Our Team
MEET OUR STAFF
Jaclyn Leeds, Esq.
Executive Director
Jaclyn's Bio
Jaclyn practiced nonprofit law for six years with a focus on supporting grassroots animal organizations. She transitioned into nonprofit management and communications when she served as Executive Director of Northwest VEG, a regional nonprofit dedicated to educating and encouraging people to make plant-based choices.
A lifelong animal lover, Jaclyn was introduced to animal law while interning for two summers during her undergraduate studies at Animals Asia Foundation in Hong Kong. She has since worked in both a legal and program management capacity with numerous US organizations dedicated to protecting farmed animals, companion animals, and animals used in research.
She studied psychology and music at Wellesley College and earned her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2012. She has served as Chair of the Animal Law Section of the Oregon State Bar and on the editorial board of Animal Law Review. She’s licensed to practice law in Oregon. Jaclyn grew up in New Hampshire and currently lives in Portland, Oregon with her son Wolf and her three rescues: pup Ziva, kitty Willow, and quaker parrot Houdini. Outside of her work on behalf of animals, Jaclyn enjoys teaching yoga, singing in the car, serenading the house plants with piano, hiking year-round, and working on her cooking so it reflects that vegan food is delicious.
Jennifer Buesser, Esq.
Legal Director
Jennifer's Bio
Jennifer joined ADP in June 2022, bringing with her a breadth of experience in corporate and business law that she is excited to put to use in fulltime service of the animal rights community.
Throughout her career, Jennifer has sought to use her skills and knowledge to build and empower clients. Acting as outside general counsel to small and medium-sized businesses, she has counseled clients on a wide variety of matters: business formation and structure; business succession planning and ownership transfer; merger, stock purchase, asset purchase and other corporate transactions; shareholder/partnership disputes; employment practices and disputes; joint ventures; and negotiation and drafting of vendor, client and other commercial agreements and licenses. She has also represented clients in litigation and arbitration matters arising from contract, ownership, employment, and other business disputes.
Jennifer started her legal career in a small corporate law and commercial litigation boutique, following the firm through several transitions before joining Ingram Yuzek Gainen Carroll & Bertolotti, LLP in 2006, where she became a partner. After leaving Ingram in 2012, Jennifer worked in legal technology, first with Kira Systems, a Toronto-based legal software provider, and then on a series of projects with the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York.
Jennifer earned a B.A. from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, before moving to New York City where she earned a J.D., cum laude, from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (Yeshiva University). While in law school, Jennifer worked in Cardozo’s Bet Tzedek (“House of Justice”) Civil Litigation Clinic, representing low-income elderly and disabled people seeking health, disability, and housing benefits.
Jennifer lives in Northern New Jersey with her family, including dog Rosie and cats Stripes and Simba. She is active in her community, serving as an officer and board member of Mountain Top League, a registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit youth sports organization, and on the steering committee of a public school advocacy group.
James Honda, Esq.
Staff Attorney
James' Bio
James A. Honda has close to a quarter century of experience as a law firm associate, private practitioner and in-house counsel. The bulk of James’ career comprises two consecutive decade-long terms with publicly-traded international corporations as General Counsel – North & South America. During that time, James flew 100,000 miles a year, tending to diverse legal matters. In addition to tending to corporate formation & entity maintenance issues, James drafted and negotiated commercial leases, subleases, novations, sales representative agreements, distributorship agreements, consignment agreements, OEM agreements, government contracts, employment agreements (specialized offers / independent contractor agreements , staffing agency agreements, at-will offer letters) and AIA construction agreements for the building of 20+acre manufacturing campuses with H2 rooms. He also played an integral role in new product launches into the U.S. market, working with government agencies, insurance brokers, sales personnel and retail stores.
James has also designed comprehensive compliance programs that incorporate the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. His commitment to employment law issues focuses on legal services related to the Fair Credit Reporting Act / State Specific Mandatory Exclusions, E-Verify, IRCA, non-immigrant visa sponsorship, PERM sponsorship, state-specific salary range disclosure requirements, offers, non-competes, confidentiality agreements, on-boarding, performance management, progressive discipline, employee handbook review, workplace comportment and when necessary, termination for cause or due to RIF or WARN ACT circumstances. James also has significant experience with environmental law (CERCLA/TSCA) and insurance law from policy premium negotiation to policy audits, policy exclusions, policy assessment / selection and subrogation.
Externally, James has success represented the interests of employers at the EEOC (San Jose, CA Office), Texas Workforce Commission, California Civil Rights Commission, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the New York State Department of Labor and the Illinois and Georgia Departments of Labor.
In 2016, James volitionally left the corporate world and temporarily relocated to Hawaii to become the caregiver to his parents at the sunset stages of their lives. During this time, he maintained his legal skills by selectively accepting assignments from peers. Motion drafting and non-profit issues, a specialty he first endeavored to pursue in 2009, comprised more than half of his practice. James is well-versed in state non-profit and federal 501(c)(3) formation and donor agreement drafting, including charitable remainder trusts, and agreements that include IRS-specified appraisal procedures of tangible property value to ensure appropriate tax treatment. James also advises about fundraising activities in the context of U.S. Code § 513, and the potential utilization of an equivalency determination or expenditure responsibility agreement to enable financial support of a non-US entity in the absence of an IRS Determination Letter.
