Frequently Asked Questions

That depends on the type of event. At our Summits, 80% of attendees are full-time advocates, and we encourage everyone who is seeking a career in animal advocacy to join. At our Academies, we often offer tracks for newcomers and students, alongside specialized leadership development tracks.

Broadly speaking, our audience consists of dedicated individuals working or wanting to work in the animal and vegan advocacy movement professionally. 

We welcome people who come to their journey with any motivation and we support various tactics from grassroots activism to highly specialized engagement, individual outreach to food systems change, legislative change, corporate engagement, and advancing animal-free technologies.

AVA events welcome nearly all aspects of animal and vegan advocacy. While farmed animals are clearly our focus, wild animals and other areas of animal exploitation also have a place.

Our events emphasize topics relating to systemic change (such as changing corporate policy or legal protection). Still, all tactics, including animal sanctuaries, civil disobedience, and personal transformation, are welcomed to discuss in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

We know that one single event cannot satisfy everyone or depict every aspect of this broad and diverse movement equally. And of course there are also many other wonderful events with slightly different angles and approaches. 

Selection Process

For every event, we work with specialized Advisory Committees to deliver world class programs and create partnerships that enhance the impact of advocates worldwide. 

The public is welcome to submit proposals via our submission forms and we always receive hundreds of submissions for a very limited amount of speaking spots.

So how do we choose?

Our main criteria for the selection of speakers and partners are:

-Advancing animal or vegan advocacy tactics or ideas while being consistent with animal rights

-Focus on specific strategies, interventions, and tangible take-aways for the audience

-Bringing a diversity of experience and perspectives

With those criteria in mind, we've developed a scoring system with our Advisory Committees and we carefully balance the amount of speakers who have spoken in the past and new speakers.

Before each event, we receive hundreds of applications from global advocates seeking financial support for attending. We aim to support as many people as possible while offering reasonable award amounts.

Due to limited funding, we typically have to reject 65-75% of applicants.

Travel Awards are available at various levels, e.g. Regular ($1,000) and Large ($1,600).

We prioritize high-impact applicants

—who were accepted in the past but couldn't attend due to visa issues

—who are members from the BIPOC community

—who are working for an organization with a budget under $500k/year (or lower, depending on the region of the Summit)

—whose personal income is under $50k/year (or lower, depending on the region of the Summit)

—who are the sole representative from an organization

—who are the sole representative from a country

—who are speaking at the event

Applicants have low chances to receive a Travel Award if they:

—are traveling short distances

—work for a large and/or well-funded organization

If you have any specific question or input, please email us at Travel@AVASummit.com.

Yes. If you're considering applying for travel awards for multiple AVA-organized events, you might be wondering about your chances of success.

The reality is that funding for travel awards is limited and highly competitive. For each event, we can support approximately 80-130 travel awardees. To maximize your chances, it's essential to apply early and familiarize yourself with our Travel Award Policy. Applicants from organizations with larger budgets may have lower chances of receiving a travel award. We aim to prioritize those with greater financial need.

If you have particular needs, make sure to detail them in your application form. This information helps us understand your situation better and allocate funds more effectively.

We understand the disappointment of being declined and are actively working to expand our funding. Our goal is to ensure that every professional advocate in our movement can attend at least one of our events each year, regardless of their location or budget.

By applying thoughtfully and early, and clearly communicating your needs, you can improve your odds of receiving a travel award.

Our goal is to ensure that every AVA event, regardless of location, is relevant, impactful, and central to the movement’s progress. This not only honors diverse regional leadership and cultural contexts but also strengthens our collective power by fostering balanced, collaborative, and decentralized movement-building across continents.

Each AVA event is intentionally designed to reflect and respond to the unique regional needs, priorities, and contexts of the area in which it takes place.

We choose locations based on the following criteria:

• Needs for a specialized event

• Accessibility

• Visa requirements

• Local infrastructure

• Safety

• Cost efficiency

Why do AVA Summits usually take place in hotels?

Most of our attendees enjoy the advantages:

—No time loss, annoying delays, and additional cost due to traffic.

—Fewer need to orient yourself in a new city, country, and language 

—Maximizing networking time in the mornings and evenings, because all you need to do is go upstairs to sleep

—Shared meals as a community, where nobody has to leave the venue and worry about buying breakfast or lunch outside

—The seamless hotel infrastructure: free shuttle service to the airport, A/V service, meal functions, and lots of meeting rooms — everything is under one roof.