Can my admin experience help animals? How Ellie Grondin found her place in animal advocacy
Ellie Grondin had always cared about farmed animals. What she didn’t have was a network or idea of what organisations existed. She spent her first years after college unsure how to turn her passion into a career. Today, she’s Senior Program Coordinator at New Roots Institute, and she describes the work as life-changing.
A passion without a path
After graduating, Ellie applied to some of the larger, well-known animal organisations. When nothing came through, she took an administrative role at a liberal arts college. She learned a lot in the job, but it didn’t feel fulfilling. She knew she wanted to work for a mission-driven organisation that helped animals, but she didn’t know where to start.
Ellie felt stuck. If she couldn’t get a job at one of the big organisations, she wondered, maybe she should look at working for wild or companion animals instead, even though that wasn’t what she was originally hoping for.
A turning point
A year into her role at the college, Ellie started researching animal rights careers again, and that’s when she found AAC.
Taking AAC’s course was a pivotal moment. It confirmed that she really could pursue a career she was passionate about, and the opportunities were out there. More than that, it showed her that advocating specifically for farmed animals was the most impactful path she could take if she wanted to devote her life to helping animals.
After the course, Ellie knew she wouldn’t feel fulfilled until she was working to help farmed animals, and she was determined to keep trying until it happened.
AAC’s job board opened her eyes to something she hadn’t realised was there: a whole community of organisations already doing this work. One of them was New Roots Institute, a name she came across for the first time on the board.
Ellie has now been at New Roots for two years, and she says working there has changed her life.
Behind the scenes, making a difference
As Senior Program Coordinator in Operations, Ellie works largely behind the scenes. When her role is done well, programme staff can work as efficiently as possible, and fellows get the best possible experience. That frees them up to focus their time and energy on fighting factory farming, both now and in the future.
Seamless operations also make it easier for New Roots to scale its programmes and educate and train more students. Ellie is proud of how much the organisation’s programmes have levelled up during her time there.
Around the same time she joined New Roots, Ellie also began volunteering at Unity Farm Sanctuary, where she now spends time a few days every week. She’s grateful to be able to work full time for farmed animals and then spend time in person with rescued animals at the sanctuary.
What she wishes she’d known
Looking back, Ellie says it wasn’t a lack of passion or ability that held her back.
| “What held me back was mostly just being unaware of opportunities in the movement for someone with my skillset.” |
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Written by Holly Errington
