Building Power for Animals Across Latin America: TPP at AVA Argentina

This year, The Pollination Project participated in AVA Argentina, an energizing gathering of animal advocates from across Latin America. AVA created space for connection, learning, and collaboration across many approaches to change: animal welfare organizations, grassroots anti-speciesist movements, community-based activism, and more.

For TPP, it was also a moment to contribute what we’re learning across our regions, especially about strengthening movement infrastructure: building coalitions that can scale, and supporting advocates with the tools to sustain their work over time.

Samantha Mora, our Mexico coordinator, shared a powerful invitation to move from isolated activism toward coordinated national collaboration. In her talk, “From Fragmented Activism to National Unity: Building a Coalition for Animal Rights in Mexico,” Samantha explored how advocates can align across states under shared narratives and a common vision, amplifying impact for animals used in food systems.

The session highlighted a shift happening across the country: grassroots leaders, educators, and advocates stepping into stronger roles, not only as individual changemakers, but as part of an emerging national network working for systemic change.

Beyond the session itself, AVA opened doors for deeper cross-border learning, exchanging tools, comparing strategies, and building relationships that can support long-term collaboration across the region.

From Brazil, Beatriz Cossermelli offered a practical and deeply human workshop: “From Passion to Funding: How to Finance Your Animal Protection Project.”

Beatriz designed the session to demystify philanthropy for activists who may be newer to fundraising structures, but who bring extraordinary commitment to building a less cruel world for animals. The feedback she received – advocates sharing that the workshop helped reduce anxiety and move their projects closer to reality – captured exactly why this kind of capacity-building matters.

As Beatriz shared during the event, “What matters is not being the first. What matters is opening paths.”
— Margareth Menezes, Brazil’s Minister of Culture

AVA Argentina, Beatriz reflected, was a rare and joyful convergence: a vibrant city, an intimate and collaborative atmosphere, and a region-wide movement showing up with many theories of change, learning from each other, sharing meals, and imagining what’s possible when we move together.

Across these sessions—coalition-building in Mexico, fundraising confidence in Brazil, and practical infrastructure for sustainable work—the throughline was clear: movements grow stronger when advocates are connected, supported, and resourced for the long term.

We’re grateful to AVA International, the organizers, and funders for bringing together a region as vast and diverse as Latin America. We return with renewed momentum, new partnerships, and a deeper commitment to supporting the people building animal liberation, locally, regionally, and globally.

TPP also supported a deeper dive into fundraising skills through a Fundraising Bootcamp for Animal Protection in Latin America, facilitated by Marcela Rodrigues Machado Borges (with Taylison Santos).

The bootcamp emphasized a balanced approach to resourcing advocacy, building both individual donations and grant funding from the beginning, while strengthening the internal foundations funders look for (clear theory of change, realistic OKRs, sound budgeting, and solid financial systems).

It also treated events like AVA as more than visibility moments: opportunities that become truly valuable when paired with preparation, relationship-building, and clear follow-up.

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