James and family have returned to New York (Morning Side Heights) since both of his parents have passed away. The experience of losing both parents and prior to that, several dogs, cats and parakeets, has guided him to this point in life, where he seeks to unconditionally support the mission of the Animal Defense Partnership. James utilizes Chris Heria intermediate workouts and a diet devised by family friend and world-renowned Temple Nun Vegan-Chef, Jeong Kwan, who was featured on Chef’s Table, Series 3, Episode 1, to maintain his energy and focus. Jeong Kwan, James and his wife, who is currently a graduate school student at Columbia University, have completed the groundwork to establish a fermentation program at the Culinary Institute of the Pacific (University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Community College). James has a bachelor of arts and master’s degrees from Columbia University and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School. He has lived in New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, California, Hawaii and Japan (Tokyo and Kyoto). He relishes this opportunity to support the ADP mission by working-hand-in-hand with co-workers and affiliate organizations.
Kristin O'Neal, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Kristin's Bio
Kristin is honored to work with ADP and align her legal and nonprofit experience with her lifelong compassion for animals. She believes strongly in advocating for animals, supporting sustainable choices (like plant-based eating), and serving clients with both competence and kindness.
Early in her legal career, Kristin worked at the Supreme Court of Texas as a Staff Attorney. She
also worked as a litigation attorney at Thompson & Knight LLP (now Holland & Knight) in Dallas, Texas, where she gained experience on small and large cases, both state and federal and at trial and on appeal. Kristin then transitioned to Of Counsel with Texas Instruments, focusing on supporting global business units and drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts.
Kristin enjoys supporting the mission-driven work of nonprofits and has been doing so for many years in roles such as frontline volunteer, program leader, planning advisor, staff, and trustee or board member. Most recently, she worked with Eleanor Lives! (San Francisco, CA) as Managing Director, helping the nonprofit establish compliance and develop high-quality policies and procedures. Leaning into this interest, in 2023 Kristin became a certified Leadership Professional in Ethics & Compliance (LPEC) through the Ethics & Compliance Initiative.
Kristin earned a B.A. from Texas A&M University and graduated summa cum laude, second in her class, with a law degree from Baylor University. While in law school, she pursued her writing and editing interests through Baylor Law Review by serving as Assistant Managing Editor, then Managing Editor, and by writing one and co-writing a second published law review article.
Kristin is a native Texan who currently lives in the St. Louis area of Missouri with her family. She enjoys native gardening to support biodiversity such as pollinators and birds, and her favorite companion animals are cats.
Jillian Yakominich, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Jillian's Bio
Jillian is passionate about advocating for animals and is excited to utilize her range of experience in corporate law to help service the animal rights community. After spending most of her career as a corporate lawyer in AM Law 200 firms, she is excited to dedicate her practice to providing services to animal rights and protection organizations.
Before joining ADP, Jillian was most recently Of Counsel at Lathrop GPM. Prior to that, she was an associate attorney at Armstrong Teasdale LLP, and a lead tax compliance attorney at Gilmore & Bell, P.C. Jillian focused her practice on assisting clients in real estate and economic development transactions, capital financing transactions, federal tax laws and post-issuance tax compliance, securities and disclosure laws, and multifamily housing transactions.
Throughout her career, Jillian has supported clients through business planning and structuring, analyzing contractual and operational due diligence, serving as bond and special tax counsel, and counseling municipalities and non-profit organizations on financial transactions. Jillian is also skilled at researching tax law, drafting memoranda, and preparing documents for submission to the Internal Revenue Service.
Jillian graduated with a B.A. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) where she was privileged to play Division 1 tennis. She continued her education at UMKC School of Law where she earned a J.D., as well as a master of laws (LL.M.) in taxation.
While Jillian is a Kansas City native, she recently moved to Florida to immerse herself in her love of marine life and nature. She enjoys spending her time kayaking with the manatees and dolphins, as well as diving to appreciate the abundant and diverse coral reef ecosystems. When she’s not in the water, she’s spending time outside with her amazing family, including her three dogs Quincy, Rae, and Maverick.
Helena Bouchard
Paralegal
Helena's Bio
Helena is a passionate animal advocate with a lifelong focus on making a social impact. She graduated from Boston University with a degree in both Sociology and Mathematics with a concentration in Statistics. She garnered a strong educational background in social inequalities and institutions, law and punishment, immigration, and political sociology.
Helena previously interned at Children of Prisoners Europe (COPE) in Montrouge, France, where she wrote and edited articles for biannual journals and drafted press releases for international conferences concerning the rights of prisoners and their children. Helena also has experience as a field research assistant at Boston University, where she helped develop a project studying gender, class, and race relations in multiple universities’ social scenes in the greater Boston area.
