The Global South is still highly neglected, and Sinergia Animal is doing a great job to change that!
We want to empower the animal advocacy movement in the Global South, by bringing people together, facilitating the exchange of knowledge and ideas, and spreading the norms of effective advocacy.
Sinergia Animal is run by people who live and work in the Global South. We operate in eight countries - in all of them, the effective animal advocacy movement is still very small, but the prevalence of factory farming is growing fast.
We will use your generous donations to:
Host movement building events in Colombia, Brazil, and Thailand.
Use these events to gather activists, influencers and local organisations for a collaborative and educational programme.
Turn these events into dozens of corporate commitments for animals.
Goals:
Create opportunities for animal protection organizations, activists and influencers to connect and collaborate.
Foster the principles of effective advocacy in the nascent animal advocacy movements in these countries.
Ultimately, get things done for animals, in countries where factory farming remains an extremely neglected cause area.
How we will achieve them:
Our target audience
We’re looking to reach people in Colombia, Thailand and Brazil who are involved in farmed animal advocacy, or should be.
That includes:
Animal protection organizations
Volunteers
Animal lovers who think factory farming is bad, but haven’t heard of EAA before
Vegan influencers
Restaurants and businesses with a focus on sustainability
Getting people to attend the events
We have an extended network of volunteers, partner organizations and influencers. These are relationships that have been built up over years. We will leverage these relationships to get people excited for the event.
We will cover travel costs for attendees, allowing people from underrepresented communities and regions to take part.
When we ran an event like this in the past, many of our attendees found us through our social media.
The program
We will use group discussions as a tool to teach people about and get them excited about the principles of effective animal advocacy.
The program will also feature organizational presentations, so attendees come away with a greater sense of how they can work together in the future.
Networking opportunities will be offered throughout the event, so potential future animal advocates can identify job and volunteer opportunities that could get them more involved in the movement.
In a past event, we also taught participants the basics of meditation. Resilience is crucial to success in animal advocacy.
Future collaboration
After the event in Chiang Mai, we established a working group, which meets quarterly to discuss opportunities for collaboration. We’ll do the same after each of these events.
The networking opportunities alone will make this event valuable. We hope to help more people than ever find their place in animal advocacy, through job opportunities, volunteering, etc.
Sinergia Animal is in constant contact with other local organizations. These connections help us to secure corporate commitments affecting millions of animals every year.
TL;DR
In three Global South countries, we will bring people who love animals together, and promote the kinds of values and principles that will make the local EAA movements strong.
The funding will be used for the following purposes:
Event logistics: Cover costs related to venue rental, catering, and accommodation for participants. 4,500 USD
Travel expenses: Support travel expenses for key speakers and participants. 6,000 USD
Program execution: Fund activities such as mindfulness training, street actions, and site visits. - 9,000 USD
Promotional materials: Develop and distribute materials that promote the regrant program and Sinergia Animal’s mission. 1,500 USD
Administrative costs: Manage costs associated with organizing and facilitating the event, including staffing and coordination efforts. - 2,400 USD
Surplus for other costs: 600 USD
We are Sinergia Animal
Animal Charity Evaluators has recommended us six years in a row. Last year alone, we achieved 48 corporate commitments for animals. We did this in eight countries of the Global South, where animal farming is a huge issue, but an extremely neglected cause area.
We operate entirely in the Global South, and we are run by people who live in the Global South.
The team for this project
Carolina Galvani, Executive Director
Carolina has worked in farmed animal advocacy for more than ten years, as an investigator, journalist and leader.
Caroline Oliveira, Development Director
Caroline leads the team that will deliver this project. She has 10 years of project management experience and manages Sinergia Animal’s movement building program.
Our community and development managers in Brazil, Colombia and Thailand
They coordinate dozens of volunteers to take action for animals every week. Our coordinator in Thailand, Siriyada Chongchuwanich, managed our previous movement building event in Chiang Mai. She will share her knowledge and expertise with our other staff members.
Track record
Successful events
In 2024 we held a similar event in Chiang Mai (Thailand) for 22 animal advocates from 6 different organizations, along with social media influencers and other animal activists.
Positive feedback
Our event in Chiang Mai received the following positive feedback:
100% satisfaction with the group discussions and presentations by Sinergia Animal
100% overall satisfaction with the event
Results for animals
The Chiang Mai event led to the creation of a Thailand Working Group For Farmed Animals, which now meets every quarter to discuss opportunities for collaboration.
