Hello!

Today is my last day at The Humane League. As I reflect on my work here, with you, over the last 11 and a half years, one word rises above the rest: gratitude. 

I am grateful to have worked alongside you—to learn from you, to be inspired by you, and to create change with you—big change! I know that sometimes progress can feel ungraspable. Most of us never personally witness a hen as she spreads and flaps her wings for the first time outside a cage. And yet we’re clear that injustice exists, and that animals deserve better. 

I still remember my first campaign wins in Boston as a grassroots activist with The Humane League. After years of advocating for local universities to go cage-free across their dining halls, we slowly got nearly every campus to commit. This culminated in a Harvard campaign that took over a year to win! It’s a feeling I’ll never forget—the feeling that you and I can each make progress for countless animals with victory after victory. A decade later, over 33% of the hens raised for eggs in the US are now cage-free. When we started, less than 5% were free from cages. Small changes add up to big changes! In fact, in the last month alone, we celebrated the latest corporations that pledged to end cages in their supply chains: industry giants like Panda Express, Outback Steakhouse, and The Cheesecake Factory! Progress that came to be thanks to animal advocates like you and the relentless campaigning of our global partners with the Open Wing Alliance. 

I’m stunned—and so moved—by the momentum we’ve created through our shared movement. Together, we have freed millions of hens from cages and spared billions of animals from the worst forms of abuse. To say that I am humbled by the important work we’ve done together, and the animal advocacy organization we’ve built, is an understatement.

Today, I am just as humbled, and thrilled, to welcome Vicky Bond as the next President of The Humane League. An experienced animal welfare scientist, and a compassionate leader, Vicky is joining us from The Humane League UK, where she was Managing Director during a time of tremendous growth and impact. Over the past five years, our UK team has grown from two to nearly 30 team members and dozens of changemaking volunteers who host events together and rally for change, contributing over 5,000 hours of their time in the last year alone. Thanks to their strategic focus and relentless campaigning, all major companies in the UK have committed to going cage-free by 2025. Over 100 corporations in the UK have committed to adopting stronger welfare policies for chickens raised for meat. And the UK has become a pioneer on fish welfare, with our UK team organizing an aquatic animal welfare conference with experts from around the world. All under Vicky’s committed leadership. 

I am confident that Vicky will lead The Humane League through a period of growth and success as we build a more inclusive and equitable organization and as we continue to create institutional change for animals, forge new partnerships in our movement, and increase our grantmaking. 

Next week, you’ll be hearing from Vicky directly. Until then, thank you for your steadfast support. With your partnership, I know we will continue to create a more compassionate world together. And I know this next chapter for The Humane League will be nothing short of phenomenal.

For the animals, always,

David Coman-Hidy President

P.S. If you’re curious where I’m going next, I won’t be far! My plan is to work on big picture projects for the animal protection movement, with a focus on supporting smaller organizations' funding and growth. I can't wait to keep creating change alongside amazing changemakers like you—for the animals.