Having been a vegan for over nine years, Helena is constantly striving to improve her and others’ understanding of animal rights issues and finding new ways to incorporate advocacy in her life. Helena has a particular interest in intersectional veganism and advocating for total liberation for nonhuman and human beings alike.
Helena has spent much of her free time volunteering at local shelters and the MSPCA, while also working with groups like Nashville Animal Advocacy on various advocacy campaigns. She is also an ardent plant and rock collector, painter, and takes every opportunity to travel. She currently resides outside of Boston, MA with her partner and their rescue kitty, Olive.
Darshan Brach
Conflict Coach/Mediator
Darshan's Bio
Darshan joined Animal Defense Partnership as a volunteer in 2024 with a passion for protecting animals by offering her dispute resolution skills to people and groups committed to this movement.
Darshan’s dispute resolution career spans over 22 years. She began her legal career as an environmental lawyer in 1988 and became a mediation professional, trainer and professor in the mid-1990’s. Since moving to the Bay Area in 2005, she has taught Mediation at Berkeley Law, Hastings College of the Law, Stanford Law School and Santa Clara School of Law. She presently teaches Mediation and Mindful Conflict Resolution at Berkeley Law. Between 2006 and 2012, she co-taught and supervised students in the Mediation Clinic at Hastings. During that time, Ms. Brach also created and delivered dispute mediation trainings to the San Francisco Superior Court and the California Public Utilities Commission. She mediated as a panelist for the U.S. District Court, California Northern District between 2006 and 2023, and became a practicing psychotherapist in 2015. She now divides her time between her teaching and psychotherapy practice.
She lives in the Bay Area with her dog, Mali, and together they roam the gorgeous hills and vales of Marin County, plotting ways to share her concern for animals and spread the gospel of a plant-based diet.
MEET OUR BOARD
Judith Turkel
Board Chair
Judith's Bio
For nearly 40 years, Judith maintained an active law practice in New York City working in the areas of real estate, family law, and wills, trusts and estates. Significant aspects of her estate planning practice involved helping clients develop special provisions for companion animals and express their charitable intentions through their estate planning. Judith is also a trained professional mediator who mediates agreements and conflicts for people who wish to participate in an amicable and constructive process. At the end of 2020, she and her long-time law partner closed their practice and now she proudly devotes her time to being an advocate for animals and promoting plant-based diet change.
Judith has always found ways to combine her professional knowledge and personal dedication to social justice and change by working closely with non-profit organizations. She was a founding Board member of the Lesbian and Gay Bar Association of New York; served on and co-chaired the Board of Directors of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and of SAGE: Services and Advocacy for LGBT Elders. As President of the Board of Directors of the LGBT Community Center, she helped lead a $13 million capital campaign.
Judith has received numerous awards and recognition, including from Pace Law School (her alma mater); the NYC Bar Association LGBT Rights Committee, Stonewall Community Foundation, the National LGBT Bar Association, SAGE and the NYC LGBT Community Center.
As a Board Member and Strategic Advisor at ADP, Judith assists animal charities in creating their unique mission; fundraising; selection, growth and engagement of board members; strategic planning; and governance.
In her work as an animal and vegan advocate, Judith volunteered at Catskill Animal Sanctuary for many years, additionally serving for four years as the board chair. Catskill Animal Sanctuary, an ADP client, is a 150-acre refuge in New York's Hudson Valley for farmed animals rescued from cruelty, neglect, and abandonment, and champions veganism.
Judith and her partner Jennifer Costley live in the Hudson Valley with their dogs Maisie and Annabelle. Judith is an avid reader, hiker, world traveler and a committed vegan who loves to cook and believes that introducing people to delicious vegan meals is one of the best ways to create more vegans and as result, a more compassionate world.
David Ebert
Co-Founder
David's Bio
David Ebert, a retired lawyer, is the Co-Founder, President and a member of the board of Animal Defense Partnership, which provides legal services exclusively to animal protection nonprofits, entirely without charge. ADP now represents 350+ clients working in the US as well as US-based organizations advocating for change in other parts of the world.
He is also a co-founder of Animal Protection Capacity Builders, an association of stellar organizations that provide capacity building services to animal protection nonprofits. The services include legal (ADP); career placement (Animal Advocacy Careers); evidence-based advocacy (Animetrics); research (Faunalytics); community building (Hive); organizational monitoring and evaluation (The Mission Motor); online sanctuary resources (Open Sanctuary Project); organizational and workplace consulting (Scarlet Spark); media (Sentient), technology and website builds (Vegan Hacktivists); and photojournalism (We Animals Media).
David is a member of or advisor to: Pro Elephant Network; Voice for Asian Elephants Society; Physicians Association for Nutrition; Scarlet Spark; Free All Captive Elephants; The Asia for Animals Coalition/Capacity Building and Elephant Working Groups; Rowdy Girl Sanctuary’s Rancher Advocacy Program; TerraMar Research; and Global Animal Law Association.
