The Food Empowerment Project is guided by a capable and experienced
team of volunteers with a wide range of skills and interests in social
justice.
Our Board Members
Lawrence Carter-Long is
the Director of Advocacy for the Disabilities Network of NYC, which
works to shape policy, build community and increase civic, social and
economic opportunities for people with physical and sensory disabilities
in the Big Apple. In addition, Lawrence is longtime animal protectionist
and has facilitated workshops on effective outreach and communications
at Universities and organizing conferences across the nation for over
15 years.
Pedro Hernandez is a recent
graduate of the University of California at Davis (UCD) and is currently
working as a Paralegal/Legal Assistant at an immigration law firm in
Sacramento, California. While at UCD studying Chicano studies he also
worked as a campaigns assistant at Viva!USA where he saw many interconnections
between societal problems, factory farming, obesity and poverty issues.
Mia MacDonald is a New
York-based policy analyst, writer and activist working on issues of
environment, gender, development, sustainability and rights internationally.
She has collaborated on two books, including one on factory farming
and farmed animal welfare, and has had articles and interviews published
in many print and Web-based periodicals. She is a senior fellow of the
Worldwatch Institute.
lauren Ornelas is the
Food Empowerment Project's founder and serves as the group's volunteer
executive director. She is also the former executive director of Viva!USA,
a national nonprofit vegan advocacy organization. lauren has been active
in the animal rights movement for over 20 years. After spending four
years as National Campaign Coordinator for In Defense of Animals, lauren
was asked by Viva!UK to start and run Viva!USA in 1999. In cooperation
with activists across the country, she worked and achieved corporate
changes within Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, and Pier 1 Imports,
among others. She currently serves as Campaign Director with the Silicon
Valley Toxics Coalition.
Kim Sturla is the Executive
Director of Animal Place which she co-founded in 1989. Animal Place
is a sanctuary for farmed animals located in Vacaville, CA. Sturla has
been involved in the animal movement for over 30 years working for The
Fund for Animals and director of the Peninsula Humane Society. She wrote
the first law in the country that protects pre-university students unwilling
to participate in animal dissections in California.
Our Advisory Board
Gene Baur is co-founder
and president of Farm Sanctuary, the leading farm animal protection
organization in the U.S. He holds a masters degree in agricultural economics
from Cornell University and has conducted hundreds of visits to farms,
stockyards, and slaughterhouses to document conditions. Gene has testified
in court and before local, state and federal legislative bodies, and
has initiated groundbreaking legal enforcement and legislative action
to prevent farm animal abuse. His book, entitled Farm Sanctuary:
Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food, is being published
by Simon and Schuster in March, 2008.
Valerie Belt has a B.A.
in Economics from U.C.L.A., a Multiple Subject teaching credential and
recently completed a two-year Humane Education Certificate Program through
the Institute for Humane Education. Valerie has been active with farmed
animal campaigns and for ten years has taught in middle schools in Los
Angeles and overseas in Kuwait, Singapore and Bolivia.
Catherine Clyne is a writer
and ethical vegan. From 1999 to 2007 she served as Editor-in-Chief of
the monthly magazine Satya, a voice for animal, environmental,
social justice and vegetarian activism. Prior to her editorship of Satya,
Cat worked in the music industry and the nonprofit sector for over a
decade. She holds a Master's degree in religious studies from New York
University. She currently resides in Woodstock, New York.
Orly
Degani is special counsel in the appellate department
of Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold’s Los Angeles office.
She represents a number of animal protection organizations and individuals
engaged in litigation concerning animals, and is also actively involved
in legislative efforts on behalf of animals. She is the founder and
chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Animal Issues
Committee and Los Angeles Lawyers for Animals.
Oscar Gonzales, Jr. is
an experienced government and public affairs professional with a strong
background in community organizing, policy, media and fundraising. He
worked with former California Governor Gray Davis as a Special Assistant
from 1999-2002 and acted as a field representative for then Assembly
Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa. His previous and current work has a focus
on progressive causes from the environment to labor issues.
Che Green is the founder
and current executive director of the Humane Research Council, a nonprofit
animal protection organization focused on advocacy research and strategy.
A former analyst, investment banker, and research manager, Che has also
been an animal advocate at both the grassroots and national levels.
Che previously managed a small animal-related foundation based in Seattle,
and he currently lives in Olympia, Washington.
Laura Hudson is a current
Ph.D. candidate in Cultural Studies (with Designated Emphasis in Critical
Theory) at the University of California Davis. Her work is primarily
in the areas of Critical Animal Studies, Media Critique, Film Studies,
and Studies in Food and Culture. Her dissertation focuses on the representation
of animals in film and popular culture, and how these representations
affect our views of both human beings and other animals. A former staff
person for Viva!USA, she has experience in active campaigns promoting
ethical food choices as well as theoretical ones.
Sharie Lesniak is a defector
from corporate advertising, having enticed consumers to buy everything
from Gap clothes to Nissan cars to Absolut Vodka. But she eventually
came to realize that her skills could also help animal advocates more
effectively sell their message. Sharie is now VP of Marketing at the
Born Free USA united with Animal Protection Institute, where she focuses
on creating campaigns that will convince consumers to think more humanely
and engage in more animal-friendly behaviors. Sharie is also on the
Board of the Humane Research Council.
John
Gibb Millspaugh is the Minister of Tapestry, a Unitarian
Universalist Congregation in Mission Viejo, and former President of
the Unitarian Universalist Minister’s Association Pacific Southwest
Chapter. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy
School of Government and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity
School. He has worked as a Humane Officer for a Midwestern animal shelter,
a lobbyist for a New England animal concerns organization, and as the
Assistant for Social Justice to the Unitarian Universalist Association
President, where he addressed issues ranging from nuclear proliferation
to women’s rights to modern slavery.
Rey
Ortega is President and Founder of Sun Flour Baking
Co, Inc., founder of The Alternative Baking Company, and he has been
in the natural foods industry for nearly 15 years. Rey's passion for
natural foods comes from his desire to spread delicious vegan food to
as many people as possible. Rey also owns SK Publishing, a company that
specializes in vegetarian children's books.
William Rivas-Rivas worked
for several years as a campaign coordinator for People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (PETA), concentrating on bringing animal rights
to the Spanish-speaking population worldwide. Originally from Houston,
Texas, he has a B.S. in Political Science from University of Houston
and commissioned a Naval officer from Rice University Naval ROTC. He
talked about veganism and the plight of farmed animals to thousands
of military service members. He lives in Paris, France, working on a
master's degree in photojournalism and documentary photography.
Zoe Weil is the president
of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE) and the author of several
books, including Above All, Be Kind and The Power and Promise of Humane
Education. She has been a humane educator for over twenty years, and
has taught tens of thousands of young people about living with respect
and compassion for others and has trained thousands of adults to be
humane educators. IHE offers the first Master of Education program in
Humane Education through an affiliation with Cambridge College as well
as a Humane Education Certificate Program and weekend training workshops
across the U.S. and Canada.
Special Thanks
Thanks to all the people that have made The Food Empowerment Project
possible: FEP would like to thank Emily
Bellairs and Alfredo Kuba,
who volunteered hours of their time translating the text of the website.
Their help ensured that our website and message could be read by Spanish
speakers.
|
