Episode 555: How Effective Research Impacts Animal Advocacy ft Brooke Haggerty and Jo Anderson

In the opening of the show, Mariann touches base with Jasmin, who is currently on the road on her way to New York in an RV(egan). Jasmin tells us how her 3 dogs and cat are handling the trip, the ups and downs of cooking and eating all the occasionally weird food she packed in case Covid made buying food too difficult, and plans to visit Nooch in Denver to do a curbside shopping trip. While the road trip is long and moving is stressful, so far the incredible scenery along the way is making up for it.
In this week’s Vegan Businesses segment we’re shouting out Passion Placement, a job board and community focused on connecting people looking for work with mission-driven organizations supporting sustainable living, animal advocacy and environmentalism. We’re also pleased to tell you about Dodah’s Kitchen, which makes vegan soul food and desserts inspired by Afro-vegan traditions, with a mission of making veganism both accessible and delicious.
We have two guests this week! Brooke Haggerty is the Executive Director of Faunalytics and has over a decade of experience in the nonprofit sector. Her previous roles in the animal advocacy arena include serving as executive director for the Foundation for Animal Care and Education (FACE) and being a humane educator for the Animal Protection and Rescue League. Jo Anderson is the Research Director at Faunalytics, and she seeks to empower the animal advocacy community with empirical research and data. She is also co-leader of the RECAP (Research to End Consumption of Animal Products) researcher collective and is an Adjunct Research Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa. Brooke and Jo join Jasmin today to discuss Faunalytics’ mission to empower animal advocates with access to research, analysis, strategies, and messages that maximize their effectiveness to reduce animal suffering. They share their research findings on why people leave animal advocacy careers and the patterns that affect retention in advocacy organizations. Brooke and Jo also discuss how to support diversity and inclusion in the
animal rights movement and how people can work from within to create an equitable space using research. Wondering whether to say “plant-based” or “vegan”? They also share the findings on that.

“Do the research. What does the research say? Whatever type of animal advocacy organization you’re running, there is research out there that will inform the most effective ways you can move forward.”
-Brooke Haggerty

This Week in Our Hen House:

• Why animal advocates suffer from burnout and how it manifests
• Why leadership style affects retention in animal advocacy, and how good and bad leadership manifests
• Faunalytics’ support for diversity and inclusion and how the animal advocacy
  movement can stamp out implicit bias
• Why the animal rights movement is getting stuck on one story and what that means going forward
• Understanding operational expenses and why they impact what animal advocacy organizations can do
• The value of research for keeping your organization on track
• How to choose a path or organization when you become involved in animal advocacy
• The services that Faunalytics provides for advocates and organizations
• Public awareness of animal exploitation in relation to Covid-19
• How to take the next step if you need research on a particular topic from Faunalytics
• How to increase people’s willingness to try vegan meals
• Why different animal products have different impacts on animal welfare
• How people become ex-vegans

Resources Mentioned:

• Encompass Institute
• Animal Advocacy Careers
• Encompass Essays
• Using Research and Data to Create an Inclusive Animal Rights Movement