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 are once again offering in-person trainings for vegan advocates and organizations. We have restructured our program and are now offering new and updated workshops, which are delivered by Melanie Joy and take place for either one-half or a full day. The workshops can be made available to all vegan advocates in a given region, or they can be provided to members of a specific organization.
Melanie 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.
Each training consists of either one or two of the following workshops:
How Vegans Can Prevent and Manage Infighting
- Melanie Joy
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 to help address 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
- Melanie Joy
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 for participants to understand their own experience and increase their resilience, which increases both their sense of fulfillment and their effectiveness as advocates.
Communication and Interpersonal Skills to Increase the Impact and Resilience of Vegan Organizations and Advocates
- Melanie Joy
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 misuses 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 is a major impediment to the success of vegan organizations and the movement as a whole, as it seriously limits 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.
Upcoming Trainings
We do not currently have any scheduled events.
Want to host a training in your area?
Let us know where you would like to host the training and what organization you are affiliated with, and we’ll provide you with more information.
Drop us an email at info@veganadvocacy.org.