Alexandria Beck is an independent consultant with expertise in coalition building and grant program management. She leverages her global programs expertise to help non-profits amplify their impact, and she provides grant writing and organizational development services to charities.

As director of the Open Wing Alliance at The Humane League, Alexandria led a coalition of over 80 animal protection organizations worldwide to ban battery cages for egg-laying hens, providing resources, grants, and training to secure corporate cage-free commitments. Alexandria currently consults for Ethical Seafood Research, advocating for improved farmed fish welfare in low- and middle-income countries where aquaculture is rapidly expanding. Alexandria serves as a member on the board of Animal Advocacy Careers.

Clare Callison brings 16 years of animal welfare experience to Austin Pets Alive!. In 2018, she joined APA in a national-facing role in which she provides guidance and support to help organizations build robust lifesaving programs and improve operations to better serve people and pets. Clare specializes in helping organizations grow their transport relationships and increase their lifesaving through rescue partnerships, and inclusive adoption and foster practices. Before joining Austin Pets Alive!, she was the director of operations for San Antonio Pets Alive for five years where she helped the city go from a 28% to 90% live release rate in three years. Clare is a frequent conference speaker, and enjoys supporting others to implement lifesaving solutions to common challenges that exist in the animal wellbeing space.

Monica Chen is the executive director of New Roots Institute, a non-profit organization empowering the next generation with knowledge and training to end factory farming. New Roots Institute provides in-depth leadership training to high school and college students, and partners with mission-aligned organizations to drive behavioral and structural changes in local communities. This positions students as lifelong advocates with the skills to influence organizations, governments, and corporations.

Mike Dower is the co-founder and director of Jai Dog Rescue, a charitable organization dedicated to improving the lives of stray dogs in Thailand. Originally from London, Mike worked in the IT sector before a 2008 trip to Thailand profoundly impacted him. Witnessing the suffering of street dogs inspired him to act. In 2017, Mike co-founded Jai Dog Rescue, based on a farm at the edge of Khao Yai National Park. Under his leadership, the organization has grown into a fully-equipped veterinary facility with a team of 60+ professionals, including vets, nurses, and caregivers. Jai Dog Rescue has helped over 35,000 dogs through rescue, sterilization, adoption, and community outreach programs. The organization also formed a strategic partnership with Battersea Dogs and Cats Home to sterilize and vaccinate around 70,000 dogs in Nakhon Nayok province by 2026, tackling overpopulation and improving canine welfare on a large scale. Mike continues to lead the charity with passion and dedication, transforming the future of street dogs across Thailand.

Bob Fischer is a professor of philosophy at Texas State University, a senior researcher at Rethink Priorities, and the director of both the Arthropoda Foundation and the Animal Welfare Economics Working Group. He’s written and edited a dozen books, and over 100 articles and chapters. His most recent volume is Weighing Animal Welfare: Comparing Well-being Across Species (Oxford University Press, 2024). Some of his other recent projects include Animal Ethics: A Contemporary Introduction (2021) and Wildlife Ethics: Animal Ethics in Wildlife Management and Conservation (2023). Most recently, Bob has been working on ways of integrating animal welfare into public decision-making tools, like benefit-cost analysis and life-cycle assessments.

Patrick Gerard leads global advocacy for the International Companion Animal Management (ICAM) coalition, where he works to transform how communities worldwide care for stray animals. The coalition unites leading animal welfare NGOs around a shared vision: creating communities where animals and people thrive together. In this role, Patrick spearheads innovative initiatives including “Positive Cities,” a program that celebrates and recognizes municipalities making meaningful progress in humane stray animal management. His advocacy extends from grassroots community engagement to high-level policy influence; he has advised on animal welfare policy at Westminster and brings extensive leadership experience across the public, private, and third sectors. As former CEO of an education charity, he developed and implemented policy initiatives that created lasting change. Patrick’s work combines strategic policy influence with practical, community-based solutions to improve the lives of stray dogs and cats globally, fostering more compassionate relationships between people and animals in communities worldwide.

