Announcing Our 2022 Movement Grants
Introduction
We are excited to announce the grantees of the sixth round of Movement Grants. The goal of this program is to build and strengthen the global animal advocacy movement. We do this by funding groups working on various approaches to animal advocacy, especially those that are underfunded, target large numbers of animals, or are in regions with a relatively small animal advocacy movement.
This round, we had $910,000 available for disbursement, and we reviewed 164 applications. We are thrilled to present the 35 projects we selected for a grant.1 The median size of the grants is $25,000, and 27 of the grantees are first-time recipients. We want to thank everyone involved, and say congratulations to the successful applicants!
Overview
Europe – $327,500
Humánny pokrok – $40,000
Shrimp Welfare Project – $40,000
Agriculture Cellulaire France – $30,000
AnimaNaturalis – $30,000
Dansk Vegetarisk Forening – $29,000
La Question Aquatique – $29,000
Gyvi Gali – $25,000
Sentience Politics – $25,000
Dzīvnieku brīvība – $20,000
Convergence Animaux Politique – $20,000
Asociația FREE – $15,000
Vegan Derneği Turkiye – $8,500
Viral Vegans – $8,000
Césama – $8,000
Asia – $161,000
Catalyst – $50,000
Samayu and A Just World – $45,000
Middle East Vegan Society – $40,000
The Modern Agriculture Foundation – $20,000
NALSAR University of Law – $6,000
Anglo America – $153,000
Climate Refarm – $48,000
Insect Welfare Project – $45,000
Black Veg Society – $30,000
Rethink Your Food Inc – $20,000
DC Voters for Animals – $10,000
Africa – $154,500
Animal Advocacy Africa – $50,000
One Health and Development Initiative – $35,000
Amis de l’Afrique Francophone – Bénin – $20,000
Quality Life Without Borders – $14,000
Sibanye Animal Welfare and Conservancy Trust – $13,500
Eduquons Autrement – $10,000
Nurture Imvelo Trust – $7,000
Shangano Arts Trust – $5,000
Latin America – $70,000
Brigada Animal México – $35,000
Fundación Derecho y Defensa Animal – $35,000
Oceania – $44,000
Cellular Agriculture Australia – $44,000
Description of Grants
Europe
Humánny pokrok – $40,000
Founded: Slovakia, 2009
Region of focus: Slovakia and the E.U.
Grant activities: Humánny pokrok (Humane Progress) is focused on ending factory farming through i) corporate and legislative outreach to negotiate better welfare for farmed animals, and ii) promoting veganism and plant-based alternatives. We are providing funding for Jem pre Zem, a program that targets both individuals and businesses through social media outreach, vegan pledge campaigns, reports and rankings of the plant-based industry, and hosting conferences to promote plant-based businesses.
Shrimp Welfare Project – $40,000
Founded: United Kingdom, 2021
Region of focus: India and Vietnam, with additional work in the U.S. and Europe
Grant activities: The Shrimp Welfare Project aims to improve the welfare of farmed shrimps by working with producers to improve conditions such as water quality and stocking densities. They plan to start this work in 2022 with pilot projects in India and Vietnam. Additionally, they plan to work in the U.S. and Europe to produce welfare standards that will be used to secure commitments from companies for higher welfare. Their Movement Grant will go toward staff costs to carry out their work.
Agriculture Cellulaire France – $30,000
Founded: France, 2020
Region of focus: France
Grant activities: Agriculture Cellulaire France (Cellular Agriculture France) works to conduct research and educate various stakeholders (e.g., academics, institutions, politicians, companies) about cellular agriculture, with the goal of accelerating funding and development of the cellular agriculture industry. They aim to advocate for French public policies supporting cellular agriculture by meeting with MPs and other public decision makers, organizing events for politicians and other strategic audiences, and producing reports for public authorities, institutions, and research centers. We are providing funding to help them hire a policy officer to develop their political advocacy strategy.
AnimaNaturalis – $30,000
Founded: Spain, 2003
Region of focus: Spain and the E.U.
