# Compensation of Partners ## Compensation Philosophy While Pax Fauna exists to create a platform for mass-scale organizing, the core of our work is done by full-time partners who receive a living stipend. These partners comprise a close, collaborative research team working together to actualize Pax Fauna's mission of launching a new mass movement organization. Our living stipends are designed to strike a delicate balance. We believe it is necessary to provide a just and secure living wage. At the same time, we have experienced numerous challenges that money creates in volunteer-driven social movements. Pax Fauna’s team members provide ourselves with a modest salary pegged to MIT’s living wage calculator. Campaign directors receive the salary for the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) where their chapter is located. Other roles receive that salary if they choose to live in an MSA with a PAF chapter. Otherwise, they receive the salary for Boulder County, Colorado, enough to comfortably get by almost anywhere in the U.S. with small luxuries. It is our hope that this approach can: * minimize the gap between “professional” advocates and “volunteers,” which makes mass movement organizing impossible; * decouple seniority from compensation and reduce conflicts around money; and * stay true to our grassroots origin and vision. {% hint style="info" %} **2026 salaries** Boulder/Remote: $56,357 Denver: $57,013 Portland: $58,596 Washington D.C.: $60,840 *(because the MIT Living Wage decreased in 2026, this is a holdover from 2025)* {% endhint %} By accepting a living stipend, partners of Pax Fauna agree to commit themselves wholeheartedly to our work building a new social movement for animal freedom. Full-time partners work 35-40 hours a week, taking at least four weeks of paid vacation per year and traveling for quarterly in-person retreats. You can read more about these expectations [here](https://paxfauna.org/join). ## Salary Amount (Voluntary Simplicity) The purpose of Pax Fauna’s research stipends is to enable work by individuals who would already be choosing to do precisely this work if money were no obstacle. Thus, our philosophy is needs-based: we seek to provide a secure living wage. Our vision of voluntary simplicity can be summed up by the following statements we want anybody depending on a research fellowship from Pax Fauna to be able to make. * I don’t worry about money. I have enough to eat, pay rent (perhaps with housemates) in a place I like, have good health insurance, and save up a little. * For larger expenses, like a new bike, a trip, or extensive car repairs, I do have to plan ahead and save. * I usually eat at home, but I can afford an occasional meal out if I choose. I don’t frequently purchase new clothes, electronics, or furniture. * I’m a penny-pincher when it comes to superfluous expenses, but I confidently invest in myself through things like books, courses, and enriching experiences. * I would consider myself frugal and thrifty, but not extremely so. My quality of life is high and I don’t view a lack of money as holding me back in any significant way. **I see voluntary simplicity as a choice, not a burden.** To achieve this, we have pegged the base amount for our research fellowships to [MIT’s living wage calculator](https://livingwage.mit.edu/metros/14500), and they will be updated annually to reflect MIT’s benchmark. We chose to pin this living wage to Boulder, CO (Pax Fauna’s home address and a relatively expensive location) for all Colorado-based and remote employees to honor the ways individuals factor cost of living into where they choose to live. ### Other Compensation #### Retirement Contributions Pax Fauna partners have the option to set up a SIMPLE IRA account. Pax Fauna will match any contributions to it up to 3% of the partner’s paycheck. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://handbook.paxfauna.org/compensation.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.