Almost eleven years ago, Aaron Gross and I started Farm Forward to create space for a new kind of advocacy to support farmed animals and fight the injustice of factory farming. As the founding Executive Director (ED) of Farm Forward, I’m incredibly proud of all that we’ve accomplished and I can’t wait to see what we can do in the decade to come.

Today, Farm Forward has grown from just a single full-time employee (me) to a staff of eleven, plus five other advisors and fellows. Now that Farm Forward has an all-star team of talented professionals who can run our day-to-day operations, I have the opportunity to move away from administration into a new role that has been Aaron’s and my dream all along, where I can spend more of my time improving the lives of farmed animals. I’m excited to announce that, at my initiative and effective immediately, I am stepping down as ED and Farm Forward’s Andrew deCoriolis will be taking over my former role. I will shift into a new role, Senior Strategist, and will remain part of FF’s leadership team, full-time, for many years to come.

This shift marks the beginning of the next phase of Farm Forward, and with Andrew’s leadership I’m confident that the next few years will be our most impactful yet. In his five years with Farm Forward, Andrew has shown exemplary leadership, judgment, and skill, and has earned the respect and trust of our team and board of directors. We’ve spent months planning this leadership transition and there’s no doubt in my mind that with Andrew as ED, Farm Forward is in the best possible position to continue to succeed and grow.

In my new role as Senior Strategist, I will continue to oversee and shape our strategic vision and help implement our most sensitive programs. I will also have significantly more time to connect with you—our closest allies—to explore ways we can deepen our work together to make even more progress.

Watch for an upcoming blog post from Andrew in which he’ll share a bit about himself, his goals, and his vision for the future of Farm Forward.

Thank you for making all of this possible.

Very best,

Ben Goldsmith