The ingenious David van Beveren, founder of Vegan Hacktivists, joins the podcast this week for an inspiring conversation about using our unique skill sets to help propel the animal rights movement forward. A software developer by trade, David details the important work Vegan Hacktivists is doing to help animal rights organizations and activists expand their web presence. The organization, composed of nearly 150 volunteers across the globe, creates websites, apps, and other multi-media projects with one goal: to help end the suffering of animals. From activist hubs to translation services, David highlights critical ways that technology can be used in innovative ways to help promote animal rights and a vegan lifestyle. He also shares how people can get in touch with Vegan Hacktivists for help with website building and tech support and gives a few case studies of services their international volunteers have already provided to help in the fight for animal protection.
David van Beveren founded Vegan Hacktivists, an animal rights tech organization, in 2019 to promote vegan activism and to address gaps in data and technology in the vegan movement. Prior to Vegan Hacktivists, David had founded a company building software for higher education institutions. He is based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
“We find ways for vegans who are not yet active in the animal rights movement to become active through different means we’re able to provide.” —David van Beveren
Highlights for Episode 632:
- How David became a vegan overnight after watching documentaries and videos on YouTube
- Why he created VeganActivism.org to put together a comprehensive list of animal rights organizations to help vegans get involved
- Why Vegan Hacktivists focuses mainly on website design and some of the projects they’ve done for organizations
- Where David stands on the topic of graphic images on websites
- Whether Vegan Hacktivists work with organizations to decide what content should be on their websites
- Why David and his team prioritize organizations that have very low funding or very little web presence
- What Vegan Hacktivists can help with in addition to building websites, including apps, books, movies, songs, and events
- Vegan Linguists and how they’re helping to further the vegan movement by making content more accessible
- How the Activist Hub works as a vegan outreach dashboard that provides activists with the ability to monitor and understand their impact through data analytics
- An upcoming fundraiser and how listeners can support their work
Resources:
Connect with David van Beveren:
- Vegan Hacktivists Website
- Vegan Hacktivists on YouTube
- Vegan Hacktivists on Instagram
- Vegan Hacktivists on Twitter
Connect with Our Hen House:
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Don’t forget to check out Our Hen House’s other podcasts: The Animal Law Podcast, The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and the Antiracism in Animal Advocacy Audio Series.
The Our Hen House theme song is written and performed by Michael Harren.
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This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.