Grant activities: AnimaNaturalis works to influence animal legislation through lobbying and media outreach. We are providing funding for them to investigate and document welfare issues with intensive rabbit farming in Spain, followed by launching a political lobbying campaign to secure welfare improvements for rabbits. Spain is the largest producer of rabbits in Europe, so success here could be influential in securing more comprehensive reform throughout the E.U.
Dansk Vegetarisk Forening – $29,000
Founded: Denmark, 1896
Region of focus: Denmark
Grant activities: Dansk Vegetarisk Forening (Danish Vegetarian Association), or DVF, is primarily focused on securing institutional change to transition Demark to becoming more plant-based. Following a campaign by DVF (which was partially funded by a 2020 Movement Grant), the Danish government allocated 175 million USD toward plant-based initiatives in Denmark’s agricultural sector. We awarded this Movement Grant to help DVF continue influencing policies that emerge from this commitment and guiding other organizations lobbying for similar issues in Europe.
La Question Aquatique – $29,000
Founded: Switzerland, 2016
Region of focus: Global
Grant activities: La Question Aquatique (The Aquatic Question) works toward abolishing fishing and aquaculture for fishes and other aquatic animals, such as crustaceans and cephalopods. They work with hundreds of other animal advocacy organizations to encourage aquatic animal advocacy year-round, culminating in the World Day for the End of Fishing (WoDEF) in March, during which each organization carries out an action related to fish welfare. Their Movement Grant will go toward staff costs to carry out their work.
Gyvi Gali – $25,000
Founded: Lithuania, 2022
Region of focus: Lithuania
Grant activities: Gyvi Gali is a new organization that conducts vegan advocacy campaigns in Lithuania. They currently focus on individual outreach by running a 22-day vegan pledge. Their plans include reaching out to media and influencers for awareness campaigns and engaging with restaurants to encourage them to add more plant-based options to their menus. Their Movement Grant will go toward the salaries of two employees working on their campaigns.
Sentience – $25,000
Founded: Switzerland, 2014
Region of focus: Switzerland
Grant activities: Sentience is a Swiss organization that raises awareness about the interests of nonhuman animals. In 2022, there will be a public vote in Switzerland to decide whether to ban factory farming; Sentience is working on a media campaign and conducting public outreach to increase support for the initiative. We are providing funding for them to hire an additional digital campaigner and public advertising to encourage support for the vote.
Dzīvnieku Brīvība – $20,000
Founded: Latvia, 2012
Region of focus: Latvia
Grant activities: Dzīvnieku Brīvība (Animal Freedom) conducts a variety of interventions, including corporate outreach to secure cage-free commitments, political lobbying to ban fur farming, and individual outreach through a vegan pledge campaign. Through their Augi & Draugi (Plants & Friends) program, Dzīvnieku Brīvība works with restaurants to introduce plant-based options on their menus, establishing partnerships with 128 companies to date. We are providing funding for them to expand the scope of this program to target food producers and retailers, encouraging them to produce and offer more plant-based products.
Convergence Animaux Politique – $20,000
Founded: France, 2017
Region of focus: France
Grant activities: Convergence Animaux Politique (Convergence Animals Politics) is a political lobbying group that brings the demands of animal organizations to politicians to improve animal welfare in France. In 2021, they succeeded in getting a law against animal mistreatment—a law they had initiated—passed by the French Parliament. A key priority for them is to secure a vote to ban cages used in farming. Their Movement Grant will go toward the salary of a lobbyist.
Asociația FREE – $15,000
Founded: Romania, 2017
Region of focus: Romania
Grant activities: Asociația Freedom and Respect for Every Earthling (Associața FREE) conducts a variety of interventions, including corporate outreach to secure cage-free commitment and individual outreach through a vegan pledge campaign, social media, and events. Their Movement Grant will go toward the salary of a fundraiser, allowing them to establish themselves better and provide a sustainable source of income for the future.
Vegan Derneği Turkiye – $8,500
Founded: Turkey, 2012
Region of focus: Turkey
Grant activities: Vegan Derneği Turkiye (The Vegan Association of Turkey), or TVD, works to introduce vegan options in Turkish institutions and eliminate hunting in the region. They have helped secure vegan options in prisons and are close to doing the same in universities and the Turkish army. We are providing funding for their institutional vegan outreach work. They will allocate funding toward legal fees as they target the Ministry of Higher Education and the Ministry of Health.