Through the event, we connected with two new potential partner organizations for Sinergia Animal.
We use these collaborations to produce real, tangible results. Sinergia Animal achieved 48 commitments for animals in 2023 alone. A lot of those were only possible due to our partnerships with local organizations; the good cop bad cop routine depends on having more than one cop.
Mistakes and areas for improvement
Since the Chiang Mai event was basically a pilot for this programme, we learnt lessons from it that we will apply to future events.
Our registration process could have been simpler. We're sure we lost some sign ups that way.
Some participants didn’t understand the purpose of our event. This time, we’ll share a thorough form with applicants so we can check their level of alignment with our cause and EA principles, so we can adjust our programming accordingly and no one feels out of their depth.
We could have done more to make our Chiang Mai event accessible for everyone. This time, we’ll bring the organizing team together to the venue 2 days prior to the event for better organization of the space and identification of potential needs for additional resources and last-minute demands.
Causes
Low participation or lack of interest from our target audiences. This is a real risk. We have extensive networks in each of the target countries, but overall, the movement is small. Our staff who are based in the target countries report that it’s hard to get people to attend in-person events.
Poor communication about the values and purpose of the event. Again, we’re operating in countries where the animal advocacy and EA movements are very small. Events of this type are rare or non-existent. It may be difficult to bring people of vastly different levels of experience and engagement up to speed.
Outcomes
If we can’t get enough people to attend, we’ll miss a lot of opportunities to collaborate with each other in the future.
If the event goes poorly, it could negatively impact our reputation in the country.
Some good news
Travel and accommodation costs are low in Thailand and Colombia (and also quite low in Brazil). If these events fail, the running costs are much smaller than those incurred by equivalent events in the Global North.
As an organization, we have a supportive and open culture. So if we make mistakes, we will identify and learn from them - quickly.
As mentioned above, we’ve run events like this before - to great success. The people who will be organizing these events are well versed in the challenges they may face.
Donations and sponsorships: We are actively pursuing donations and sponsorships from individual donors who are aligned with our mission.
Grants: We are applying for grants from foundations and government agencies that support animal protection and advocacy initiatives.
Eduarda Nedeff
about 1 month ago
The Global South is still highly neglected, and Sinergia Animal is doing a great job to change that!
Steven Rouk
about 2 months ago
Farmed animal advocates work in the Global South is particularly neglected, and I think Sinergia Animal does great work.
Cecilia Valenza
about 2 months ago
Thank you for all the amazing work Sinergia has been doing in neglected regions, like the Global South
Marine Lercier
about 2 months ago
Congratulations on your amazing work and good luck with this project! 👏🏽🙏🏽
Jessika Ava, MS, MPA
about 2 months ago
Sinergia has strong leadership and a long track record of success.
Kari Snorek
about 2 months ago
There's a lot of important and impactful work that needs support in the Global South.
Sofia Balderson
about 2 months ago
Animal work in the Global South is very important. Thanks a lot for your hard work Caroline and team!
Fernanda Vieira
about 2 months ago
Sinergia Animal tirelessly advocates for animals in neglected Global South countries. I am sure this organization will make the most of these funds.
Thai da Costa
about 2 months ago
Sinergia's work is so important especially for being the only organization that focus only in the global south!
Romina Viscarret
about 2 months ago
Sinergia Animal is doing so much for the animals in the Global South. The organisation has grown consistently in a short period of times with results that are outstanding.
Alexandra Navarro
about 2 months ago
Sinergia Animal works in the Global South with various programs that have a real positive impact on the lives of animals and the planet. This project will have important results!
Lily Chamberlain
about 2 months ago
I donated because Sinergia Animal is the best organisation I've ever worked for. Exceptional track record and culture.
Samantha dos Santos Gaspar
about 2 months ago
Sinergia Animal is doing amazing work for farm animals in the Global South!
Isadora Alves Ferreira
about 2 months ago
Animals from the Global South need Sinergia's efforts so bad and we'll never stop doing our work until we're able to end animal farming!
Jason
about 2 months ago
Upvoted for clear plan and budget, history of past successes (both in running events & obtaining commitments), cost-effective area of operation, and being closely connected to the communities where you operate.