David received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania and his law degree from New York University School of Law, both a very, very long time ago.
Before ADP, David was not on any boards or the president of anything.
Stuff I've written and said:
Joel Litvin
Co-Founder
Joel's Bio
Joel served as President, League Operations of the National Basketball Association until his retirement in 2015 after 27 years with the League. Prior to serving in that position he was the League’s General Counsel.
Over the course of his career, Joel was in charge of numerous areas of the NBA’s business, including legal affairs, collective bargaining, franchise sales and relocations, basketball operations, security, revenue sharing, and social responsibility. He also led the League’s work with the NBA Board of Governors on a wide range of business, competition, and governance matters.
Prior to joining the NBA, Joel worked for the New York law firm of Willkie Farr and Gallagher.
Joel is currently an Adjunct Professor in Columbia University‘s graduate Sports Management program. He previously served as a Professor in the global master of law program of Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economia and as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Penn State Law School.
Joel has also served as consultant to various sports properties including the Brooklyn Nets, the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), the XFL, and the Crown League.
Joel currently serves on the boards of Madison Square Garden Entertainment; USA Climbing, the national governing body for the sport of competition climbing; and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
He graduated with a B.S. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and received his law degree from NYU.
Joel lives in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York, with his wife Lisa and their rescue cats, Baxter and Tommy. His daughter Janey is in college and his son Jesse works in Boston.
Stephanie Jeshiva
Board Member
Stephanie's Bio
Stephanie Jeshiva serves as Editor-in-Chief of Practical Law The Journal: Transactions & Business, a Thomson Reuters publication with a circulation of over 50k law firm and in-house attorneys. She manages all aspects of the print and online production of the magazine, including strategic planning, commissioning, editing, and design.
Stephanie is passionate about pro bono work and is a lead member of the Thomson Reuters Pro Bono Committee, responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with pro bono partner organizations and promoting pro bono opportunities. She also frequently advises non-profit organizations on various corporate, commercial, and employment law matters, as well as assists individuals with immigration and public benefits issues.
Stephanie previously worked as a corporate associate in the New York office of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, focusing on private equity and hedge fund formation, and as a legal intern at the Federal Trade Commission and at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York. She earned her J.D., cum laude, from Fordham University School of Law in 2007 and her B.A., summa cum laude, in Economics from Fordham University in 2002.
Stephanie lives in Chappaqua, New York with her husband, David, two young children, Nathan and Zadie, their cat, Sidney, and rescue dog, Maple.
Vandhana Bala
Board Member
Vandhana's Bio
Vandhana Bala is an attorney with twenty-five years’ experience. For more than a decade, Vandhana has advocated for a sustainable and ethical food supply.
Vandhana began her legal career at Sidley Austin, a global law firm, and later started her own practice where she handled a broad spectrum of commercial matters, companion animal issues, and criminal cases.
As a social justice advocate, Vandhana served as General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Mercy for Animals, where she achieved several precedent-setting legal victories in the enforcement of criminal laws to protect farmed animals, including the first-ever felony conviction for cruelty to factory-farmed turkeys and charges of criminal animal abuse brought against multiple factory farm owners. She is also a co-founder and board member of the Good Food Institute.
Currently, Vandhana serves as General Counsel & Chief of Staff for Global Food Partners and also consults with activists and organizations on administrative, legal, and strategic matters. Vandhana has lectured extensively at law schools and bar associations across the country and has been interviewed by dozens of media outlets on her work.
An honors graduate of the Indiana University School of Law, Vandhana obtained her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and currently resides in Durham, North Carolina with her rescue dogs, Petra and Kobe, and King Arthur the cat.
Kristen Diederich
Board Member
Kristen's Bio
I’ve been an animal advocate my entire life. As an avid solo traveler and adventure-seeker, I’ve been fortunate to have many incredible wildlife experiences and to volunteer with and for animals on six continents.
After graduating with Honors from Penn State University with degrees in Biology and Psychology, I went on to receive a Master’s Degree in Primate Conservation from Oxford Brookes University in the UK. I carried out my thesis research in Sri Lanka, focusing on education strategies to help tourists choose responsible wildlife experiences.
Professionally, most of my work has been spent on ending the abuse of animals raised for food. As a fundraising specialist, I’ve worked for both Mercy For Animals and The Humane League – two of the leaders in this space. I’m now the Grants and Operations Director for The Navigation Fund, helping to distribute grants across multiple cause areas, including Farm Animal Welfare.
I love being outside – hiking, camping, rafting, and exploring in general. After living in Southern California for most of the last 15 years, I’ve recently moved to Nashville and am excited about all the wilderness this part of the country has to offer.
Allan E. Kornberg MD, MBA
Strategic Advisor
Allan's Bio
Allan E. Kornberg, MD, MBA is a pediatrician who has practiced both primary care and emergency pediatrics.
