In-Person Trainings

Our on-site trainings aim to increase the impact of individual advocates and to provide participants with tools to increase the effectiveness of the organizations they may be affiliated with.

5 Continents

We’ve provided in-person trainings from São Paulo to Saint Petersburg and Barcelona to Bengaluru—as well as many places in between!

35 Countries

We’ve visited 35 countries, and we’ll be adding to this number soon!

Over 400 Groups

We have trained participants representing hundreds of groups around the world.

Our Workshops

We’re delighted to announce that, after a long pause due to the pandemic, we’re once again offering in-person trainings for vegan advocates and organizations. We’ve restructured our program, and we’re now offering new and updated workshops. These workshops are delivered by Melanie Joy and take place over the course of either half a day or a full day. The workshops can be made available to all vegan advocates in a given region, or they can be delivered to members of a specific organization.

Workshop Descriptions

Communication and Interpersonal Skills to Increase the Impact and Resilience of Vegan Organizations and Advocates

Communication and interpersonal skills comprise one of the most important skill sets for anyone who wants to increase the effectiveness of their work and the impact of their advocacy. Yet these are also the areas people tend to get virtually no training and support in.

In fact, ineffective and even counterproductive ways of relating are the norm among teams in organizations and in the vegan movement as a whole. Too often, our differences become debates and our debates become divisions. This leads to siloed thinking and limits our ability to make truly strategic decisions that maximize our impact. We may also contend with such issues as toxic communication, low morale, gossip, and misuse of power. Organizational staff and independent advocates alike can—and often do—end up burning out, and taking others down with them.

Problematic communication and interpersonal interactions are a major impediment to the success of vegan organizations and the movement as a whole, as they seriously limit our ability to work with each other and with stakeholders effectively.

In this workshop, Melanie Joy explains the key principles and provides practical tools for building effective and impactful communication and interpersonal skills. You’ll learn how to discuss any topic, no matter how emotionally charged, effectively and compassionately. You’ll also learn how to relate to differences in a way that deepens understanding and leads to more sound and strategic decisions. Through clear explanations and guided practice sessions, Melanie will help you build these and other competencies, which can significantly increase the likelihood that your team, leadership, and/or individual advocacy efforts are as productive and impactful as possible.

How Vegans Can Prevent and Manage Infighting

Infighting among vegan advocates and within vegan organizations comes at a huge cost. It takes a tremendous amount of resources out of the movement and causes vegans to feel betrayed, demoralized, and fearful of being on the receiving end of an attack. Infighting is a major obstacle to the success of both vegan organizations and the movement more broadly.

In this workshop, Melanie Joy explains the causes and consequences of infighting, as well as practical ways to prevent and manage the problem. She guides participants through experiential exercises so they can integrate and practice new skills and understand how to apply a variety of new tools. She also facilitates discussions in order to help address the infighting participants are currently experiencing. This unique and empowering workshop can help vegans cultivate more resilient organizations and a more impactful movement.

How Vegans Can Prevent and Recover from Burnout

Burnout is widespread among vegans, whether they are actively advocating veganism or just practicing it in their personal lives. Burnout both contributes to and reflects many problems that weaken the vegan movement, such as infighting, recidivism (quitting being vegan), counterproductive advocacy, misanthropy, and more.

In this workshop, Melanie Joy explains the common causes, manifestations, and consequences of burnout among vegans, as well as ways to prevent and recover from the problem. She also provides practical tools that help participants understand their own experiences and increase their resilience, which increases both their sense of fulfillment and their effectiveness as advocates.

Leadership Meetings

Melanie Joy is also offering leadership meetings, 90-minute to two-hour meetings that follow a training. People in key leadership positions in a given region come together to do a strategic analysis of the movement in their area, and/or to discuss any issues they feel are relevant, from forming alliances to navigating infighting.

If you would like to host a training, you can choose from the following options:

Option 1: Communication and Interpersonal Skills
Option 2: Infighting
Option 3: Communication and Interpersonal Skills + Infighting
Option 4: Communication and Interpersonal Skills + Burnout
Option 5: Infighting + Burnout

Note: You can add a leadership meeting to any of the above options.

This training has changed the way I promote veganism and has elucidated aspects of the movement that I never really thought about, which are crucial for succeeding. It gave me hope, strength, and a very powerful and compassionate new way of being an advocate

BRAZIL 2019

This workshop not only helps us to be better activists, but also strengthens the movement as a whole. Thank you!

PORTUGAL 2019

CEVA gave me hope. It showed me that there are amazing people who are focused and are also willing to be critical of their methods in order to do better.

GERMANY 2018

About Dr. Melanie Joy

Melanie Joy, PhD, EdM is an award-winning psychologist and educator and a bestselling author who’s written seven books. She specializes in effective advocacy, social change, relationships, and communication and she’s given trainings to vegan advocates for nearly two decades, on six continents. She’s also the founding president of Beyond Carnism.

Want to host a training in your area?

If you have any questions, drop us an email at info@veganadvocacy.org.