Viral Vegans – $8,000
Founded: Finland, 2022
Region of focus: Finland
Grant activities: Viral Vegans is a new organization promoting veganism in Finland. Their approaches include holding school talks, hosting a podcast, engaging in street activism, and marketing in support of vegan businesses and against animal agriculture. We are providing funding for them to grow these projects and build the farmed animal advocacy movement in Finland.
Césama – $8,000
Founded: France, 2021
Region of focus: France
Grant activities: Conseil économique et social sur l’avenir des métiers agricoles (Economic and social council on the future of agricultural professions), or Césama, is a think tank that aims to develop an understanding of the impacts of transitioning animal agriculture toward being more plant-based. We are providing funding for them to produce a first report on the share of animal exploitation for food in the French economy. Césama hopes this report will lead to further research on the economic benefits for farmers of transitioning to plant-based agriculture and support eventual media outreach and political lobbying to enact change.
For more work being done in Europe, see the Insect Welfare Project.
Asia
Catalyst – $50,000
Founded: Thailand, 2020
Region of focus: Thailand
Grant activities: Catalyst is working with the Thai Ministry of Education to introduce a Meatless Friday lunch program in schools. Following a successful pilot program in 2021, in which they provided 20-hour vegan training to 800 teachers and implemented Meatless Friday in 10 schools, they are now looking to expand the program to 50 more schools. They also plan to add additional elements to their program, such as recruiting and training youth leaders to set up school clubs to promote plant-based diets. Their Movement Grant will go toward the salaries of three staff members who will carry out this expansion, plus other program costs.
Samayu and A Just World – $45,000
Founded: India, 2021
Region of focus: India
Grant activities: Samayu and A Just World works on food system reform in India. They will conduct research, produce policy proposals, and convene with various stakeholders in agriculture, public health, and the environment to create food system reform. Initially, they aim to increase the consideration of animal interests in new policy decisions, prioritizing fish, chicken, and dairy farms. Over the longer term, they plan to focus on transitioning the food system to be more plant-based. We are providing funding for research and policy staff salaries and other program costs.
Middle East Vegan Society – $40,000
Founded: Lebanon, 2021
Region of focus: Middle East and North Africa
Grant activities: The Middle East Vegan Society works to accelerate the spread of veganism across the Middle East and North Africa. They conduct individual outreach, producing educational content and vegan guides tailored to the cuisines and cultures of the countries where they work, and providing support to those interested in reducing their meat consumption. They are also working on institutional-level change, having secured some successes in restaurants adding vegan menus and a hospital committing to being entirely plant-based. Their Movement Grant will go toward staff salaries, allowing them to build capacity.
The Modern Agriculture Foundation – $20,000
Founded: Israel, 2014
Region of focus: Israel
Grant activities: The Modern Agriculture Foundation (MAF) is collaborating with MassChallenge Israel to run The Better Plate Track, an accelerator for promising plant-based alternative protein start-ups. In 2022, they aim to put six to eight start-ups through the program, which involves a four-month mentorship and specialized training for the alt-protein market sector. We are providing funding for the salary of the project manager carrying out the program.
NALSAR University of Law – $6,000
Founded: India, 1998
Region of focus: India
Grant activities: The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR) University of Law offers India’s only master’s program in animal protection law. Although the university has space to accommodate more students, they have had to turn away applicants without scholarships. Their Movement Grant will go toward scholarships for those interested in careers in farmed and wild animal protection.
For more work being done in Asia, see the Shrimp Welfare Project.
Anglo America
Climate Refarm – $48,000
Founded: United States, 2021
Region of focus: United States
Grant activities: Climate Refarm aims to fund institutional-level work to replace animal products using carbon credits. They plan to achieve this by quantifying the carbon emissions reductions of transitioning to plant-based produts, then selling those emission reductions to individuals via an accredited carbon crediting program. We are providing funding for them to get their carbon crediting methodology accredited by a recognized certifier. If successful in getting accredited, Climate Refarm will be able to fund animal advocacy work via sources that would otherwise not be used to help animals.
