This is what ACE’s “overview” lists as Anima’s weaknesses:
We think Anima International’s leadership has a limited understanding of racial equity and that this has impacted some of the spaces they contribute to as an international animal advocacy group—such as coalitions, conferences, and online forums. We also think including non-staff members in Anima International’s governing board would increase the board’s capacity to oversee the organization from a more independent and objective perspective.
Their “comprehensive review” doesn’t mention the firing of the CEO as a consideration behind their low rating. The primary reason for their negative evaluation seems to be captured in the following excerpt:
According to our culture survey, Anima International is diverse along the lines of gender identity and sexual identity, however, they are not diverse on racial identity. This is not surprising, as most of the countries in which their member organizations operate are very racially homogenous; in practice, we think it would be particularly difficult for them to successfully attract and hire advocates who are Black, Indigenous, or of the global majority49 (BIPGM) in those countries. Our impression, however, is that the racial homogeneity at the organization has resulted in a limited understanding of racial issues, which has presented itself in some of the public and private communications50 we’ve witnessed from Anima International’s staff in the last year. In particular, we think leadership staff publicly engaging in conversations about the relevance of racial equity to the animal advocacy movement may have had a negative impact on the progress of racial equity in the movement.51 While we think this issue is less salient in the more racially homogenous countries in which they operate, for their work in more racially diverse countries, we think it is particularly important that they prioritize developing an understanding of racial equity. Additionally, for any organization working on an international scale, there are spaces that all staff may encounter that are more racially diverse—such as coalitions, conferences, and online forums—in which it is again important to have an understanding of racial equity. This is particularly important so as to ensure the safety of BIPGM and to not impede—and to eventually contribute to—work on racial equity in the broader animal advocacy movement, which we believe will be crucial to its long-term success.52Note: Our concern here is specifically about their understanding of racial issues and not issues relating to ethnicity, of which they report frequently encountering in their work in Eastern Europe and Russia—we have no reason to doubt their handling of those situations.53
In our culture survey, some respondents mentioned that leadership could offer training to be more inclusive or to better support staff who are members of marginalized groups.
Anima International supports R/DEI through their human resources activities. Anima International has a workplace code of ethics/conduct and a written statement that they do not tolerate discrimination on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability status, or other characteristics. Anima International has a written procedure for filing complaints, as well as explicit protocols for addressing concerns or allegations of harassment54 or discrimination.55 In our culture survey, 96% of respondents agreed that Anima International protects staff, interns, and volunteers from harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and 98% agreed that they have someone to go to in case of harassment or discrimination. However, our culture survey suggests that Anima International’s staff experienced or witnessed some harassment or discrimination in the workplace during the past year, more than the average charity under review. Some respondents mentioned that they witnessed troubling behavior from the former CEO but that they were satisfied with leadership’s handling of the situation, i.e., suspending and removing the former CEO. Because staff feel overall protected from harassment and discrimination, and Anima International seems to have in place systems to prevent and handle harassment and discrimination in the workplace, we are not highly concerned about this finding.
Anima International does not offer regular trainings on topics such as harassment and discrimination in the workplace. In our culture survey, 75% of staff agree that they and their colleagues have been sufficiently trained in matters of R/DEI. Respondents mentioned that training has not taken place, or they are not needed. We believe that the opportunities for the team to learn about R/DEI at Anima International should be increased.
Overall, we believe that Anima International is less diverse, equitable, and inclusive than the average charity we evaluated this year.
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Although it isn’t relevant to this particular thread, I’d like to urge all participants to consider Will Bradshaw’s comment and try to “hav[e] this discussion in a more productive and conciliatory way, which has less of a chance of ending in an acrimonious split”, insofar as this is compatible with maintaining our standards of intellectual rigor.
Thanks for sharing, that part updated me a lot away from Ben’s view and towards Hypatia’s view.
An aspect I found particularly interesting was that Anima International seems to do a lot of work in Eastern European countries, which tend to be much more racially homogenous, and I presume have fairly different internal politics around race to the US. And that ACE’s review emphasises concerns, not about their ability to do good work in their countries, but about their ability to participate in international spaces with other organisations.
They work in:
Denmark, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Estonia, Norway, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Russia, and France
It seems even less justifiable to me to judge an organisation according to US views around racial justice, when they operate in such a different context.
EDIT: This point applies less than I thought. Looks like Connor Jackson, the person in question, is a director of their UK branch, which I’d consider much closer to the US on this topic.
Thanks, this comment was a pretty big update for me towards Hypatia’s interpretation (I’d previously been much closer to Ben’s).
Footnote 50 from that blockquote is also relevant:
In addition to lengthy email correspondence, our impression here was informed by evidence we cannot publish, including calls with Anima International’s leadership and correspondence in a public Facebook group (“Effective Animal Advocacy – Discussion”). Even though Anima and the ACE staff members who are discussed in the email thread encouraged us to publish the email correspondence, members of the evaluations committee decided against this to protect the privacy of the third parties mentioned, and to assure charities that we keep our private correspondence confidential.
This is what ACE’s “overview” lists as Anima’s weaknesses:
Their “comprehensive review” doesn’t mention the firing of the CEO as a consideration behind their low rating. The primary reason for their negative evaluation seems to be captured in the following excerpt:
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Although it isn’t relevant to this particular thread, I’d like to urge all participants to consider Will Bradshaw’s comment and try to “hav[e] this discussion in a more productive and conciliatory way, which has less of a chance of ending in an acrimonious split”, insofar as this is compatible with maintaining our standards of intellectual rigor.
Thanks for sharing, that part updated me a lot away from Ben’s view and towards Hypatia’s view.
An aspect I found particularly interesting was that Anima International seems to do a lot of work in Eastern European countries, which tend to be much more racially homogenous, and I presume have fairly different internal politics around race to the US. And that ACE’s review emphasises concerns, not about their ability to do good work in their countries, but about their ability to participate in international spaces with other organisations.
They work in:
It seems even less justifiable to me to judge an organisation according to US views around racial justice, when they operate in such a different context.
EDIT: This point applies less than I thought. Looks like Connor Jackson, the person in question, is a director of their UK branch, which I’d consider much closer to the US on this topic.
Thanks, this comment was a pretty big update for me towards Hypatia’s interpretation (I’d previously been much closer to Ben’s).
Footnote 50 from that blockquote is also relevant: