@Marine-Lercier wonderful, thank you for the note! That all sounds great. I hope you're able to get funding and be successful with it. Thank you for your work!
@stevenrouk
Steven Rouk is an animal advocate, data engineer, math geek, and founder of Connect For Animals, a platform for people who want to help end factory farming.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenrouk/$0 in pending offers
Steven Rouk is the founder of Connect For Animals, a platform for people who want to help end factory farming.
Before working in animal advocacy full-time, he studied math and philosophy, and he worked for several years as a data engineering consultant (with Python being his primary tool of choice).
He has been in the animal advocacy movement for the last decade in various capacities: as a volunteer, grassroots activist, full-time data analyst and researcher at Mercy For Animals, and now executive director of Connect For Animals. He has helped organize local animal advocacy community groups, presented at animal rights conferences, developed movement strategy, and more—all of which led to Connect For Animals as it is today.
Currently, he works primarily on product development, team growth, marketing, and fundraising at Connect For Animals.
When not working, Steven enjoys writing about philosophy and ethics, reading nonfiction, and running.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
@Marine-Lercier wonderful, thank you for the note! That all sounds great. I hope you're able to get funding and be successful with it. Thank you for your work!
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
I have been incredibly excited by how Thrive Philanthropy focuses on some of the most underfunded regions globally. It seems like they've made rapid progress, and I'm very impressed by the footprint of their work. I think Thrive Philanthropy's approach to the work to end factory farming globally is rather unique among funders, and it seems like the Thrive team is investing in many initiatives that simply wouldn't get funded otherwise. I'm grateful for the Thrive Philanthropy team, and hope they are able to continue scaling up the funding they have for grants globally.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
AI is one of the most powerful new technologies to be created, and there are numerous important intersections with the animal advocacy space that need to be explored. There aren't many individuals organizing conferences or events at this intersection of AI and animals, so I think it's important for something like this space to exist, especially if the physical aspects can be located in the Bay Area (which is a key AI hub).
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Increasing the scholarship around animal rights seems important. I'm impressed by how the team seems to come from a diverse group of institutions globally. Increasing the representation of animal law in the legal field seems like it could have positive second-order effects, as well, in addition to the increased legal scholarship.
I know that there are other animal rights law organizations globally, and I think the Journal of Animal Rights Law could probably be maximally successful if they connect with those other organizations, collaborate where appropriate, and position themselves to fill a hole in the existing animal law space.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Farmed animal advocacy is extremely funding constrained, which is why I am excited about new, experimental projects like FarmKind that could help the movement access more funding. It seems that FarmKind has a strong team with lots of relevant experience, and they are being strategic about the work that they are doing. I think the results of their work over the next 1-2 years will be interesting and informative, and hopefully they are successful at attracting new funding to the space, which could help many organizations.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Pro-Animal Future seems to be experimenting with growing the people power of the animal advocacy movement in a way that is rather different from what any other organization is doing. I like that they are research-based, that they have many years of combined advocacy experience, that they are very effective and efficient with the funds they have, and that they seem to be running a smart and impactful multi-year initiative very well. I think the work that Pro-Animal Future does over the next 2-5 years will be extremely informative for the rest of the movement, regardless of the outcomes.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
The Hive Slack fills a neglected part of the animal advocacy movement, which is a space for interactive communication and resource sharing. I personally have found value in the Hive Slack workspace (such as hearing about resources I wouldn't have known about otherwise, or making connections with individuals I wouldn't have otherwise), and I have heard from others who have similarly benefitted. There is no other communication space quite like the Hive Slack, and the team has done a great job of rapidly evolving the space to meet community demands.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Animal advocacy work in Africa is particularly neglected, and I'm glad that a cross-country movement building organizations like Animal Advocacy Africa exists. Although the work seems extremely challenging, I expect that the impact per dollar is particularly high given that there are so few organizations doing this work and given that factory farming is probably expected to increase significantly in Africa in the coming decades.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Work on aquatic animals is particularly neglected, and I'm excited by the global, coalition-led work that AAA does. I think the team is strategic and capable, and would love to see AAA get more funding for aquatic animal work especially given the successes they've already gotten with such a small team.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Farmed animal advocates work in the Global South is particularly neglected, and I think Sinergia Animal does great work.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
I think that New Roots Institute is doing some of the most strategic work in the animal advocacy movement when it comes to multi-year leadership development. I'm impressed both by the scale of New Roots Institute's work and also by how they seem to become more strategic and impactful over time. Without New Roots, I'm not sure who would be doing this type of work when it comes to ending factory farming.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Animal advocacy in Africa is extremely neglected. This project hasn't gotten any funding or upvotes, and I think it deserves at least some attention and consideration.
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
Hey @fountain-gate-foundation- , this sounds like a great project, and I hope you get funding for it from another foundation or source. Do you know Thrive Africa, and Animal Advocacy Africa? I believe both of them give out grants, and this project might be a good fit for one of them. Thank you for your work!
Steven Rouk
3 months ago
@mesagzimmerm Thank you so much for your contribution to CFA, Gary! And a bigger thank you for your dedication to helping non-human animals.
For | Date | Type | Amount |
---|---|---|---|
Using M&E to increase impact in the animal cause area, by The Mission Motor. | 2 months ago | project donation | 10 |
Manifund Bank | 2 months ago | withdraw | 21004 |
FarmKind - A donation platform creating new donors for effective animal advocacy | 2 months ago | project donation | 30 |
Animal Advocacy Africa | 2 months ago | project donation | 50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +40 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +10 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +300 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +10 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +15 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +500 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +25 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +20 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +250 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +75 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +400 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +15 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +50 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +20 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +14216 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +33 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +300 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +300 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +200 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +25 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Connect For Animals: a platform for ending factory farming | 2 months ago | project donation | +100 |
Hive Slack - an active community space for engaged farmed animal advocates | 2 months ago | project donation | 30 |
Hive Highlights Newsletter - farmed animal advocacy upd with 7k/month views | 2 months ago | project donation | 10 |
Kickstarting For Good - High-Impact Nonprofit Incubation Program | 2 months ago | project donation | 10 |
Journal of Animal Rights Law | 2 months ago | project donation | 30 |
AI Animals and Digital Minds 2025 | 2 months ago | project donation | 30 |
Thrive Philanthropy | 2 months ago | project donation | 10 |
Aquatic Animal Alliance: A Global Movement for Neglected Species | 2 months ago | project donation | 50 |
"Contemporary Issues in Animal Rights Law" online course | 2 months ago | project donation | 10 |
New Roots Institute: Empowering the Next Generation to End Factory Farming | 2 months ago | project donation | 50 |
Pro-Animal Future | 2 months ago | project donation | 30 |
Building Bridges: Effective Animal Advocacy in the Global South | 2 months ago | project donation | 50 |
Manifund Bank | 3 months ago | deposit | +400 |