New Roots Institute was built around a belief in the power of young leaders to create lasting change in our food system. We're excited to share an important shift in how we're growing the movement to end factory farming—one that puts our fellows at the center of everything we do and scales up the potential impact of our work.

How We're Scaling

To best allocate our resources for impact and streamline our program delivery, we plan to transition away from educator-led, hub-based classroom lessons. 

Over the past several years, we've studied which factors drive structural and behavioral change in schools and communities. Our research revealed that students demonstrate greater support for our mission after we’ve trained a fellow at their schools compared to educators giving lessons there. 

This finding aligns with broader research, which shows that complex ideas like reimagining our food system don't spread through single exposures. Instead, they spread through relationships, repeated conversations, and trusted peers who are embedded in communities. 

Consider how you've changed your own mind about important issues. It likely happened through ongoing conversations with people you trust. That's exactly what our fellows do. They don't just visit a classroom once; they're part of the fabric of their school communities. They engage in lunch conversations, lead student organizations, organize events, lead by example, and build the kinds of relationships that shift perspectives and behaviors over time.

Instead of staff leading lessons and recruitment in regional hubs, we’ll focus on educating and training fellows to lead organizing, recruitment, campaigns, and classroom lessons on their own campuses. This fellow-driven approach is more scalable than our previous hub-based model. With fellows joining us this summer from 28 states and 22 countries, our ability to educate a school population is no longer as restricted to specific places as it once was.

The fellows we train become force multipliers in their communities, equipped with the knowledge and training to educate and inspire dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of their peers over time. Growing our network of trained advocates positions us for sustainable growth, enabling us to reach beyond the classrooms our staff can visit, into every corner of the country—and beyond.

This approach also enables us to pursue our theory of change with greater efficiency and impact. If you’d like to learn more about our theory of change and the research behind it, you can review it here.

By the Numbers

We will always rigorously assess our work, using evidence and research to guide our strategy, even when it means moving away from programs we've previously invested in.

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Our fellows have a powerful effect on their communities. In our last two years, we estimate their efforts reached approximately 780,000 people, and may influence dining behaviors of up to 289,000 people, reducing the demand for meals containing animal products by roughly 3.5 million per year.

These numbers are based on research that investigates how many meals were replaced with plant-based alternatives through campaigns that our fellows and alumni have implemented with our partners.

Our Commitment Remains the Same

While our methods are evolving, our mission remains unchanged: to build a movement of young leaders who will end factory farming and create a just, sustainable food system. The classroom resources we've developed over the years—including our library of 1,000+ educational slides—aren't going anywhere. They're becoming tools that our fellows can use as they lead presentations and campaigns in their communities.

We're also maintaining our relationships with the incredible network of educators who have supported our work, recognizing that they remain valuable partners in connecting us with students who are ready to create change. We're excited about this new chapter because we've seen what our fellows can accomplish when they’re equipped with the right training, support, and resources.

If you're a student eager to become a leader in the movement to end factory farming, we invite you to explore our leadership development programs. 

If you're an educator, advocate, or supporter of our work, you play a vital role in helping us discover and recruit the next generation of passionate leaders. We hope you'll continue to be part of this journey as we build a more strategic and impactful approach to creating change.

​​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.