Dilan Fernando

Background

About Dilan Fernando

I'm determined to do what's necessary to create a world where animals can flourish. Currently, I'm doing that at Animal Think Tank by building a powerful mass movement for Animal Freedom. I mainly focus on helping ATT become a self-organising system, so that we can be highly resilient and responsive as we march towards a better world for animals. Since I was a child, I've always cared about doing good. Born in Dubai, I was raised by a mother who always spoke of kindness. In Australia, where I later grew up, I campaigned for Australian aid with Oaktree, organised a financial education project in a Cambodian village with Monash SEED, and interned with a Fijian organisation providing small loans to rural villagers. During this journey, I realised there was a group of individuals who were such an integral part of society, and yet who were massively excluded from our global conversations about freedom and justice: animals. Since that heart-breaking 'a-ha' moment, I've- served as Media & Messaging Coordinator at Animal Rebellion, where I led a team that changed Britain's conversation around transitioning to a plant-based food system (300+ press appearances across TV, radio, print and online)- founded Young Voices for Animals, where we pioneered a first-of-its-kind youth leadership program, and ran Australia's first ever youth animal rights conference- started a vegan society at Monash University that has been thriving since 2016 - successfully organised some of Melbourne's most widely attended animal protection protests - campaigned peacefully in the streets of North Carolina and New York These experiences have led me to where I am today at Animal Think Tank: fiercely and skilfully putting in place self-organising systems to allow a national movement for Animal Freedom to flourish.