Amplify Joins Vegan Hacktivists!
Top row, left to right: Mike Wigmore (VH); James Morgan (VH); Gabrielė Bernotaitė (VH & Violet Studios); Lucas Barbosa (Violet Studios); Steven Rouk (VH), Thomas "Richie" Manandhar-Richardson (VH).
Bottom row: Dee Cox (Violet Studios); Ximena Rodríguez (VH); Kate Rodman (VH & Violet Studios).
In recent months, our work at Vegan Hacktivists has been growing and expanding fast – with a heavy focus on AI, as we bring together a dedicated team of AI experts. And now, we're excited to share with you that Amplify, the movement's free AI training program, has joined VH! If you're new to Amplify, don't worry – we'll show you around and share how Amplify can support you through expert, free AI training in its upcoming courses.
Short intro to Amplify
Amplify kicked things off with its first course in late 2025, which garnered 1,100+ registrations (yes, you read that right!) and saw hundreds of animal advocates come together each week to learn about AI. The foundation of Amplify's program is a 2-month live cohort for developing practical AI fluency, with advanced tracks for advocates ready to go deeper into topics like automation, research, coding, media, and other specialized workflows.
Amplify is led by familiar faces in our movement's AI space:
Steven Rouk (get to know Steven here), who is now VH’s AI Program Director in addition to his Executive Director role at Connect For Animals
Thomas “Richie” Manandhar-Richardson, who is VH’s AI Impact Director and Lead Data Consultant at Greener by Default
Kyle Behrend, the founder of AI Impact Hub and an AI/automation educator
Sam Tucker-Davis, an AI engineer and educator who founded Open Paws
What you can expect
Amplify's foundational cohort is designed as an entry point for those looking to build a strong practical foundation. It is suitable for newcomers to AI as well as people with more experience.
Amplify’s curriculum covers a variety of topics:
An introduction to what AI can do
Common concerns around AI (e.g. privacy, environmental impact, job impacts)
How to ensure your AI tools understand you and your work
Using AI agents to work alongside you
Techniques for ensuring AI outputs are trustworthy
Using AI for research, images and videos
Ways to use AI to learn more and reduce overwhelm and burnout
Beyond the foundational cohort, our team at Amplify also offers advanced tracks for deeper learning and applying AI to specific workflows. Here you can expect topic-specific courses for automation, research, strategy, media, and other areas where advocates asked for deeper support.
Pictured: Steven Rouk (right) speaking at AVA Summit
Save your spot for the free courses!
Two advanced courses are coming up between July 20 and September 7, plus a redesigned version of the core course starting in October:
1. Strategic Decision Making (3 weeks – starting July 20)
For anyone in a strategic role – EDs, campaign planners, managers, researchers, and beyond. Our Amplify team will cover AI in policy and campaign planning, using AI for research, and building an AI-first culture.
2. Automations (5 weeks – starting August 10)
A hands-on building course, with Make.com. Amplify will also cover “micro-automations” inside spreadsheets and documents using Google Apps Script.
3. Foundations Course (8 weeks – starting in October)
Amplify is also planning a completely redesigned 8-week foundations course for October through November. This is for everyone – beginners and more experienced, and will focus on giving you the tools and knowledge you need to use AI as an agentic coworker.
Want to sharpen your AI skills?
🔸 Sign up here! 🔸
From left to right: Abigail Penny (Executive Director, Animal Equality UK), Steven Rouk, and Thomas “Richie” Manandhar-Richardson
How it works
Amplify’s courses consist of two 1-hour sessions a week: a core session, and a side lab. The side lab will focus on putting what you’ve learned into practice. Both sessions will have an optional 30 minutes of Q&A immediately at the end. Courses are taught by the same friendly faces from the animal advocacy movement you know, and potentially some upcoming AI x animals educators. On some weeks, we’ll have a third session where we’ll feature guest speakers from across the movement showcasing how they use AI in their advocacy.
Calling all leaders – be a guest speaker!
We're looking for leaders across the animal movement to share a real way they use AI to strategize, as a guest spot on the Strategic Decision Making course. All we ask is a 5-30 min demo where you show off one way you use AI to help you strategize. Interested? Shoot us an email at ai@veganhacktivists.org
Why VH is leaning into AI
Advocates keep asking for expert AI support tailored to the animal advocacy movement, and as a tech-focused org, we want to meet that need. While we've been offering AI automation services for nearly a year now, we know that our movement needs more united efforts in strengthening advocates' use of AI, ensuring that we all make the best use of these powerful tools, all while learning to use them responsibly.
If you're curious about where we stand on some of the most common AI concerns, we recently answered some of your questions in a blog post you can read here.
Register for Amplify’s courses
Amplify has training courses for all experience levels, including those looking to build foundational skills and those ready for deeper learning.
Registrations opened just days ago, and we've already received over 370 sign-ups. Make sure to save your spot and learn from the movement’s best in AI!
Register for our expert + free AI courses:
✨ Sign up here! ✨
The Vegan Hacktivists and Violet Studios Teams at the AVA Summit 2026 in Toronto, Canada