If you’re interested in understanding more about the digital guided self-help program, please reach out to us at Kaya Guides! I can be found on DMs here :)
This is a crosspost from the new Animal Welfare Alignment Newsletter by Anima International. You can subscribe on Substack if you are interested in following these efforts. Audio reading also available on Substack.
The goals of this post are to:
1. Raise a question I see as crucially important to the goal of aligning AI to animal welfare...
Hello! I'm Justin Portela. I got hired by GWWC to make YouTube videos after AI in Context did such a kickass job.
My channel is using that same cinematic, high-production value beauty to talk about everything in the EA universe that isn't AI.
...
“How long have you been v*g*n?”
This is one of the most common icebreakers at animal protection events. It’s a baseline assumption, and it mostly holds true: if you’re out advocating for animals not to be tortured or abused, realistically these days you are v**n, or close. And it makes for good conversation. It seems fairly safe to assume when you meet strangers.
But this assumption is hurting the movement in a way which we don’t always notice: someone new comes into the sp...
We’re excited to announce that we’ve opened applications for the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program for the following cohorts:
September 2026 Cohort: September 14th - November 4th, 2026
February 2027 Cohort: February - April, 2027 (exact dates TBD)
This post summarises the four new charity ideas recommended by our research team for the September 2026 round.
Applications close on March 22nd, and successful candidates will receive offers by June 8th. For the full application timeline and program details, visit our website.
Why should you apply to the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program?
If you’re an ambitious, impact-driven individual looking to start a high-impact nonprofit, the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program can empower and accelerate your journey.
Since 2018, we have incubated over 50 non-profits, many of which are field-leading and benchmark-setting across different cause areas and are supported by actors like GiveWell, Founders Pledge, Mulago, Open Philanthropy, and Animal Charity Evaluators. We disbursed $3.6M in seed grants, and many of our incubated organizations are estimated to be as much as 20 to 60 times more cost-effective than top GiveWell charities. These charities have reached more than 75 million humans and have the potential to improve the lives of over 1 billion animals.
Our program provides expert mentorship, funding, and a proven process to turn ideas into field-leading organizations. If you’re ready to lead, think evidence-first, and maximize your impact, we invite you to consider this career path for yourself and challenge you to take the first step toward building something extraordinary.
Introducing our newest recommended ideas
Over the second half of 2025, we evaluated a range of interventions aimed at improving health and well-being in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs). This round focused in particular on two broad areas: (i) Improving access to essential health services where delivery systems remain weak, and (ii) addressing large, persistent gaps in care or prevention that lead to avoidable suffering or poor life outcomes.
Our recommendations span different sectors and approaches, including:
Reducing diet-related disease through taxes on sugary drinks
Improving access to pain relief for people in palliative care in LMICs
Treating depression with guided digital self-help programs
Expanding access to contraception through mobile clinics
Below is a brief summary of each recommendation.
More details and full reports on each idea will be made available in the coming weeks.
Reducing diet-related disease through taxes on sugary drinks
High consumption of sugary drinks is a major contributor to type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and poor oral health worldwide. Intake has risen over recent decades, driven by increased affordability and availability. Evidence shows that taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages can reduce consumption and, in some cases, encourage manufacturers to reformulate products to contain less sugar.
This idea focuses on advocating for and supporting the introduction of the WHO-recommended 20% excise tax on sugary drinks. A new charity would work on policy advocacy and implementation support in countries where such taxes are absent or weak, with the aim of reducing consumption and lowering the overall burden of diet-related disease.
More details and research report available soon
Improving access to pain relief for people in palliative care in LMICs
Across much of the world, people with severe pain still lack access to effective pain relief. While high-income countries face challenges related to opioid overuse, many LMICs experience the opposite problem: widespread undertreatment of pain. This gap, often described as the global “opioid access abyss,” leaves millions without adequate pain management.
The proposed charity would work to reduce this gap by improving access to opioid medications for people with serious illness, starting with palliative care in LMICs. Its work would focus on three linked areas: policy reform, education of healthcare workers and the public, and supply-chain strengthening. Together, these activities aim to remove structural barriers to care and support safe, sustainable access to pain relief in settings where it is currently limited.
More details and research report available soon
Treating depression with guided digital self-help programs
Depression is one of the leading causes of disability worldwide, affecting more than 300 million people. The burden falls disproportionately on LMICs, where large treatment gaps persist: the WHO estimates that around 75% of people who need care receive none. Guided self-help offers a promising way to address this gap. By combining evidence-based psychological support with light human guidance, these programs can reach large numbers of people at low cost and expand access to care in settings where mental health services are scarce.
This idea focuses on delivering a digital guided self-help program for adults with depression in LMICs, modeled on the WHO’s Step-by-Step program and informed by the implementation approach used by Kaya Guides, a mental health nonprofit previously incubated by AIM
More details and research report available soon
Expanding access to contraception through mobile clinics
Millions of women in LMICs want to delay or avoid pregnancy but lack access to reliable contraceptives. Common barriers include long travel distances to health facilities, frequent stockouts, limited method choice, and weak health system capacity. These constraints are particularly acute in rural and hard-to-reach areas, where use of modern contraception remains low despite high unmet need.
This idea focuses on expanding access to contraception through mobile clinics that bring care directly to underserved communities. These clinics would provide same-day services, including long-acting methods, alongside counseling and follow-up care. While mobile outreach is already used by several large providers, coverage remains uneven, creating scope for a well-targeted organization to expand access in high-need locations in a cost-effective way.
More details and research report available soon
Apply to our program to help launch these organizations
We encourage you to sign up for the upcoming Q&A webinars, where you will have the opportunity to have your questions answered by our research team.
Unfamiliar with our program? The Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program is a free 2-month training program that helps you find an evidence-based idea for a new charity, a talented co-founder to build a new organization with, and up to $200,000 in seed funding. We have successfully incubated over 50 charities, reaching 75+ million people and 1+ billion animals. Learn more about our track record and what it’s like to be on the program.
If you’re interested in understanding more about the digital guided self-help program, please reach out to us at Kaya Guides! I can be found on DMs here :)