From May 12 to 14, 2025, Rethink Priorities hosted the fourth annual Animal Advocacy Strategy Forum (AASF) in Los Angeles. We brought together 26 organizations across the global animal advocacy movement for three days of strategic reflection, relationship-building, and idea development.
Designed as a candid and solution-oriented space, the forum centered around pre-submitted memos and small-group discussions to explore key movement challenges and co-develop strategies to address them.
The 2025 AASF helped advance 10 strategic initiatives, including a mentorship program for corporate campaigners, a plant-based strategy forum, and ideas around welfare tech, political engagement, industry collaboration, and movement building in Asia.
By October 2025, several initiatives had made notable progress, with participants sharing ideas publicly and planning concrete timelines. Examples include early planning for a 2026 plant-based strategy session, a first draft of best-practice guidance for industry engagement, groundwork for welfare tech collaborations with a design company, and plans to pilot trust-building movement convenings in Asia.
Some participants have also shared their memos publicly to encourage wider discussion, including:
Post-event feedback suggested that future forums could benefit from an even more focused agenda centered on specific topics or goals to better balance ambition with implementation capacity. Some participants also noted a desire to return to the more structured facilitation of previous editions, and time to follow-up on projects from previous forums.
At the same time, participants strongly valued the forum’s focus on open dialogue and peer connection, describing it as a “friendly and trustworthy atmosphere [that] is crucial for building the movement” and rating achievement of Goal 2 Building Connections and Trust an average score of 4.67/5.
Participants also praised the introduction of pre-event memos and greater autonomy over the agenda, which enabled deeper discussion. The inclusion of a funder Q&A was also seen as a valuable opportunity to receive feedback and further develop ideas.
These reflections will inform future editions of the forum to ensure it continues serving as a critical space for collaboration and long-term strategic thinking in the movement.
We’re grateful to the participants and the Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund, Craigslist Foundation, and a number of individuals who contributed via Manifund’s EA Community Choice to make this event happen.