About Us
Our Mission
The Defend Them All Foundation (DTA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization working to secure a better future for animals and their habitats through community advocacy, education, and legal guidance.
Core Values
We are but one small part of the animal welfare movement. We embrace opportunities to listen, learn, discuss, and collaborate.
We strive to create a welcoming, safe, and supportive culture that promotes honest conversations, and respectful exchanges of ideas.
We seek to understand the perspectives of communities burdened by injustices, honor their priorities, and empower their success in driving meaningful reform for animals.
Our programs prioritize discovery, exploration, and experiential learning, which we believe are key catalysts for professional development, and effective advocacy.
We bridge the gap between local action and systemic change to ensure that all animals are represented when their interests are at stake utilizing strategic legal and non-legal mechanisms.
Advocacy Led Initiatives
DTA’s Advocacy Led Initiatives support individuals and organizations engaged in animal welfare campaigns and projects by providing advisory guidance and collaborative support services. DTA’s clients include advocates that aim to improve the lives of animals in their community in some way. Once a project is identified, DTA works with the client to create a strategic plan to address the issues presented. For some, this means single deliverables such as policy memoranda, support letters, and/or draft legislation. For others, we play a more active role in developing action items, ongoing strategy, communications, and other necessities that may arise. When advocates need help isolating a problem, understanding law and policy, targeting decision makers, and navigating bureaucracy, we empower them with knowledge and strategy to help maximize their efforts. Our advocacy initiatives prioritize opportunities to approach complex animal welfare causes at a local level and contribute to broader conversations. When an animal or species' well-being is at stake, we tell their story and support efforts to ensure their interests are represented.
Objectives
Fill a gap in the ever growing field of animal and environmental law and policy by taking on issues that are often overlooked or under served by working at a community based level with advocates in particular localities around the world.
Equip advocates with the tools, knowledge, and strategy necessary to tackle animal welfare challenges in an impactful and well-informed manner.
Actively collaborate with our clients and community members to facilitate a more productive conversation between stakeholders, resulting in practical, long-term solutions to controversial issues.
Educating the Next Generation of Advocates
Our Student Advocacy Programs provide a platform for aspiring advocates interested in exploring issues affecting animals and their habitats. Our programs offer experiential learning opportunities tailored to individual interests and talents and are designed to foster professional growth. In addition to substantive knowledge and practical skills, we prepare students to recognize and effectively engage in the complex realities of animal and environmental law and policy, fueling a broader community of professional advocates. The ideas, experiences, and perspectives of our students and alumni inform our work, and will ultimately influence broader animal welfare reform.
Research and Policy Analysis
Research and Policy Analysis informs legal and regulatory dialogues and strengthens advocacy initiatives by clearly defining problems, potential opportunities for reform, and cultural, social, and economic barriers to such change. Whether our research projects are inspired by a student, a client, or undertaken in furtherance of one of our advocacy led initiatives, we aspire to contribute to the animal welfare movement.
We recognize that meaningful, long-lasting reform is a marathon, not a sprint; all our initiatives begin with a detailed analysis of existing rules, root causes of a problem, and locality-specific challenges. We ask difficult questions, explore complexities, expose corruption and keep decision-makers accountable to animals and their habitats, to empower more informed strategy and systemic change.