In A Big Welcoming Tent for Everyone Who Loves Animals, I shared my dream of an umbrella network that supports every person and group working for animals, without competing with any of them. This is the practical side: how the network is structured, how a chapter gets started, how meetings run, and the steps from a first online pilot to chapters in many towns. Anyone is welcome to use it, borrow from it, or help us improve it. Right now I am tied up completely with reaching out to animal rights groups to see if anyone wants to buy land and start a Farm Animal Sanctuary and vegan community at the Living Spring Log House. But I am planting seeds and gathering contact information of people who are interested.

This is still in process. And it is a good start!

Structure at a glance

• Central circle: the founding facilitator (currently Patricia Mikkelson), with Barbara Hulley as advisor. Interviews and mentors chapter facilitators, keeps the shared guides, and protects the values.
• Facilitators’ circle: all chapter facilitators. Meets online for mutual support and shares what works.
• Chapter core group: a facilitator plus 3 to 7 members who want to help plan. Decides by simple consent.
• Interest circles: any member can start one. Each has a contact person who links back to the core group.
• Participants: everyone else. Come when you can, give feedback whenever you like, no obligations.

Each chapter is an umbrella in its own town or region. It doesn’t replace local groups; it gathers them, shares a local calendar, and points newcomers to the groups that fit them.

Safeguards so no one can take over

• Written values and agreements that every facilitator and core member signs.
• Facilitators serve terms (one year, renewable) and are approved by the central circle.
• A clear, simple process for a facilitator to step down or be replaced.
• At least two people hold admin rights on every account (Meetup, Zoom, email list, social media, payment account), and the central circle holds one.
• Money is handled by two people, with a simple income and spending report shared with members at least every quarter.
• The network name and materials belong to the network, not to any one chapter or person.
• Every chapter trains a co-facilitator or backup, so leadership never depends on one person.

Choosing and mentoring facilitators

• A written application: experience, why they want the role, which values speak to them.
• An interview with the central circle, like a job interview, and two or three references.
• A three-month trial period with weekly mentoring.
• Weekly mentoring call, monthly facilitators’ circle call, and an online group for everyday support.
• Training in the meeting guide, consent decision-making, conflict guidelines, welcoming non-vegans, and self-care.

Building trust

• Public events like potlucks and Community Connect are open to anyone.
• Joining a core group or the emotional support circle comes after attending a few gatherings and a short welcome conversation.
• Roles that handle money, contact lists, or children require a reference check.
• Member contact information is never shared without permission.
• Every newcomer gets a welcome buddy.
• Small “family circles” of 3 to 10 people help members become real friends.

Preventing and resolving conflict

Prevention: share small concerns early; talk to people, not about them; assume good intentions; respect that other groups use different methods; give everyone equal time in circles; and check in regularly on how the group itself is doing.

Resolution steps (adapted from the Vegan Network of Arkansas guidelines):

1. If you are very frustrated, vent first to one trusted person only, with the intention of resolving it.
2. Talk to the person directly, with compassion, and listen to their side.
3. If that doesn’t resolve it, ask a trusted third person to help as a mediator.
4. If it’s still unresolved, bring it to the core group, or to the central circle if it involves a facilitator.

Restorative justice circles can help in harder situations. Safety issues (harassment, threats, abuse) go straight to the facilitator and central circle.

A meeting guide anyone can lead

Built on the opening and closing circles from the Community Connect events. Times are for a 90-minute meeting, in person or on Zoom.

Before the meeting

• Confirm the place or Zoom link; send reminders two days ahead and the morning of.
• On Zoom: use a waiting room and a co-host, turn on captions, and share the phone dial-in number.
• Have the agenda, a timer, a sign-in sheet, name tags, and the values ready.

Opening (15 minutes)

• Start on time, welcome everyone, and thank the host.
• A moment of silence or three calming breaths, then read the short values statement.
• Go around, 30 seconds each (or “pass”): my name and where I’m from; what draws me to helping animals; one thing I’m hoping for today.
• Guidelines: listen with full attention, one person speaks at a time, the timer is kind to everyone, you can always pass.

Main time (55 minutes)

• Brief updates from circles and member projects.
• Requests and offers: “I need help with…” and “I can offer…”
• Upcoming events from all groups in the area.
• A topic, speaker, short video, or breakout groups where people choose what to talk about.

Closing (15 minutes)

• Go around, 30 seconds each: one feeling I’m having right now; one thing I learned; something I appreciated.
• Thank volunteers and hosts, invite feedback, and end on time. Anyone is welcome to stay and visit.

Simple consent decisions (core group)

1. Present the proposal in a few sentences.
2. Clarifying questions.
3. Reactions: each person gives a brief reaction.
4. The proposer may adjust the proposal.
5. Consent round: “consent,” “consent with a concern,” or “objection.” An objection means “this would harm the group or our values,” not “I’d prefer something else.”
6. Use objections to improve the proposal, then do another round.
7. If there’s still no consent after a reasonable effort, the person responsible for that area decides and explains why.
8. Record the decision and when it will be reviewed.

