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New Roots Institute is strengthening student recruitment, expanding career pathways for alumni, and building a more connected community of advocates working to end factory farming.
New Roots Institute is training the next generation of leaders to end factory farming. To date, our programs have graduated 700+ alumni across 300+ schools in 26 countries. Over the last two years, our fellows and alumni have reached more than 3 million people and reduced demand for roughly 770,000 animal-based meals through campus campaigns.
Our campaign training is already a strength and continues to improve every year: each of the past two years, our fellows have more than doubled the campaign wins of the cohort before them. Even without dedicated placement support, our alumni are already landing government, lobbying, food service, and NGO policy roles shaping farmed animal welfare and food systems. According to our FY27 Alumni Survey MEL Report, 23% of alumni for whom we have the data are working in an anti-factory farming position after programming, and 62.9% are employed or volunteering in a role that contributes to reducing the impacts of factory farming.
Two bottlenecks are currently most prominent: recruiting and retaining the strongest students, especially when they have other, higher-paying opportunities; and building the network beyond the core fellowship, working to cluster alumni in the institutions that most shape culture and policy.
With $904,040 in additional funding, we can recruit stronger, larger cohorts of fellows, expand the opportunities and incentives that keep them connected to the community and invested in the work, and establish a placement infrastructure to get them into high-leverage institutions where their impact compounds over time.
Our fellows currently balance 10-20 hours a week of advocacy work on top of school and jobs. Our strongest prospective fellows almost always have better-paid options, and they currently take those opportunities nearly 60% of the time. Our current $2,500 grant, issued over the 10-month fellowship, undersells what we’re asking for: a commitment longer than the typical 7-12 week alternative, many of which pay $4,500 to $8,000 for a single summer. Increasing grants and travel support would help fellows prioritize this work and build the connections and shared identity that keep them invested.
What this funding enables:
Expected impact in 12–18 months: Higher acceptance among top admits, an increase in campaign wins, and more new fellows sourced through campus groups and referrals from peers and other organizations.
While other organizations provide valuable career guidance, students and recent graduates often need more sustained, hands-on support to secure their first roles. By providing this support in-house, New Roots can build on the relationships and skills developed during the Fellowship while intentionally directing talent toward priority institutions where alumni can have a compounding impact. Without that support, alumni end up scattered across sectors, institutions, and teams. We believe influence compounds when advocates are concentrated: a cluster of alumni in the same institution, company, or field can shift its norms and decisions in ways one person alone can't. Our alumni network has grown beyond what informal placement efforts can support, and without increased staff support, that dispersion will only grow.
What this funding enables:
Expected impact in 12–18 months: Strategies built for each priority sector; talent pipelines with employers in those sectors; fellows and alumni placed in roles in priority sectors; an in-house job-search tracker and career toolkit for fellows’ applications; fellows and alumni landing roles in priority sectors
The New Roots Summit brings fellows, alumni, and movement partners together in person for a week each year, extending virtual programming into shared time with peers, alumni, staff, partners, and movement leaders. Participants learn from those who have done this work before them, practice leadership and advocacy skills, and take part in collective advocacy action. They leave with a deeper connection to the movement and stronger relationships that help them stay committed to the work.
What this funding enables:
Expected impact in 12–18 months: Participants report feeling connected to the broader movement working to end factory farming, and leave with concrete next steps and relationships they can draw on.
Animal Charity Evaluators wrote in their most recent Theory of Change evaluation that they are "strongly convinced that New Roots Institute's programs are likely to create positive change for animals." Faunalytics found statistically significant increases in fellows identifying as stronger advocates after the Fellowship.
To fully fund these priorities, we’re seeking $904,040 to invest in the future of animal advocacy. Your gift funds fellow grants and staff roles that support fellows and alumni, and helps sustain the Summit and networking events that connect the community. If you’re considering a larger gift, or want to discuss funding a specific aspect of our work, please reach out to our Director of Development, Rachel Rieman, at rachel.rieman@newrootsinstitute.org.
New Roots Institute is a nonprofit empowering the next generation with knowledge and training to end factory farming. Through our leadership development programs, fellows take what they learn about the food system and put it into practice by launching campaigns that challenge industrial animal agriculture. We are strengthening the movement—spreading change from individuals to their communities, and expanding outward into wider systems-level change.
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