From Fauna & The UN

FROM FAUNA & THE UN

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Introduction

Our Collaboration with The UN

As we endeavor to increase awareness of cultivated meat worldwide, we need the right partners alongside us at From Fauna. We believe there is an immense amount of untapped potential for cultivated meat globally, and our collaboration with the United Nations aims to address that. Working with the UN has been vital to reaching diverse and talented individuals across the world who are passionate about joining our mission at From Fauna.

Our primary relationship with the UN is our partnership with the UN International Volunteer Program. Many of our From Fauna Fellows and collaborators have discovered From Fauna through this channel, applying to work with us through this UN resource since 2018. Further collaboration with the UN includes our reflection of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) within our textbook, for which 13 of the 17 total UN SDGs are found to relate to cultivated meat. In our UN SDG textbook section, we expand upon three chapters aligned with our slogan - People Animals World. This effort in the textbook has led us to work with UN representatives, gathering their feedback and strategic input on the textbook’s general literary development. Below you’ll find additional information on these efforts, as well as the people from the UN who have joined From Fauna to make it all happen.

UN Volunteer Program

The Beginning of Our Work with the United Nations

The UN acts as a globally unifying body, providing a platform for harmonizing innovation across the globe. Similarly, one of our primary ambitions at From Fauna is to bring in talent with a high degree of intellectual diversity. We have found this contributing factor to be essential to the quality of our work and believe it will benefit the entire cultivated meat space for decades to come.

In 2018, we began our partnership with the United Nations through their Online Volunteering division. This From Fauna-UN partnership allowed volunteers from anywhere in the world to apply to work with From Fauna, pro bono. We hold an active relationship with the UN through this capacity, remaining grateful for the incredible individuals who have subsequently joined From Fauna since 2018. The last section of this webpage details the work and biographies of these individuals, most of whom have become From Fauna Fellows, developing independent cultivated meat projects.

UN SDGs

Cultivated Meat & the UN Sustainable Development Goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the Global Goals, were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. These UN objectives aligned perfectly with a primary goal we had when originally developing our textbook: create an unbiased analysis of cultivated meat that elaborates upon both the potential good and bad of the concept.

We found both the prospective benefits, outlined in works like 90 Reasons, as well as the potential drawbacks, could be justly organized through the UN’s SDG structure. This led to the development of a textbook section dedicated to the UN SDGs which granted a literary platform to discuss the broad range of ramifications that cultivated meat could bring about. After this ideation, we sought to work with representatives from the UN whose counsel could help us maximize this textbook section's successful execution.

In pursuit of this, From Fauna Founder, Kris Spiros, worked with his former professor from Harvard, Dr. Laurence Simon. Dr. Simon was a perfect fit, already serving as a From Fauna Advisor and holding expertise directly related to the topic. He previously served as Director of the UN’s World Food Programme and holds deep experience, having built academic journals and textbooks from scratch. Dr. Simon collaborated with From Fauna to fine-tune the UN SDG textbook section, ultimately entitled, “Cell-based meat in Application: Relevance to UN SDGs”. He helped to ensure the authorship reflected the values that From Fauna sought for this project, namely to objectively and comprehensively analyze the concept of cultivated meat through the lens of the 13 relevant UN SDGs.

The textbook also benefited from the authorship and consultation of Kimberly Liang, a From Fauna Fellow who has previously served as a UNA Canada SDG Ambassador and has worked with UN Women on their digital economy strategy in Bangalore, India.

People

UN Affiliates Working with From Fauna

We are honored to have UN Affiliates who support our mission at From Fauna. Currently 5 individuals spanning 4 continents, they work with From Fauna through fellowship and advisory roles, as well as through other supporting positions within the From Fauna network.

Former Director, World Food Programme

Dr. Laurence Simon

Dr. Simon has led an illustrious career in the fields of global health and sustainability. He has served as a senior advisor to the Google Foundation and the World Bank, a visiting scholar at Stanford, program director for Oxfam America, launching its first work in Central America and the Caribbean in the 1970s, and was recently appointed by the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka to design a new, unannounced premier university.

Further, Dr. Simon founded the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) in the 1980s and directed the establishment and monitoring of UN World Food Programme operations. Dr. Simon currently serves as Professor of International Development and Director of the Center for Global Development and Sustainability at Brandeis University, while also teaching at Harvard University during summer semesters.
From Fauna Fellow & UN Volunteer - Translation

Annesha Kargupta

Annesha is a multilingual translator based in Kolkata, India. Fluent in over 10 languages, she has served as a volunteer translator with the Red Elephant Foundation, Translation without Borders, and has worked as a GTC online course translator. Annesha joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2019, primarily focused on translation efforts for the From Fauna Website and Project CMF.

You can learn more about Annesha and our other fellows at our dedicated From Fauna Fellows webpage.
From Fauna Fellow & UN Volunteer - Motion Design

Henry Mbwille

Henry is a visual designer and creative executive, based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He is currently the Creative Director at Young Creative Leaders and has previously worked as a Senior Art Director at Dentsu and Aggrey & Clifford, specializing in advertising and graphic design. Henry joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2019; his work focused on motion design and artistic strategy for Project CMF.

You can learn more about Henry and our other fellows at our dedicated From Fauna Fellows webpage.
From Fauna Fellow & UN Volunteer - Graphic Design

Daniela Isaza Toro

Daniela is an interaction designer, based in Toronto, Canada. She is the co-founder of Mediabite Agencia Digital, a digital marketing agency which she founded in her home nation of Colombia. Daniela joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2019 and has worked as a graphic designer, art director, and creative strategist on various projects.

You can learn more about Daniela and our other fellows at our dedicated From Fauna Fellows webpage.
From Fauna Fellow & UN SDG Ambassador

Kimberly Liang

Kimberly is a nonprofit youth strategist, based in Ontario, Canada. She has previously served as a UNA Canada SDG Ambassador and has worked with UN Women on their digital economy strategy in Bangalore, India. Kimberly joined From Fauna as a Fellow in 2021, working on educational strategy, youth engagement, and nonprofit administration; she is also the lead author of the Implications for Youth chapter in the From Fauna textbook.

You can learn more about Kimberly and our other fellows at our dedicated From Fauna Fellows webpage.