Where to meet

Vegan or vegan-friendly restaurants with a back room or a slow evening, public library meeting rooms, welcoming churches and fellowship halls, university student clubs, animal shelters and sanctuaries with community rooms, natural food stores, co-ops and yoga studios, members’ homes, park pavilions in warm weather, and Zoom for anyone who can’t travel. Always call ahead about room size, cost, and whether outside food is allowed.

How the network earns every group’s support

• Ask each group what it needs before offering anything.
• Keep a shared regional calendar so events don’t clash and members can show up for each other.
• Promote every group’s events in the newsletter, free.
• Send volunteers and new people their way; never recruit away from them.
• Invite each group to present at a gathering.
• Host joint socials, retreats, and trainings that no single group could manage alone.
• Stay neutral in disputes between groups, and credit groups publicly for their wins.

For a list of groups to invite, see A Directory of Animal Rights Organizations, which includes the many groups that supported the 2026 March to Abolish Animal Testing.

Healing old divisions

• Offer every group a listening conversation: what has hurt them, what they need, and what would help them trust a new umbrella network.
• A network-wide norm: no public put-downs of other groups in network spaces. Disagreements about tactics go to private, respectful conversation.
• Lead by example: apologize where it’s owed and give credit generously.
• A yearly unity gathering where groups share their wins and plans and choose at least one joint project.

Lessons from other movements

• Animal Think Tank (UK): focuses on building lasting local structure, not just big moments. The UK once had around 300 local animal rights groups, and that grassroots web helped win bans on fur farming and cosmetics testing. Its local coalitions, now spreading as the Animal Freedom Network, are close to our umbrella chapter idea, and its free how-to guides are worth borrowing from.
• National chapter networks: the strongest give every new chapter a ready-made starter kit, renew chapters each year so inactive ones don’t linger, and pair leaders with regional mentors.
• Reaching across the political spectrum: White Coat Waste Project has united Republicans and Democrats against taxpayer-funded animal testing by leading with shared values like stewardship, compassion for pets, and responsible spending. Beagles, shelters, and pets are natural common ground.
• Planting meetups: in the Ron Paul Meetups, a founder would open a group, announce that it needed a local organizer, hand it off, and coach the new organizer. Weekly calls and a simple handbook supported everyone, and founders were free to plant the next one.
• My own past projects: the Vegan Network of Arkansas, Livable Future Alliance, Animal Lovers of the Ozarks, the NW Arkansas Activist Retreat, Community Connect, and the Livable Neighborhoods Project all taught the same lessons: welcome everyone, start from what people already want, share a calendar, and keep small circles where people become friends.

Launch checklist for a new chapter

Foundations: name, one-sentence purpose, values, code of conduct, conflict guidelines, a legal and nonviolent boundary statement, and a photo and privacy consent policy.

Leadership: a facilitator and a backup, a mentoring time, and a place in the facilitators’ online group.

Tools: Zoom with waiting room, captions, and phone dial-in; a Meetup group; an email list; an online group; a shared calendar; a feedback form; and two admins on every account.

Materials: the meeting guide, a welcome packet, a simple flyer, and a list of local groups with a contact person for each.

First meetings: three dates set, personal invitations sent to each local group, welcome buddies lined up, and a follow-up plan for everyone who comes.

The plan, phase by phase

Phase 1: Foundations (months 1 to 2). Agree on the name, values, code of conduct, and conflict guidelines. Set up the online tools. Personally contact local groups to introduce the idea and ask what they need, and begin listening conversations with any group that has felt criticized or left out.

Phase 2: Northwest Arkansas online pilot (months 2 to 5). Twice-monthly online meetings using the meeting guide. Invite one local group per meeting to share what they do. Start two or three circles (likely transitioning to vegan, shelter support, and emotional support), a monthly newsletter of everyone’s events, and the pilot core group.

Phase 3: In-person gatherings (months 4 to 7). A first vegan potluck, a monthly Community Connect, a family-friendly event like a shelter visit or sanctuary tour, and a jobs and business networking circle. Online meetings continue so no one is left out.

Phase 4: Write the playbook (months 6 to 9). Turn what worked into a chapter starter kit. Recruit, interview, and begin mentoring the first new chapter facilitators.

Phase 5: Grow (months 9 to 12). Launch two or three new chapters, online or in other towns, using the meetup “planting” model. Hold the first annual chapter renewal, a regional gathering of all participating groups, and a year-end celebration to decide what to keep, change, and add.

Want to start a chapter where you live?

I’d love to hear from you. A text is the best way to reach me: Patricia, (479) 313-0414.

A few insights

• Safeguards are a kindness: when no one person can take over, everyone can relax and trust the group.
• A good meeting begins and ends with every voice heard, even for thirty seconds.
• Big moments draw people in, but small, steady circles are what keep them.

How we wrote this together

This plan was written by Patricia Mikkelson, a resident of the Living Springs Log House, together with Claude.ai, an AI assistant made by Anthropic. Patricia drew on decades of organizing, from co-ops and meetups to vegan networks and Community Connect, and Claude researched how other movements build lasting local groups, then organized it all into one plan anyone can pick up and use. We noticed that the most practical tools, like a timer, a shared calendar, and a welcome buddy, are also the most caring ones.