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Five Advocacy Lessons from Jane Goodall · The Animal Advocate

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Welcome back to the Animal Advocate. Thanks for being here.
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I don't know about you, but my social media feed has been full of
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pictures of Jane Goodall since her passing. I had no
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idea how many of my friends and acquaintances had actually met her.
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We've all been thinking about how we can best carry
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on her legacy, but I've been thinking just as much about
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what kind of an animal and environmental advocate she was
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and what we can all learn from that. Especially after our last
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episode where we discussed the fact that most people who speak out on
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behalf of animals face criticism and sometimes belittling
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or even retaliation. So I thought we'd do an
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episode on five Lessons we can draw from one of the greatest
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animal advocates who has ever lived, Jane Goodall.
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I always tell my students that as animal advocates, you need to
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overcome the presumption on the part of a lot of people that you're a nut.
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No one did more to show the world that an animal advocate could be a
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scientist and emphatically the opposite of a nut than Dr.
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Jane Goodall. She changed how the world sees animal
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and environmental advocates, and she did it with grace,
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determination, and an unwavering commitment to speaking up
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for those without voices. Welcome to the
1:20
Animal Advocate, where we arm animal lovers with the
1:23
information and inspiration you need to to become effective
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advocates. I'm your host, Penny Ellison, and I've taught
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animal law and advocacy at the University of Pennsylvania since
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2006. If you've ever thought someone
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should do something about that, I'm here to guide you on your
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journey to being that someone. You can find us on
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the web@animaladvocacyacademy.com
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and that's where you'll find show notes and resources, and you can
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send us your comments on episodes and ideas for topics you'd like
1:57
to hear on future shows. So onto today's
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topic. So here we go with five Lessons
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from Jane. Stay happy
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and positive. Everyone who advocates for animals
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does it because they witness some level of suffering that they want to
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stop. Whether it's wild animals losing habitat or dying
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at the hands of poachers, sows cramped into spaces only
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slightly larger than their bodies for their whole lives. Fur
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farms where animals spend their entire existence in wire cages,
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or even people forced to give up pets because they can't find housing or
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afford vet care, it can wear on the soul to witness
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that kind of suffering. Animal advocates, including and especially
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Jane Goodall, don't keep their heads in the sand. They act
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as witnesses to so much of the suffering that many people prefer to
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turn a blind eye to. That's a lot to deal with.
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And the weight of it can pull you down, make you angry, and
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even make you cynical. And yet, whenever I envision Jane
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Goodall, I see a smile. This woman spent
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decades witnessing habitat destruction, poaching,
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animal cruelty, and environmental devastation.
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She saw things that would break most people's hearts, and yet
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she radiated joy and hope wherever she went.
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This wasn't naive optimism or willful ignorance.
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Jane understood the problems better than almost anyone. But she
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also understood something that many advocates forget. People
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are drawn to hope, not despair. They're inspired by
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possibility, not defeated by doom.
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When you're advocating for animals, your energy matters.
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If you come across as angry, bitter, or judgmental,
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people shut down. They stop listening. But
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if you can maintain that spark of hope, that genuine belief that
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change is possible, you invite people into the work
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rather than pushing them away. I'm not saying you
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should fake happiness or pretend everything's fine. What I'm
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saying is that even while acknowledging the difficult realities,
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you can choose to focus on solutions rather than just
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problems. You can celebrate the wins, however small. And
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you can recognize progress, even though there's still a long way to go.
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Jane Goodall showed us that you can be both realistic about the challenges
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and optimistic about the future. You can
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witness suffering without letting it consume you.
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And you can fight for change without losing your sense of humor in the
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process. Lesson number
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People are inherently self interested.
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Now, that might sound cynical, but it's actually one of the most practical pieces of
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advocacy advice I can give you. And Jane Goodall understood this
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better than almost anyone. When Jane talked about things
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like saving forests, she didn't just talk about the
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chimpanzees. She talked about how deforestation
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affects local communities, how it leads to soil erosion,
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water contamination, and economic instability.
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She talked about how protecting wildlife habitats also protects
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human livelihoods. When she advocated for ending
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animal testing, she didn't just focus on the suffering of the animals.
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She talked about how alternative methods could be more reliable, more cost
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effective, and produce better scientific results.
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This wasn't manipulation. This was strategic communication.
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Jane understood that most people care primarily
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about their own lives and maybe, if you're lucky, their own
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communities. That's not a character flaw. It's just human
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nature. So instead of fighting against that reality and
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begging people to care, she worked with it.
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When you're advocating for animals, ask yourself, how does this
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issue affect people? What are the human benefits of
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the change you're proposing? How can you frame your
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message in a way that resonates with your audience's values and
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concerns. Maybe you're advocating for better
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animal shelter policies. Don't just talk about the
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animals suffering. Talk about public health risks, community
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safety, maybe property values and taxpayer
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costs. If they're relevant, give people multiple reasons to
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care, not just the moral argument.
