Volunteer with Equitarian Initiative
Equitarian Initiative’s mission is to educate owners, community animal health workers, veterinary students, and local veterinarians for improved working equid health care. To create long-term changes and have successful impacts on the health of the working equids, EI develops partnerships in each region we work. These partnerships include collaboration and training for both domestic and international veterinarians, technicians, farriers, equine scientists, and students.
To enhance sustainability and local problem-solving, we prioritize the participation of individuals local to the countries and communities in which we work, but we do offer limited volunteer spaces on our annual programs.
EI programs vary in size and in the number of available volunteer positions. Each team is comprised of trained program leaders, EI instructors, and new volunteers. We prioritize volunteers who seek long-term engagement and are invested in EI’s leadership development.
How to Apply to Volunteer With EI:
1. Applications are open from now until March 1st, 2023. Applications must include a professional letter of reference.
2. When the application window has closed, a working equid educational course will be offered via Canvas to those who applied (course is currently under construction, but we anticipate its availability as early as Spring 2023). This is an in-depth look at working equid needs, challenges, programming and background of EI. This program will take approximately 20 hours to complete and is anticipated to be available for 6-8 weeks (course closing date will be determined based on course opening date). We’re excited to offer this course as it will provide education on the working equid and will also prepare volunteers more thoroughly for experiences in the field.
3. Upon completion of the Canvas course, the EI board of directors will review and consider all eligible applicants for the following year.
4. Applicants will be notified of potential project dates (on the application, project preference can be stated but there is no guarantee every project will have available space). Program placement will begin in the summer of 2023.
5. Following volunteer program placement, there will be an additional program-specific orientation on Canvas, including meetings with the project leader and team. There will be required forms to complete as travel preparations and program logistics are developed.