He’s served as Vice-Chair and Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine, at the University of Buffalo, and as Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Brown University. He co-founded a pediatrics practice in Western New York and served as the Chief of Emergency Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Buffalo. He advocated on behalf of survivors of child abuse and sexual assault, was the co-editor of a textbook ‘Child Abuse and Neglect-A Medical Reference,’ and wrote peer review articles on child abuse and emergency pediatrics.
Allan served as medical director with managed care organizations, provider institutions, and advocacy groups, frequently focused on population health for the underserved, in Georgia, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. He was the Medicaid Medical Director for Rhode Island and was Chief Medical Officer and subsequently CEO for Network Health, a managed care organization that serves impoverished families in Massachusetts.
Dr. Kornberg served as the executive director for the United States for World Animal Protection, and as the executive director for Farm Sanctuary, a non-profit focused on providing lifetime care for abused farm animals, educating the public, advocating on behalf of better treatment for farm animals, and in the promotion of plant-based diets. He has additionally worked on a number of animal protection projects, typically seeking to reduce the numbers of animals raised for food and subject to experiments in laboratories, while pursuing more compassionate treatment for those currently on farms and in research facilities. Allan is the current board chair of the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries.
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Amruza Aryenish Birdie
Consultant, Former founder/executive director
Aryenish's Bio
Amruza (Aryenish) Birdie, M.A., was the founder and executive director of Encompass, an organization that helped make the farmed animal protection movement more effective by fostering racial equity.
Prior to founding Encompass, Amruza spent seven years at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine promoting alternatives to animal tests. As a federal lobbyist, she was part of a four-woman team instrumental in reforming the Toxic Substances Control Act to ensure that animal protection language was integrated into the law. Because of her work on this effort, she was invited by the White House to watch President Obama sign the bill into law.
In addition to her more than two decades of experience in animal protection, Amruza has worked in other social justice movements, including those striving for racial equity, queer rights, and reproductive freedom.
She has appeared on and written for numerous outlets, including Bloomberg BNA, CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360, New York Daily News, Colorlines, and Dawn News—Pakistan’s largest English media group.
Amruza received an interdisciplinary Bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College in critical social thought/race and feminist theory. She used a sociological and philosophical lens to write her thesis on how systems of oppression manifest and take root in society and individuals.
Amruza completed her Master’s degree, magna cum laude, in Public Management from Johns Hopkins University and was awarded the Harold Seidman Award for outstanding thesis in policy and administration.
Daina Bray
Clinical Lecturer in Law
Yale Law School
Daina's Bio
Daina Bray is the Climate Change and Animal Agriculture Senior Litigation Fellow and Project Manager of the Law, Ethics & Animals Program at Yale Law School and a Senior Research Scholar in Law. Daina has extensive animal law and litigation practice experience, and a sustained and pragmatic commitment to making a positive difference in the ways that we interact with non-human animals. She previously served as general counsel of the nonprofits Mercy for Animals and the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and practiced with major international law firms in the areas of litigation and international arbitration. Daina has previously served as chair of the ABA TIPS Animal Law Committee, the ABA International Animal Law Committee, and the Tennessee Bar Association Animal Law Section. Daina received a JD from Stanford Law School, a BA in international studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead scholar, a Fulbright scholarship for research in environmental education, and the 2021 ABA Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law Award.
Monica Chen
Executive Director, Factory Farming Awareness Coalition
Monica's Bio
Monica Chen is Executive Director of Factory Farming Awareness Coalition, which contributes to the eradication of factory farming through educational programs on the devastating impacts of animal agriculture. Under Monica’s leadership, FFAC has developed comprehensive and synergistic programs that empower high school and college students to become effective advocates for just and sustainable food systems. Prior to FFAC, she enjoyed working with students at elementary, middle, and high school levels. In addition to classroom teaching, Monica has worked in residential environmental education, taught sexual health, and served as an instructor for the Prison University Project at San Quentin. Monica received her BA from UC Berkeley and her Master’s in Education from the University of New Mexico. Outside of work, Monica loves walking and spending time with her guinea pigs.
David Coman-Hidy
Partner, Sharpen Strategy
David's Bio
David Coman-Hidy is a partner at Sharpen Strategy, providing support, guidance, and connections to emerging and high-impact animal organizations around the globe. Before Sharpen Strategy, he spent over a decade leading The Humane League, winning hundreds of campaigns against the world’s largest food corporations and growing a small grassroots group into an international, award-winning charity. David sits on the board of Sentient Media and is a Fund Manager at the EA Funds Animal Welfare Fund.
Brian Cooley
Brian's Bio
Brian Cooley brings his expertise in media, presentation and brand position to ADP and its clients, tapping his long experience as a technology editor. “I see change for animals as a technology story in the sense that technology refers to the manner and method by which we do things better tomorrow than today.”
Cooley is a mentor with Good Food Institute, a board member of Animal Legal Defense Fund, chairs the Advocacy Committee of Marin Humane in Northern California and teaches communications to post-doc medical research fellows.