Rebecca (Bec) Gooley is a wildlife biologist at Wisdom Good Works, a non-profit developing rodent contraceptives as a more humane option for commensal rodent management. Her hope is for peaceful human-rodent coexistence, and to ensure rodent welfare and rights are centered in emerging research. She is concurrently investigating how rat poisons are impacting red-tailed hawks (gene expression profiles) and gray foxes (infectious disease prevalence), working in partnership with wildlife rehabilitation centers and policymakers. She holds a Bachelor of Science in genetics and zoology (University of Queensland) and a Ph.D. in life and environmental science (University of Sydney). Bec is a lifelong animal rights activist and runs a small animal rescue from her apartment for street kittens, and rats and mice liberated from laboratories.

As the director of the National Shelter Collaborative at Best Friends Animal Society, the largest peer to peer grantmaking program in animal welfare, Bethany Heins supports a team working to activate already no-kill organizations in supporting shelters that are not yet no-kill. This role marries Bethany’s diverse programmatic and shelter operations background, partnership-building capacity, and knack for strategic planning.

Prior to this role, Bethany served as the director of operations and strategic projects for national programs, where she led the execution of strategic projects associated with Best Friends' national program. Before that, Bethany served as the director of network and strategy, where she oversaw the team supporting the Best Friends Network, a partnership of over 4,200 organizations around the country supporting lifesaving in shelters. Before that, she served as the senior manager of regional programs with a focus on developing Best Friends' lifesaving programs in Atlanta, Georgia; Nashville, Tennessee; and Houston, Texas. Through Best Friends, in 2012, Bethany launched an innovative program in San Antonio, Texas, that focuses on partnerships and grassroots public engagement to save community cats. Bethany then served as the live release manager for the City of San Antonio Animal Care Services from 2013 through early 2015.

Bethany has also worked as the executive director of Vernon County Humane Society in Wisconsin. She began her career in shelter operations working as an animal care specialist for Central Illinois Humane Society while obtaining her bachelor's degree in natural resources and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois.

Bethany lives in Illinois with her husband and daughter, and an ever-changing number of cats and dogs.

Jill Hoffman is an award-winning communications professional with two decades of big agency experience working with well-known brands like General Motors, Nike, Allergan, and Blue Shield. She spent nearly a decade working with her father at Clive Hoffman Associates, where she helped the boutique firm maintain a thriving real estate practice. She has also helped several start-ups and smaller organizations raise their profiles.

Jill derives the greatest sense of professional satisfaction working with non-profit organizations. A native Angeleno, she has worked with several “hometown” charities, including A Place Called Home and the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust. Currently, Jill is a consultant to Animal Grantmakers, where she is involved with member engagement and outreach, member and external communications, programs like the Annual Animal Grantmakers Conference, and more. She played an active role in planning and marketing this year’s conference in Toronto.

Jill is also actively involved in animal protection in her personal life. Since 2014, she has participated in several half marathons to raise funds for the ASPCA (and was honored as a top fundraiser each time) and several (nine and counting!) Los Angeles Marathons in support of Angel City Pit Bulls (ACPB), one of Los Angeles’ most trusted rescue partners serving large-breed dogs with medical needs, as well as unweaned kittens. She has also volunteered as Team ACPB’s LA Big 5K lead coach and team coordinator for the past five years.

Jill graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Luke Klein joined the American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) and the Alternatives Research and Development Foundation (ARDF) staff in 2018 on the operations side, bringing his experience in management and organizational systems. As director of operations, he successfully led upgrades in a range of operations and information technology systems at AAVS and ARDF. As executive vice president of AAVS, Luke has expanded his role, bringing his experience in communications and marketing to the organizations' program and fundraising activities, as well. Luke’s lifelong pursuit of ethics and his belief in animal rights are aligned completely with his work at AAVS and ARDF, and he also serves on the boards of both organizations.

Stacy LeBaron has worked in animal welfare for over 30 years and is a dedicated feline advocate. She hosts the Community Cats Podcast, with more than 500 episodes featuring experts on cat welfare and overpopulation. Stacy also organizes virtual education events—including the Online Cat Conference, United Spay Alliance Conference, and Online Kitten Conference—and offers certification programs in Trap-Neuter-Return, Surrender Prevention, and Return-to-Home.

Through the Community Cats Grants Program, now part of the United Spay Alliance, she has helped over 200 grassroots groups build fundraising skills to expand spay/neuter efforts. Stacy’s mission is to inspire people to “turn their passion for cats into action.”

In addition to her podcast work, Stacy holds leadership roles with multiple organizations, including the Community Cat Clinic, PAWSitive Pantry, Vermont Humane Federation, Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, Community Cat Champions, and United Spay Alliance. She previously served as president of MRFRS for 16 years.

