings at The Animal Welfare Fund at the Centre for Effective Altruism.
To kick off today’s Hive Highlights, here are our 3 top picks from across the movement:
From Jobs & Opportunities
🔥 Opportunities: AVA Grantee Day at AVA Summit Canada on 21 May features fundraising tracks and funder meetings for registered attendees. Register for AVA Summit Canada by 10 March to receive the application link.
🔥 Opportunities: Welfare Matters opens applications for the Southeast Asia Farmed Animal Welfare Fellowship, a 14-week online program for advocates based in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Apply by 5 April.
💼 Jobs: Consider this a bonus pick: we’ve included two entrepreneurial roles here because both offer such high-impact paths for those ready to build.
Entrepreneur in Residence: India, Kickstarting For Good. India, or spend most of your time in the country.
Multiple Entrepreneur-in-Residence Opportunities, Good Growth. Remote, Asia-Pacific time zones preferred.
We appreciate your curiosity about the latest efforts to help more farmed animals around the world. Thank you for reading!
Warmly,
Sofia, Angel, 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
Aaron Boddy proposes bypassing slow university research by transforming commercial farms into “welfare labs” to collect real-time data directly from existing agricultural infrastructure.
Vasco Grilo analyzes the cost-effectiveness of moving hens from conventional to furnished cages, versus moving hens from conventional cages to cage-free aviaries, suggesting advocates consider promoting furnished cages. (We also recommend reading the comments.)
Zachary Segall contends that animal activism’s low participation stems from a lack of social fulfillment and proposes redesigning the movement to better meet advocates’ needs for fun, meaning, and connection.
🥗 Plant-Based Food & Alternative Protein
French precision fermentation startup Verley raises $37.6M in funding to scale up and commercialize its cow-free, functional whey proteins in the US this year.
JDLC analyzes temporarily subsidizing plant-based meal kits as an animal welfare intervention.
The Good Food Institute releases a set of reports summarizing consumer familiarity, perceptions of, and interest in plant-based meat, cultivated meat, precision-fermented dairy, and mycoprotein in the United States.
⚖️ Policy, Legislation, and Law
A US Senator sponsors the Plant-Powered School Meals Pilot Act, which proposes entirely plant-based food and milk options for kids in American schools.
Joren Vuylsteke argues that litigation is an effective tool to improve animal welfare in the European Union (EU) and that organizations should consider improving their litigation strategies within the EU.
The French government updates its national dietary guidelines, which recommend limiting meat and increasing plant-based protein consumption to improve public and planetary health.
💪 Animal Advocacy Org Updates
Animal Justice hosts an online panel on “What It Takes to End Live Horse Export” on 26 February.
The International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics organizes an online lecture delivered by Dr. Olga Kikou on “Plant-based Policy in the EU: Countering Blacklash, Securing Progress” on 17 March. It also seeks experienced mentors to support mentees in the Animal Rights and Vegan Advocacy Network with their projects starting in Q1/Q2 2026.
The Vegan and Animal Rights Conference publishes its 2025 Impact Report.
🎲 Other
I (Sofia) argue that AI may weaken the economic case for junior roles in the movement, necessitating various experiments in the space to avoid a fragile talent pipeline.
karol orzechowski explores the “nuanced gradient” of AI adoption within animal advocacy, analyzing movement-wide trends to identify where advocates are excelling and where more critical engagement is needed
💼 Jobs
Postdoctoral Researcher in Fish Welfare in Aquaculture (2-Year Position), The Fish Etho Group. Faro, Portugal. Apply by 28 February.
Aquatic Animal Alliance Community Specialist, and Policy & Food Systems Specialist, Aquatic Life Institute. Remote, global. Apply by 8 March.
Farm Animals Project Officer, Political Adviser - Farm Animals, and Political Adviser - Food Systems, Eurogroup for Animals. Brussels, or 50% of your time in Brussels. Apply by 15 March.
Global Director of Strategic Communications, ProVeg International. Remote, UK. Apply by 22 March.
Administrative Aide II, Department of Environmental Studies at New York University (supporting the NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy, and the NYU Center for Environmental and Animal Protection). Hybrid, 60-80% on site in New York City.
Chief Operating Officer and Fundraising Manager, Kickstarting For Good. Berlin, Germany.
China Lead, Innovate Animal Ag. Remote, China.
Director of Research & Data, New Roots Institute. Remote, US.
Head of Growth and Operations, Innovate Animal Ag. Remote, US.
Legal Coordinator, ProVeg International. Remote, Netherlands.
Researcher - NYU Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy, New York University. New York.
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
Kickstarting for Good hosts a free, one-day Ideation Bootcamp on 23 March in Manchester (following the Vegan and Animal Rights Conference) to help advocates develop high-impact startup ideas. Sign up now.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest offers several remote, US-based paid summer internships. (The organization works on a range of food-related issues, including plant-based school meals.) Apply by 6 March.