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Maybe you're trying to get someone to adopt a dog instead of buying from a
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breeder. Yes, talk about the animals who need homes, how long
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they've been waiting in the shelters. But also talk about the money
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they'll save, the knowledge they can get about this particular dog,
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especially if they've been living in a foster home, and the joy of giving
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a second chance. That doesn't mean abandoning your ethical
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arguments. It means supplementing them with practical
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ones. Because at the end of the day, if you want to create change,
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you need people on your side. And people are more likely to
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join your side when they see how it benefits them.
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Lesson number three Work with young people.
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If you ask Jane Goodall what gave her the most hope for the future,
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she would tell you about Roots Shoots, the youth program she founded.
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Roots Shoots engages young people around the world in
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environmental and humanitarian action. The program
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is built on the idea that every individual matters. Every
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individual has a role to play, and every individual,
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even kids, can make a difference. And Jane
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totally believed this with every fiber of her being.
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She spent enormous amounts of time working with children and young
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adults. She visited schools, spoke at universities,
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and mentored young activists. And she did this not as a sideline
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to her real work, but as one of her core priorities,
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because Jane understood something that many advocates overlook.
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If you want lasting change, you need to invest in the next generation.
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Adults can be set in their ways. I'm sure you know
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they've developed habits, beliefs, and behaviors that can be
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hard to change. But young people are still forming their
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worldview. They're asking questions, challenging
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assumptions, and imagining different possibilities
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they haven't yet settled on. Well, this is just the way things are. When
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you teach a child compassion for animals, you're not just affecting one
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person. You're potentially affecting everyone. That child will
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influence throughout their lifetime. Every pet they'll own,
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every vote they'll cast, every conversation they'll have,
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and every child they'll raise. Jane also recognized
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that young people bring energy, creativity, and fresh perspectives
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to advocacy work. They're not constrained by the way things
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have always been done. They're willing to try new approaches,
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use new technologies, and push boundaries in ways
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that older generations might not. So what does this mean for
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you as an advocate? Get involved with youth programs,
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volunteer at schools, mentor young activists,
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create educational materials designed for them.
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And when you work with young people, treat them as genuine
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partners in the work, not just passive recipients of your
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wisdom. Listen to their ideas, respect their
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perspectives, and give them opportunities to lead.
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Jane Goodall showed us that investing in young people isn't just about the future,
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it's about the present. Because young people are creating change right
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now, and they'll continue creating change long after we're
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gone. Lesson number four. Everything
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and everyone is interconnected. One of
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Jane's most profound insights was understanding the interconnectedness
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of all life. She didn't just study chimpanzees in
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isolation. She understood them as part of an ecosystem.
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And she didn't just advocate for wildlife. She recognized how
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environmental issues connect to poverty, education,
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health, and human rights. This holistic
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view shaped everything about her advocacy. She
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understood that you can't protect chimpanzees without protecting their
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habitat. You can't protect habitat
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without addressing the needs of local communities. You can't
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address poverty without considering education.
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You can't address any of these issues without considering the
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others. This lesson is an important one for animal advocates
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because I think too often we silo our work and we talk just
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about the animals. We focus narrowly on one issue
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without seeing how it connects to everything else. But when you
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start to see the connections, your advocacy becomes more effective, and
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that's what it's all about. You understand that animal welfare issues are
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also housing issues, economic issues, public health issues,
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and social justice issues. Take pet
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surrenders at shelters. On the surface, that seems like a
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simple animal welfare problem. But when you look closer,
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you see connections to housing, discrimination against pet owners,
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lack of access to affordable veterinary care, economic
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inequality, domestic violence, mental health
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crises, and more. Understanding all these
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connections doesn't just make you a better advocate. It opens up
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new strategies for change. Instead of just trying to get people
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to adopt more animals, we can work on affordable housing policies,
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veterinary care access, and domestic violence services that
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allow pets to come along. Jane also understood the
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connection between how we treat animals and how we treat each other.
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She saw animal welfare not as separate from human welfare,
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but as fundamentally linked to it. Societies that show
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compassion for animals tend to show more compassion for
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vulnerable humans. And violence toward animals often
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accompanies violence toward people. This
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interconnected view also helps with coalition building.
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When you understand how your issue connects to others,
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you can find natural allies in unexpected places.
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Environmental groups, public health organizations, social justice
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movements, they're all potential partners because our issues
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overlap. Lesson number five.
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Practice Tolerance and collaboration. Jane worked with
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people who didn't share all her values. And she did it without
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compromising her own principles. Jane felt
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about animals in a way that made it impossible for her to reconcile killing and
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eating them. She was a vegetarian and later a vegan,
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but that didn't mean she refused to collaborate with people who made different
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choices. She worked with Senator Robert Byrd from West Virginia,
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not exactly someone you'd expect to see partnering with an animal rights
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advocate. But she wanted to try to bring oversight and
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humanity to the slaughter process. And so did he.
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She didn't say, I won't work with you unless you stop eating meat. She
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said, let's work together on the changes we can agree on.
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She also spoke at corporate forums and praised companies that took even small
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steps toward reducing plastic or investing in habitat restoration.