Stacy graduated from Vassar College with a degree in urban studies, and currently lives in Vermont and Switzerland with her husband.

Roxanne brings extensive grantmaking experience to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home, having led global portfolios of work at the Open Society Foundations. During this time, she was based in London, Barcelona, and New York, covering a wide variety of social, economic and political issues, leading grantmaking practice and actively shaping projects, movements, campaigns, policy, and research, alongside partners across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Roxanne joined Battersea Dogs and Cats Home in 2021 as head of grants and programs, working with stakeholders to design and deliver systemic change interventions to improve the health and welfare of dogs and cats. Roxanne joined the board of Animal Grantmakers in 2025.

Sharon Núñez is the co-founder and president of Animal Equality, an international animal protection organization she established in 2006. Born in Madrid, Spain, she has dedicated over two decades to animal protection, and under her leadership, Animal Equality has grown into a global force with offices in eight countries and that impacts many millions of animals annually. Sharon has personally gone undercover to film inside 51 factory farms worldwide, and has spoken about animal rights at prestigious institutions, including Harvard Law School and MIT.

Jay Odenbaugh’s research is in the philosophy of science (especially ecology and conservation biology) and environmental philosophy. Most recently, he has been writing on the conflict between the northern spotted owl and the barred owl in the Pacific Northwest. As one example, he recently co-authored a Guest Essay in the New York Times in which he and his colleagues discuss their concerns about the proposal to save northern spotted owls by killing barred owls. Jay is the James F. Miller Professor of Humanities and professor of philosophy at Lewis & Clark College, where he specializes in philosophy of science and environmental philosophy.

Melissa Rubin has dedicated over 30 years to advancing the mission of non-profit organizations that protect people, pets, and animals. She currently serves as executive vice president of advancement at Greater Good Charities, where she leads the advancement team and oversees major gifts, grants, and strategic donor engagement to expand the organization’s global impact. Previously, Melissa spent three decades at Humane World for Animals (fka the Humane Society of the United States), where she served as senior vice president of animal response, care, and sanctuary. In that role, she oversaw the organization's animal care centers, animal rescue operations, Pets for Life, and Rural Area Veterinary Services. She also guided the organization’s responses to numerous cruelty cases and natural disasters, including Hurricanes Katrina, mobilizing large-scale relief efforts for animals and communities in crisis. In addition to her leadership at Humane World for Animals, Melissa served as president of The Fund for Animals, where she was responsible for all aspects of non-profit management. She strengthened fundraising, built a high-performing leadership team, and fostered collaborations with internal and external partners to expand the organization’s reach and sustainability. Throughout her career, Melissa has been recognized for her ability to build programs from the ground up, lead complex disaster responses, and inspire philanthropy that drives lasting change.

Stien has 20 years of experience using her leadership, strategy, and philanthropy skills to support various causes in multiple countries. In the four years before joining Animal Charity Evaluators, Stien worked pro bono for several effective animal advocacy organizations, including ACE Recommended Charities and Movement Grant recipients. She is also a board member of Animal Grantmakers and a member of Charity Navigator’s Expert Group for Non-profit Ratings.

Delcianna (Delci) J. Winders is an associate professor of law and director of the Animal Law and Policy Institute at Vermont Law and Graduate School. Delci previously taught at Lewis & Clark Law School, where she directed the world’s first law school clinic dedicated to farmed animal advocacy. She served as vice president and deputy general counsel at the PETA Foundation, was the first Academic Fellow of the Harvard Animal Law & Policy Program, and was a visiting scholar at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University. Delci’s primary interests are in animal law and administrative law. She has also taught animal law at Tulane University School of Law and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla is philanthropic consultant at Open Philanthropy. He connects donors with evidence-based opportunities to reduce animal suffering and mitigate global catastrophic risks from advanced technologies. He designs strategic funding approaches that maximize impact in neglected cause areas and builds partnerships between philanthropists and innovative organizations tackling the most pressing challenges. Andrés is also the chairman of the board and co-founder of Shrimp Welfare Project (SWP), an organization dedicated to improving the welfare of farmed shrimp. Prior, he worked for more than 15 years in investment banking and private equity for firms such as Morgan Stanley and Aermont Capital in the U.K., Spain, Portugal, Mexico, and Qatar.