Open Wing Alliance 2020 Year in Review: More Progress Than We Thought Possible
Alexandria Beck
In 2020, the OWA secured global cage-free commitments from 17 companies, welcomed eight new members to its ranks, and administered over $1 million in grants.
As we take a step back and reflect on 2020, frankly we're in awe of all that our Open Wing Alliance (OWA) partners were able to accomplish for the animals. Even with the myriad challenges we faced last year, OWA groups continued to secure corporate policies that will drastically improve the lives of hundreds of millions of chickens across the globe.
That's nothing short of incredible.
It may sound strange to say after such a difficult year, but we've never been so encouraged about the movement to end the abuse of chickens worldwide. To understand why, here's a quick review of some of our most exciting achievements from 2020.
Global cage-free commitments from 17 companies
Last month, Restaurant Brands International (RBI)—a fast-food conglomerate that includes Burger King, Popeyes, and Tim Hortons—agreed to stop sourcing all eggs and egg products from caged chickens by 2030. This monumental victory will impact millions of chickens at 25,000 locations. It arrived after a six-week campaign that featured socially-distanced protests in several countries, tens of thousands of social media actions, and a petition that garnered 270,000 signatures.
Though this was a landmark win for the OWA, it was far from our only triumph last year. We also secured global cage-free commitments from 16 other companies, including Club Med, Choice Hotels, Minor Hotels, and Metro AG. Here are our 2020 wins by the numbers:
- 160 cage-free policies
- 120 broiler welfare policies
- 17 global cage-free commitments
- First-ever cage-free commitments in Kenya, Indonesia, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Pakistan
As shown in Serbia and Pakistan, by securing global welfare commitments such as Metro AG's, we are able to make a serious impact even in countries where we don't yet have an official OWA presence. That's huge, and it bodes extremely well for broadening our reach in the future.
Still growing, training, and strategizing
While many organizations were forced to scale back or shut down because of the pandemic, the OWA expanded, welcoming eight new member groups—in the Netherlands, Mali, India, Indonesia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Portugal, Israel, and the Philippines. Our first-ever OWA Fellows conducted research to pinpoint the highest-priority recruitment areas for the Alliance. And like the OWA itself, our Global Summit was bigger than ever:
- 291 attendees (our largest attendance yet)
- 67 organizations from 55 countries
- Four days of training, networking, and planning
We also hosted three regional virtual summits to support groups in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. At each event, member groups worked over three days to develop a strategic, collaborative plan of action to position themselves for even more progress in 2021.
As evident from these summits, the OWA identified innovative ways to adapt to a digital work environment, safely moving all planned events and training sessions online. These sessions included virtual personalized training on corporate outreach and campaigning for eight partner groups in the Balkans, Southeast Europe, and Israel, among other places.
We also launched a new series of introductory training videos that outline OWA’s approach to corporate outreach and campaigns. This, along with a members-only resource site with tools, campaign information, and grant details, will allow newer coalition members to operate effectively and efficiently right from the start.
With these elements in place, all of our members—whether they have been with the Alliance for years or have recently joined—are well-positioned for progress in 2021 and beyond.
More mentorship, support, and collaboration
To further increase collaboration among OWA members, we created a global mentorship program that offers each member the chance to work one-on-one and develop a meaningful professional relationship with another member. Mentees receive guidance from an experienced leader in the movement, while mentors help to refine the leadership and negotiating skills that are so key to a successful campaign.
To support our members, we also administered $1,038,500 in grants to 31 OWA organizations. These funds fuel the projects that deliver measurable change for animals in dozens of countries around the world.
We won't rest until we break open the cages and end the abuse of chickens everywhere.
As we make greater strides in our movement, our ambition only grows. What the Open Wing Alliance achieved in 2020 was remarkable. We're incredibly proud of the commitments OWA members secured for the animals and the changes we implemented to make our organization stronger and more flexible than ever. But we won't be satisfied until we break open the cages and end the abuse of chickens everywhere.
In 2020, even with all the challenges the world presented us with, we achieved more progress than we ever thought possible.
In 2021, the sky's the limit.
