DC Voters for Animals (DCVFA)

Background

DC Voters for Animals was established in 2019 as a lobbying and electoral advocacy organization to advocate for animal protection through political action, lobbying, and voter engagement. Operating alongside its charitable arm, DC Voters for Animals Education Fund, the organization provides education and builds networks to advocate protections for wild, farm, and companion animals. DCVFA regularly lobbies the District of Columbia Council for animal-friendly legislation and supports candidates who prioritize animal welfare. ¹

Programs

DC Voters for Animals reported on its 2023 tax return that it spent $7,032 advocating “humane food standards” that it believes would improve the lives of farm animals. It also pressed for passage of an Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 2E resolution on trash handling and rodent abatement while commissioning a poll of District of Columbia residents’ attitudes on animal welfare. ^{4  2  5}

DC Voters for Animals reported spending $5,598 advocating a “fur free” law in the District of Columbia. It hosted a Fur Free Fashion Show, created a Fur Free DC page on its website, and aided in the introduction of the Fur Product Prohibition Act of 2023. ⁶

The organization submitted comments on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) rulemaking on anticoagulant rodenticides and created a brief on animal welfare consumer protection issues regarding turkeys sold in the District of Columbia. ^{7  2}

Activities

DC Voters for Animals collaborated with multiple groups to support the August 2020 passage, and later Congressional approval, of a District of Columbia ban on the sale of elephant ivory and rhinoceros horns. ³

DC Voters for Animals Education Fund initiated DC Veg Restaurant Week with a dedicated website, an initiative to provide advocacy skill training to activists seeking to promote plant-based restaurants and meatless diets. ⁸

DCVFA supports animal friendly candidates via questionnaires, forums, endorsements, and voter outreach. It also provides action alerts and recruits volunteers for lobbying, legal support, logistics, and events. In the 2024 election cycle, DCVFA endorsed over 50 candidates for Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) seats across the District of Columbia’s eight wards. ⁹

Funding

Effective Altruism (EA) Animal Welfare Fund, a project of EA Funds which was created by Centre for Effective Altruism (CEA) (itself a project of Effective Ventures Venture Group and funded by Y Combinator), provided a $35,000 grant to fund DCVFA executive director Max Broad’s 2022 part-time salary to lobby for a fur-sales ban in Washington, D.C. No additional grants from EA Animal Welfare Fund had been recorded as of 2025. ¹⁰

In 2023, DCVFA received a $75,000, grant from the Humane League, an organization advocating for the end of “factory farming,” accounting for 89.5 percent of total revenue that year. The Education Fund reported $88,581 in revenue for 2024, all from contributions. ¹¹

People

Max Broad is the founder and as of 2025 was the executive director of DC Voters For Animals, receiving $49,271 in annual compensation according to DCVFA’s 2023 tax return. He previously worked as field director for Vote Blue in North Carolina and as policy specialist at the left-leaning National Wildlife Federation. As of 2025, Broad was volunteering as co-chair of DC Good Food Purchasing Coalition and was leading the District of Columbia chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby, an advocate for carbon taxes. ^{12  13}