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Critics accused her of being co opted of giving these
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corporations cover to continue their harmful practices. And
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I concede that argument because I've made it about some
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compromises. But she countered that engagement
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was more useful than denunciation. She believed that if
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you don't talk to people you disagree with, how can you expect them to change?
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I think that thought is more true today than maybe ever in
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human history. This is a lesson that the animal advocacy
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movement desperately needs to hear. Too often we engage in
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what some people call purity politics. We refuse
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to work with anyone who doesn't share our exact beliefs. We
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criticize fellow advocates for not being radical enough or
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for being too radical. We create litmus tests that
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exclude potential allies. But Jane understood that
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meaningful change requires building coalitions, even with people you
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disagree with. She understood that you can work with someone on one
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issue and disagree with them on others. This
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doesn't mean compromising your values or staying silent about things that
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matter to you. Jane certainly didn't do that. When
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she was invited to represent the environment at the Salt Lake City Olympics
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but learned that a rodeo would be held there, she declined.
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The Olympic committee organizers argued having American and
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Canadian cowboys compete in rodeo events would demonstrate
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mutual understanding, tolerance and brotherhood.
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But she knew that it would stress the animals and potentially
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harm them just for entertainment. Jane wouldn't lend her
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name and presence to something that contradicted her values.
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But declining to participate in something is different from refusing to work with
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anyone who disagrees with you. Jane drew boundaries
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around her own actions while remaining open to working with a broad
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range of partners on shared goals. One of my
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favorite quotes that I use every year in class is from Desmond Tutu.
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It goes like this. If you're neutral in situations of
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injustice. You've chosen the side of the oppressor. If
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an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say
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you're neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your
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neutrality. Jane Goodall was never neutral
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when animals were suffering, but she was strategic about when to draw
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hard lines and and when to find common ground. She
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understood that sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good,
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that holding out for ideal solutions can mean animals continue
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to suffer while we wait. This is
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a balancing act that every advocate needs to figure out for themselves.
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Where are your non negotiables? Where can you be flexible?
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And who can you work with despite disagreements? And when
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do you need to say no? There is no
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universal answer to these questions. But Jane's example
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shows us that you can maintain your integrity while being
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pragmatic. You can refuse to participate in things that violate your
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values while still working alongside people who make different
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choices. Let me leave you with an important lesson from
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Jane, something she repeatedly said throughout her life.
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Everyone can do something, and just as important,
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you can't do it all. Jane Goodall couldn't save every
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chimpanzee, protect every forest, or solve every
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environmental problem. She focused her energy where she could make
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the most difference, and she inspired others to focus their energy
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where they could make a difference. She said, and I love this.
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I'm just trying to change attitudes about animals, and it's very simple,
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really. I just want to change the world a little.
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I think this gives us permission to be strategic with our advocacy.
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You don't have to work on every issue or fight every battle.
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Pick the areas where your skills, resources, and passions
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align and do that work really well
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and trust that others are working on the issues that you care
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about but you can't address right now. You
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don't have to do everything, but you do have to do something.
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Jane spent decades bearing witness to animal suffering and refusing
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to be silent about it. She spoke up even when it was
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uncomfortable, even when it cost her something, and even when people
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disagreed. So find your something.
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Maybe it's volunteering at your local shelter. Maybe it's advocating
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to change laws. I'm here to help you with that. Maybe it's
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educating others. We can work on that together, too.
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Whatever it is, do it with joy, hope, and
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determination like Jane Goodall modeled for all of us. Stay
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positive even when the work is hard. Connect your message to
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what matters to your audience. Invest in young people.
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Understand how your issue connects to everything else, and
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build coalitions even with people who don't share your values.
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Jane Goodall showed us that one person really can make a difference,
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but she also showed us that we didn't have to do it alone, and
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we don't have to do absolutely everything. For
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today's Be the Change Action, I want you to pick just one of
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these five lessons and think about how you can apply it in your
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advocacy work. Maybe you'll reach out to a youth
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organization to offer your time or expertise. Maybe you'll
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think about how to reframe one of your advocacy messages to connect
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with people's natural self interest. Maybe you'll reach
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out to someone you've disagreed with and explore whether there's common ground for
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collaboration. Whatever you choose, make it specific
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and doable. Jane didn't change the world in a day,
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and neither will you. But she did change it
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just a little, and so can you.
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That's it for today. The Animal Advocate Podcast is brought to
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you by the Animal Advocacy Academy. You can find
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episodes and show
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notes@animaladvocacyacademy.com
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along with a link to our Facebook and LinkedIn pages where we
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discuss our podcasts, and we'd love to discuss your thoughts and
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experiences there. If you're interested in learning more about
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protecting animals, support subscribe to the show so you get every
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episode when it comes out. If you have any questions on
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this or any other topic related to animal law, email
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them to podcastnimaladvocacyacademy.com
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and we'll make sure to get them answered. We'll either email you back
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or feature them in a future episode, or both.
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And remember, compassion is great. That
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compassionate action Compassion is infinitely better. Until
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next week, Live with Compassion.