Insect Welfare Project – $45,000
Founded: United States, 2021
Regions of focus: North America and Western Europe
Grant activities: Insect Welfare Project is the provisional name of an organization being incubated by Rethink Priorities that aims to be the first organization to address the rapidly growing insect farming industry. They plan to focus on advising different stakeholders and identifying ways to improve welfare on insect farms. Their Movement Grant will go toward the salary of a program manager carrying out their initial work in these areas.
Black Veg Society – $30,000
Founded: United States, 2015
Region of focus: Maryland, and U.S. more broadly
Grant activities: Black Veg Society aims to educate the public on the benefits of veganism, particularly in communities comprised of Black, Indigenous, and people of the global majority (BIPGM). They use various outreach methods, working on institutional change through vegan restaurant weeks and Meatless Mondays campaigns, and individual change through webinars and veg fests. We are providing funding for their vegan restaurant weeks, which encourage restaurants to offer and promote vegan options, as well as their veg fest, Vegan Soulfest.
Rethink Your Food Inc – $20,000
Founded: United States, 2019
Region of focus: Anglo America
Grant activities: Rethink Your Food runs a pledge program called Vegan Caribbean Kickstart (VCK). The main goal of VCK is to support people of Caribbean heritage while they transition to a plant-based diet. The program consists of a 21-day pledge to eat vegan meals and a follow-up commitment to reduce consumption of animal products in the long term. VCK offers content that resonates best with their target demographic, including recipes and meal plans. We are providing support for this program to continue growing.
DC Voters for Animals – $10,000
Founded: United States, 2019
Region of focus: Washington DC
Grant activities: DC Voters for Animals lobbies politicians to support bills that improve animal welfare and rights in various cause areas. We are providing funding for their lobbying work to pass a bill that would update the Washington DC building code to help prevent bird collisions. The scale of bird collisions is large and often results in death or injury; this initiative appears to be a tractable way to address the problem.
Africa
Animal Advocacy Africa – $50,000
Founded: South Africa, 2020
Region of focus: Africa
Grant activities: Animal Advocacy Africa works to strengthen the fundraising capacities and effectiveness of African animal advocacy organizations, especially those focused on farmed animals. They currently support 17 organizations in nine African countries. Their work includes providing connections with funders, giving feedback on grant applications, and offering support in developing strategies. Their Movement Grant will go toward their general operations, including hiring additional staff to expand their capacity.
One Health and Development Initiative – $35,000
Founded: Nigeria, 2019
Region of focus: Nigeria
Grant activities: One Health and Development Initiative works to address animal, human, and environmental health issues using a One Health approach. We are providing funding for them to conduct research on Nigeria’s aquaculture industry, which is the second-largest in Africa. Using surveys and interviews, they plan to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and current practices of various industry stakeholders regarding fish welfare. They hope this research will provide the groundwork to improve the welfare of fishes used in aquaculture by identifying knowledge gaps and providing training to farmers.
Amis de l’Afrique Francophone – Bénin – $30,000
Founded: Bénin, 2008
Region of focus: Bénin
Grant activities: Amis de l’Afrique Francophone (Friends of Francophone Africa) is a development organization focusing primarily on socioeconomic and environmental issues affecting the Beninese population. We are providing funding for a new program to increase the availability of plant-based options in schools and educate on the harms caused by industrial animal agriculture. They plan to target 240 cooks in 24 schools and colleges to secure commitments to offer plant-based food on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and also hope to establish animal rights clubs in the schools.
Quality Life Without Borders – $14,000
Founded: Kenya, 2020
Region of focus: Kenya
Grant activities: Quality Life Without Borders is a development organization focusing on people in low-income communities, especially school children. We are providing funding for a new program to introduce more plant-based options in schools. They will leverage their existing relationships with schools and partner with a nutritionist to create a meal plan. They also plan to provide schools with educational materials on the impacts of animal agriculture.