After his education at U.C. Berkeley and Northwestern University, he spent a decade in radio news before moving to the emerging field of internet media in 1995. He was born & raised in Silicon Valley when Apple headquarters was mostly apricots.
Sebastian Joy
Founding President,
ProVeg International
Sebastian's Bio
Sebastian Joy is an impact-focused serial social entrepreneur focused on transforming the global food system. He is Founding President of ProVeg International, the UN award-winning food awareness organization working to replace conventional animal products with plant-based and cultured alternatives. ProVeg is the first veg organization officially recognized by China as an International NGO. Sebastian is an initiator of the collective-impact organization 50by40, co-creator of the ProVeg Incubator, the world’s first incubator focused exclusively on alt protein startups, co-creator of VeggieWorld, the world’s largest plant-based trade show, inventor of an award winning toothpaste, and co-founder of the Animal and Vegan Advocacy Summit. He holds degrees in Cognitive Science and Nonprofit Management. Sebastian has taught Social Entrepreneurship at the Berlin School of Economics and Law and now mentors promising startups at Charity Entrepreneurship. All his work is guided by effective altruism and he currently resides in Berlin with his wife Dr. Melanie Joy.
Gerald Kahwa
Bcom (Accounting), MUK
CPA(U)
Gerald's Bio
Gerald is a founding director of a nonprofit organization called Africa Seedling Alliance- https://www.africaseedlingalliance.org/ whose mission is “...to get the right seedlings to the right people for biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in Africa for the benefit of current and future generations.” Gerald is deeply committed to animal and plant life protection.
Gerald is a team player and good at leading teams to meet a common goal. He is also very knowledgeable with the work environment in Africa and has a network of people in most African countries.
Gerald Kahwa is a diligent and detail-oriented accountant dedicated to ensuring financial accuracy and compliance. As an accountant, Gerald is experienced in managing financial transactions, maintaining records, and supporting the organization's fiscal health. With a background in accounting and finance, Gerald brings a solid foundation of knowledge and expertise to his role.
Tania Luna
Founder, Scarlet Spark
Tania's Bio
Tania Luna has founded and grown multiple companies, including Scarlet Spark, a nonprofit that provides free leadership and organizational development support to animal protection nonprofits. She is the author of multiple books (most recently: LEAD TOGETHER: Stop Squirreling Away Power and Build a Better Team). She is also a psychology researcher, educator, and TED speaker. She lives in a micro-sanctuary with 30+ rescued animals and 1 human partner.
Justin Marceau
Professor of Law and the Brooks Institute Faculty Research Scholar of Animal Law and Policy at the University of Denver
Justin's Bio
Justin F. Marceau is Professor of Law and the Brooks Institute Faculty Research Scholar of Animal Law and Policy at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He serves as the reporter for the pattern criminal jury instruction committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, and as an inaugural member of the Governor’s Council for Animal Protection (GCAP) formed by a proclamation of the Governor of Colorado, and is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Justice for Animals Award and the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar’s Gideon Award. He was a visiting Professor at Harvard Law School for the Spring 2020 semester.
Prior to coming to DU, Professor Marceau was an assistant federal public defender specializing in capital habeas and a law clerk for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Before law school, he spent a year living and working in Cairo, Egypt.
Professor Marceau’s research focuses on criminal law and constitutional law, particularly as those areas intersect with social change. He specifically writes in the areas of Habeas Corpus, Constitutional Law, and Animal Law. His current research is at the intersection of animal law and criminal law.
Jo-Anne McArthur
Photojournalist, President & Founder of We Animals Media
Jo-Anne's Bio
Jo-Anne McArthur is an award-winning photographer, author, photo editor, and sought-after speaker. Through her long-term body of work, We Animals, she has documented our complex relationship with animals around the globe. Since 1998, her work has taken her to over sixty countries. In 2019 she founded We Animals Media.
McArthur’s books include HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene (We Animals Media, 2020), with co-editor Keith Wilson; Captive (Lantern Books, 2017); and We Animals (Lantern Books, 2014). Thousands of her images are available at the We Animals Media stock site. She has also been a jury member for World Press Photo and Mont Photo.
McArthur was the subject of the critically acclaimed 2013 documentary The Ghosts in Our Machine, which followed her as she documented the plight of abused and exploited animals and advocated for their rights as sentient beings.
McArthur’s photography and writing has been in publications such as National Geographic and National Geographic Traveller, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Lens Culture, Medium, VICE, Canadian Geographic, DAYS Japan, Helsingin Sanomat, Der Spiegel, PhotoLife magazine, Huffington Post, Outdoor Photography, and Feature Shoot. In addition, We Animals images have been used by hundreds of organizations, publishers and academics to advocate for animals.
