At a Glance
Budget (US): $3.7 million
Founded (US): 2015
Executive Director: Matt Dominguez
Background and Agenda
Founded in the United Kingdom, CIWF launched a US branch in 2014. The group conducts corporate pressure campaigns demanding restaurants, supermarkets, and other food companies pledge to only buy higher-cost animal products from niche production systems.
CIWF promotes vegan food on its website–indicating that the organization ultimately rejects even “cage-free” or “free-range” animal products.
“The future is vegan or we all die from a pandemic,” CIWF USA’s executive director has tweeted. “Let’s just stop destroying our fucking environment by cutting our dependence on fossil fuels and eating meat,” he posted in another instance. “Eat a plant-based diet. #meat #dairy & #eggs are killing you and the planet,” he said in a third post.
People
CIWF USA’s executive director Matt Dominguez previously worked for Voters for Animal Rights and the Nonhuman Rights Project. The Project advocates for legal “personhood” for animals and liberating animals from zoos.
Previous CIWF executive directors include Ben Williamson, a former PETA activist, and Leah Garces, an animal liberation activist who later became head of Mercy for Animals.
Funding
CIWF USA received $1.3 million from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and $1.1 million in 2023. The Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a donor-advised fund that has a number of wealthy individuals as clients; its pass-through structure masks the true origin of the funds.
CIWF has also received significant funding from a California tech billionaire, Dustin Moskovitz, who has poured money into the animal rights movement. CIWF USA has received more than $5 million from Moskovitz’s Open Philanthropy Project (since rebranded to Coefficient Giving), while CIWF’s international office received nearly $22 million.
CIWF has also received six-figure donations from the Greenbaum Foundation, which advocates veganism.