We Animals opens applications for the 2026 Animal Photojournalism Fellowship, offering a $7,000 CAD stipend and professional mentorship for photographers investigating animal industries. Apply by 16 March.
💰 Funding
Thrive Philanthropy offers Thrive ($10,000–$30,000) and Seed ($5,000) Grants for non-US work to overcome factory farming and reduce meat consumption. Apply by 1 March.
Who Let The Docs Out launches two filmmaker grants: the Automation & Humanity Documentary Fund (up to $8,000) for documentary research on AI safety and its impact on animals, and the Coexistence Documentary Fund (up to $15,000) for cinematic non-fiction examining the ethics of animals in society. Apply by 16 March.
Women Funders in Animal Rights offers grants ($1,000–$10,000) to non-profits led by women and/or members of the global majority to advance animal rights and veganism. Apply by 15 April.
Fundraising tip: Hive’s Fundraising Guide includes a database of current opportunities and key resources on how to fundraise.
🤝 Upcoming External Events
The Vegan and Animal Rights Conference, 20–22 March. Manchester.
2026 Mind, Ethics, and Policy Summit, 10–11 April. New York City.
AVA Summit Canada, 21–24 May. Toronto.
Sentient Futures London, 22–24 May. London.
EA Global: London, 29–31 May. London.
Events tip: View more on the Connect for Animals (CFA) event list, the Effective Altruism Global event page, and our Conference Database.
📚 Research
Researchers explore diverging patterns in how US producers approach sustainability priorities, even among same-species and same-scale operations, with emphasis on animal well-being and environmental stewardship.
Researchers investigate psychological and political determinants of public acceptance of four proposed meat reduction policies in Finland.
Researchers in the Netherlands synthesize stakeholder perspectives on the drivers of animal- versus plant-based protein consumption.
Social Change Lab surveys 4,000 people in the UK and US on factory farming, finding that increased public awareness of current farming practices correlates with opposition to them.
🎙️ Podcasts
Future of Foods Interviews:
Holding Food Corporates to Account - Glenn Hurowitz (Mighty Earth)
How to Navigate the Novel Food, US Regulatory Maze - Gregory Jaffe
Our Hen House:
PLANTSTRONG Podcast:
Ep. 341: Rachel Atcheson - Playing the Long Game for America’s Health
📙 Books
The Compassion Mandate: Remaking The European Union’s Leadership on Farmed Animal Welfare by Neil Dullaghan
Your advocacy potential matters. Don’t leave it to chance.
We need you to reach your full impact for farmed animals and to stay well while doing it. At Hive, we help make that possible by connecting advocates quickly and easily with the people, opportunities, and insights they need right now.
To support Hive as the movement’s digital home, consider joining CoNectar, our monthly giving community, from just $5 a month. Your support helps unlock practical outcomes for advocates around the world, such as:
Newer advocates landing their first opportunity in the movement
Leaders getting timely support to move important work forward
For example, a $25/month contribution could help make an entire edition of Hive Highlights possible, reaching 4,500+ advocates with insights, opportunities, and connections.
We’ve got two special perks for joining during our annual CoNectar campaign:
Hand-drawn art: a one-of-a-kind animal illustration, created just for you (learn more)
Match top-up: a generous donor will match your first two months of giving (for example, a $25/month gift unlocks a $50 one-time top-up)
We’re deeply grateful to our CoNectars. Their steady support keeps Hive running and helps advocates focus on what matters most for farmed animals. If you can, consider joining from $5/month. Thank you 🧡
📸 Hive in Action
Earlier this month at EA Global: San Francisco, our Generalist and Asia Ambassador Angel, and community member Ben Romney, represented Hive at the Organization Fair and led the Farmed Animal Welfare speed meetings—we loved seeing so many familiar and new faces in the community!
Thanks for reading our Hive Highlights: late February 2026 edition 🧡 It’s made possible by the incredible work of animal advocates like you.
📰 Submit inclusions for the next edition: deadline is 9 March, 2026.
🐥 What do you think of this newsletter? We welcome all feedback in this form, where you can opt to remain anonymous. We also invite public testimonials — they help other farmed animal advocates discover Hive Highlights!
📬 We currently send 2 types of emails: Hive Highlights and Hive Slack Threads. You’re receiving this email because you subscribed to Hive’s newsletters or joined the Hive Slack community. You can update your preferences anytime in your notification settings.
Hive Highlights is sent by Hive, a nonprofit 100% powered by philanthropy. We are deeply grateful to the foundations, individual donors, and CoNectars whose generous support makes our work possible. Subscribing is free and helps us raise funding for our programs. Thank you!