Sibanye Animal Welfare and Conservancy Trust – $13,500
Founded: Zimbabwe, 2018
Region of focus: Zimbabwe
Grant activities: Sibanye Animal Welfare and Conservancy Trust works to improve animal welfare, protect wildlife, and promote biodiversity conservation. We are providing funding for them to conduct research on Zimbabwe’s aquaculture industry, where they report that there are currently no welfare standards for fishes. They plan to use surveys and interviews to gather information, which will form the basis for educational campaigns on fish welfare practices targeting farmers and policymakers.
Eduquons Autrement – $10,000
Founded: Bénin, 2016
Region of focus: Bénin
Grant activities: Eduquons Autrement (Let’s Educate Differently) works to educate people on various social issues, including health, animal rights, and environmental issues. We are providing funding for an educational outreach project to promote veganism and educate people about problems with industrial animal agriculture. Specifically, they plan to hold workshops with different groups (e.g., local authorities, community leaders, and schools) and establish animal rights clubs at colleges and high schools.
Nurture Imvelo Trust – $7,000
Founded: Zimbabwe, 2021
Region of focus: Zimbabwe
Grant activities: Nurture Imvelo Trust is a youth organization that addresses animal welfare issues. We are providing funding for them to run a campaign targeting caged hens. This campaign will involve collaborating with other regional organizations to corporate outreach to secure cage-free commitments from companies. They also plan to conduct public outreach about the welfare issues of caged hens using physical advertising, social media, and educational animation for children in schools.
Shangano Arts Trust – $5,000
Founded: Zimbabwe, 2019
Region of focus: Zimbabwe
Grant activities: Shangano Arts Trust is an organization that educates communities on conservation and veganism through art. We are providing funding for their art workshops, which engage audiences with vegan messages through storytelling and poetry, and their vegan workshops with chefs and nutritionists.
For more work being done in Africa, see the Middle East Vegan Society.
Latin America
Brigada Animal México – $35,000
Founded: Mexico, 2017
Region of Focus: Mexico
Grant activities: Brigada Animal México (Animal Brigade Mexico) is an anti-speciesist collective working to educate the general public on anti-speciesism and veganism and train and professionalize activists. They use a variety of online outreach strategies, such as participating in radio and talk shows and producing articles, videos, podcasts, and infographics. They also tour the country, holding activism training workshops and building communities of activists. Their Movement Grant will go toward supporting several staff salaries to help them increase their capacity.
Fundación Derecho y Defensa Animal – $35,000
Founded: Chile, 2014
Region of focus: Chile
Grant activities: Fundación Derecho y Defensa Animal (Animal Law and Defense Foundation) uses legal approaches to improve animal welfare standards in Chile. They introduce bills, influence discussion of legislation introduced by others, and pursue litigation when laws are not being met. They are also working to establish animal law as a distinct academic field. We are providing general funding for their organization, primarily for staff salaries.
Oceania
Cellular Agriculture Australia – $44,000
Founded: Australia, 2020
Region of focus: Australia
Grant activities: Cellular Agriculture Australia aims to catalyze the development of cell-cultured products in Australia by nurturing talent and research capacity, raising public awareness of cellular agriculture, and fostering collaboration across the sector. We are providing funding for them to start a new seed grant program for academics looking to begin new (or expand on preliminary) cellular agriculture research. The program aims to attract new talent to the field and increase the amount of public, open-source research in cellular agriculture. Each seed grantee will be awarded 5,000 AUD in matched funds.
Disclosures
To limit the potential influence of conflicts of interest (COIs) between members of the Movement Grants review committee, other staff members involved in the review process, and applicants, we took the following precautions:
- We considered that any serious COI (e.g., past employment, past or present involvement with the Board of Directors, intensive volunteer work, or close relationship with an employee) would disqualify a team member from being involved in evaluating the relevant application.
- Prior to discussing applications, all team members involved in the decision-making process disclosed any COIs they had with the applicants.
- When the team discussed an application where a COI was identified for a particular team member, that team member would leave the meeting prior to the discussion and would not return until a decision had been made.
The general review committee this round consisted of Jamie Spurgeon, Movement Grants Program Manager; Maria Salazar, Senior Researcher; and Ellen Pelos, Researcher.