Recent awards include a Highly Commended image in the 2022 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition; the 2021 BigPicture Grand Prize; 2021 AEFONA’s First Prize, Man and Nature category; 2021 Wildlife Photographer of the Year People’s Choice finalist; 2020 Nature Photographer of the Year, Man and Nature category winner; 2019 Wildlife Photographer of the Year, photojournalism category; Italy’s Festival of Ethical Photography award, Single Shot; Austria’s Global Peace Award in 2018; and the 2017 Wildlife Photographer of the Year, People’s Choice category. In 2021, HIDDEN was awarded “Photography Book of the Year” by Pictures of the Year International (PoYI), and IPPY’s “Outstanding Book of the Year Most Likely to Save the Planet”.
McArthur speaks internationally at schools, universities, and conferences on the subjects of photojournalism, the human-animal relationship, social change, and empathy. Recent keynote speaking engagements have included the Norwegian Photography Festival, Wildscreen, the GDT Nature Photography Festival, the Minding Animals conference in Mexico, the Civic Journalism Lab at Newcastle University, England, Animal Legal Defense Fund conferences, Humane Canada’s annual animal welfare conference in Calgary, Canada, and at Harvard Law school.
In 2022, Jo-Anne was a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence at the University in Denver’s Department of Law, and in 2018, a visiting scholar at the University of British Colombia’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies.
She hails from Toronto, Canada.
Duncan McNair
Lawyer, author and animal welfare campaigner
Duncan's Bio
Duncan is a widely known and highly accomplished U.K. solicitor with over 30 years’ experience in corporate litigation. He is among the few solicitors named both “Lawyer of the Week” in The Times and “Lawyer in the News” in The Law Society Gazette for major cases he has won. Duncan was named “the client’s champion” and as “indefatigable” in Legal 500, the leading journal of peer and client reviews, for his successful efforts for clients both large and small. Amongst numerous cases, in 2015 Duncan led a large team of lawyers in a major abuse of market dominant position case against Rolls Royce.
Duncan is the founder and driving force behind Save the Asian Elephants (www.stae.org), a U.K. nonprofit. As one of many recent initiatives, STAE has led 45 prominent UK charities and advocates in urging governmental leaders and bodies to introduce law to ban UK advertising of “attractions” abroad where baby and adult elephants are brutalised for tourism. STAE exerts influence on governments, politicians and the tourist industry to adopt solutions it advances. It was asked by Government to draft legislation to ban UK advertising of overseas tourism venues unethically exploiting elephants.
Duncan was Chairman of the McNair Inquiry and Report (2013), an influential study and advocacy work on the welfare of farmed animals. He is an experienced public speaker who has been regularly invited to address All-Party Groups on Animal Welfare and on Endangered Species in the UK Parliament on the plight of Asian elephants. He has also attracted large audiences at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on STAE’s policies, with a recent speech being described by the Chairman as “dramatic and shocking”. In 2017 Duncan was part of a small, key group representing 220 charities and MPs in presenting a letter to the Prime Minister demanding abolition of the UK ivory trade, immediately following which a proposed ban was announced.
In 2018 he was named Winner of the Animal Hero of the Year award at the inaugural Animal Star Awards, which attracted 850 nominations across the UK. In 2021 STAE was named amongst the 9 best elephant NGOs in the world for the impact of its work. Duncan frequently publishes on animal welfare issues of national interest and is the author of a series of best selling humour books.
David Nadler
Senior Counsel
Blank Rome LLP
David's Bio
Dave Nadler focuses his practice on bid protests; government audits and investigations; the False Claims Act; contract claims, terminations and disputes; government cost, accounting, and pricing issues; suspension and debarment cases; the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act; and government compliance matters, including mandatory disclosure issues.
Dave is consistently rated by Chambers USA as one of the leading government contracts attorneys in the country. According to Chambers, “clients appreciate that he is ‘extremely responsive, very knowledgeable and provides common-sense advice. He understands how to advise businesses in a way that is practical from both a business and legal perspective.’” Seen as a “[t]rusted adviser,” clients also say that Dave “has great client relation skills, very deep experience and is able to anticipate issues, not just be reactive. He asks the right questions and this allows him to give the best advice.” Dave is recognized by sources as “a master of the subject matter” and as being “among the best government contracts attorneys in the country.”
Dave was selected by Law360 as a Government Contracts MVP for 2017, and under his leadership the Firm’s Government Contracts practice was twice selected by Law360 as a Practice Group of the Year. He is also a recipient of the Federal 100 award, which recognizes top executives from the government, academia, and the private sector for their contributions to the government contracts community. Dave was selected as a Top Lawyer, Government Contracts, by Washingtonian Magazine in 2018.
Bill Nimmo
Founder & President
Tigers in America
Bill's Bio
Bill Nimmo is founder and president of Tigers in America, formed in 2012 to relocate tigers in this country surrendered or seized from roadside zoos, and owners unable or unwilling to care for them. In 2016 shut down a tiger mill in Colorado and relocated 75 tigers to 15 sanctuaries around the country, establishing a rescue network of true sanctuaries. TIA expanded scope in 2017 to include all big cats (Tigers, Lions, Leopards, Cheetahs, Cougars and Jaguars) and expanded again in 2021 to do international rescues for big cats in bad places. Most recent being 10 tigers from a tiger farm in Thailand. Since its inception TIA has relocated 496 big cats including 349 tigers.
