Free from Harm is a 501c(3) non profit organization based in Chicago dedicated to helping build a nonviolent mass movement for all species liberation. We do this through a variety of strategies, including:
- publishing digital content for public education and outreach,
- building bridges with other groups and movements,
- building a strong grassroots activist community,
- rescuing animals from exploitative industries and broadcasting their stories.
Our public education and outreach focuses primarily on publishing quality content on our website and syndicating that content through our expansive social media reach. We attract over one million unique website visitors every year and average about 800,000 impressions each month on Facebook. Most importantly, our content provides our members and followers with frequent and meaningful ways to take action on important issues.
Free from Harm participates in a wide variety of vegan festivals, conferences and activism events related to climate justice, sustainability, health and wellness, intersectionality, and animal ethics. Our community outreach serves three important goals:
- to grow and empower our local activist community,
- to build public support,
- to organize frontline actions that capture the attention of the media and the public and apply pressure on targeted decisionmakers who have the power to meet our demands.
In the city that once promoted itself as the slaughter capital of the world, we recognize that the work we do here can have important repercussions elsewhere, and we are eager to share ideas and resources with other activist communities nationwide.
Our rescue and rehabilitation work is focused specifically on rescuing, treating and finding suitable homes for abandoned or escaped domestic birds in the Chicago area. Most of our rescues are chickens who have escaped local slaughterhouses or “backyard chickens” who have been abandoned by their owners. Other domestic species we have rescued include ducks, guinea fowl, quail and pigeons. In addition, we have assisted in rescuing orphaned chicks from school chick hatching projects and providing alternatives for chick hatching programs. Each of our rescues has a unique survival story that we broadcast to the world.
All of our efforts are driven by the fundamental goal of building a mass movement through nonviolent action which we believe is urgently needed to address the climate, environmental and ethical crisis we face.
Board of Directors
Kara Williams, Secretary
Kara has been an educator for 15 years with a Masters of Education from Depaul University and had 10 years of enterprise software sales experience prior to becoming a teacher.
William Christopher, Treasurer
William currently works in the environmental sustainability field, has a background in engineering and holds a Masters degree in Environmental Management.