TIA partnered with Dr Armstrong at the University of California in the development of a forensic validation tool to support the prosecution of wildlife crimes and identifying wildlife trade routes. It will empower animal trafficking law enforcement and have a meaningful impact on reducing the trade, ending the abuse, and protecting tigers. The success of this project provides the possibility of extending the technology to other species after the tool is established for tigers.
Prior to founding TIA, Bill was Managing Director of Smith Barney Salomon Brothers and subsequent acquisitions that culminated in the formation of Citigroup where he was Senior Vice President. Bill is presently on the Board of GFAS – Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, and Animal Grantmakers. He currently resides in New York City with his wife Kizmin and one domestic cat.
Richard Riley
Partner, Foley & Lardner LLP
Richard's Bio
Dick Riley is a tax partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Foley & Lardner LLP. He has been with the firm and its predecessors in Washington since 1983.
Exempt organization tax law is a primary focus of Dick’s tax practice. He has worked extensively with section 501(c)(3) charities (public charities and private foundations), section 501(c)(3) healthcare organizations, section 501(c)(3) educational organizations, section 501(c)(3) religious organizations, section 501(c)(4) social welfare and advocacy organizations, section 501(c)(6) trade associations, section 501(c)(7) social clubs, both state-chartered and federally chartered tax-exempt credit unions, and numerous other organizations, in providing tax advice and transactional planning representing organizations in IRS examinations and ruling projects, and litigating tax disputes in court. Illustrative projects in Dick’s exempt organization practice include the following:
- Outside tax counsel to one of the nation’s largest tax-exempt social welfare membership organizations, advising on its nationwide social welfare activities, licensing and royalty activities, lobbying and advocacy activities, for-profit and charitable affiliates, unrelated business tax issues, and other tax matters.
- Outside tax and corporate governance counsel to a nationwide tax-exempt public broadcasting organization, relating to fundraising and endowment activities, bylaws and internal governance guidelines, and general tax matters.
- Tax and transactional counsel to a nationwide multi-campus nonprofit university, including its conversion from for-profit to nonprofit status.
- Outside tax and corporate governance counsel to the leading US-based international software industry trade association, including its for-profit and charitable affiliates.
- Representing the credit union system and individual state-chartered credit unions on the unrelated business tax consequences of insurance and financial products, negotiating with the IRS on unrelated business tax issues, and representing the industry in successful test-case litigation in two federal courts.
- Tax and transactional counsel to US government-sponsored cybersecurity association serving multiple industries.
- Member of Foley team advising a nationally recognized clinic and medical research organization on gift planning and charitable endowment issues.
- Tax and transactional planning for a section 501(c)(3) library and museum in Southern California, including successful negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service to protect the organization’s tax exemption.
- Representation of numerous insurance guaranty associations before the IRS National Office, resulting in the Service’s reversal of its initial position and final recognition of these organizations’ exemption from tax under section 501(c)(6).
- Corporate and tax advice to many tax-exempt political campaign committees, PAC’s, and advocacy groups.
- Creation and representation of the United States affiliate of a worldwide religious missionary order based in the United Kingdom.
- Tax planning for numerous corporate merger and acquisition transactions involving tax-exempt organizations, including both section 501(c)(6) trade associations and section 501(c)(3) healthcare organizations.
- Creation of many nonprofit organizations, large and small, and preparation and processing of many applications to the IRS for recognition of tax-exempt status.
- Frequent writer and speaker to industry and professional organizations on tax exempt and nonprofit topics.
Dick has practical, personal knowledge of nonprofit governance and management issues. He serves on the board of directors of The Riley Foundation, a substantial grantmaking foundation in his home town of Meridian, Mississippi. Dick is also on the board of directors (Chair 2013-2014) of Legal Counsel for the Elderly, a 501(c)(3) organization providing legal services for low-income elderly residents of Washington DC. In addition, Dick serves on the board of directors of Acuity, A Mutual Insurance Company, a multistate property & casualty insurer headquartered in Wisconsin.
Dick is a 1980 magna cum laude graduate of Yale University, and received his J.D. with honors from Duke University School of Law in 1983. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar, and the bars of the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Tax Court, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and numerous federal district and appeals courts.
Dick is a member of the Section of Taxation of the American Bar Association, where he serves as Co-chair of the Political & Lobbying Organizations Subcommittee of the Exempt Organizations Committee. He is a member of the Tax Sections of the District of Columbia Bar and the Federal Bar Association. He was a charter member of the J. Edgar Murdock American Inn of Court at the United States Tax Court, and has served on the board of editorial advisors of the monthly magazine The Tax Adviser.
Dick is Peer Review Rated as AV® Preeminent™, the highest performance rating in Martindale-Hubbell's peer review rating system. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.