Animal Rights National Conference

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FARM/AR2008
10101 Ashburton Ln.
Bethesda MD 20817

SPEAKER BIOS
	Nanci Alexander founded the Animal Rights Foundation of Florida (ARFF) in 1989 to help abused animals. In 1999, she decided to create a restaurant to demonstrate that vegan food could indeed be sublime. Four years of hard work later, Sublime was born. Garnering worldwide media mentions and superlative reviews, guests ranging from herbivores to omnivores and health-food nuts to gastronomes all checked out what Sublime had to offer. Since the day it opened, all of Sublime's profits have been donated to animal welfare organizations.
	Kari Bagnall is founder and director of Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary. Kari was working as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for abused and neglected children when a ‘pet’ monkey named Samantha was given to her in 1993. Soon after Samantha came into Kari’s life, more monkeys followed and Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary was born. Jungle Friends is home to over 100 new-world monkeys with an ever-growing waiting list. Most were cast offs from the exotic pet trade, others were retired from laboratory research.
	Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D., M.S., is a research scientist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a nationwide organization of physicians and laypersons that promotes preventive medicine, especially good nutrition, and addresses controversies in modern medicine, including ethical issues in research. Dr. Balcombe’s books include The Use of Animals in Higher Education: Problems, Alternatives, and Recommendations and Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good. He has contributed to more than 30 academic journals and book chapters.
	Matt Ball is the co-founder of Vegan Outreach, which publishes and distributes millions of booklets promoting veganism throughout the world. As of July 2008, over eight million hard copies of Vegan Outreach brochures have been handed out by the local members of Vegan Outreach around the world since the group's inception. In 2005, Matt and Vegan Outreach co-founder Jack Norris, were elected to the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame at the Animal Rights 2005 National Conference.
	Josephine Bellaccomo is the author of Move the Message and founder of ActionDynamics, a training organization providing skills building workshops for animal rights activists. A former university professor with ten years professional communications training experience, Josephine specializes in developing and delivering presentations, and crafting powerful messages for the media. She has been an animal rights activist in New York City for more than five years, working with national & grassroots groups to promote veganism and educate consumers about the dark truths of the fur trade and circuses.
	Harold Brown, also known as “Farmer Brown,” was raised on a cattle farm in Michigan and spent half of his life in agriculture. It is through his first-hand experience in interacting with farm animals on a family farm, going to stockyards, spending time in slaughterhouses, and witnessing the practices on factory farms that brought him to share his personal evolution and understanding of humankind’s relationship to animals we call food. Now a vegan activist, he is the founder of Farm Kind and currently tours the U.S. to speak about compassion.
	Jon Camp is Director of Outreach for Vegan Outreach, which publishes and distributes millions of booklets promoting veganism throughout the world. As of July 2008, over eight million hard copies of Vegan Outreach brochures have been handed out by members of Vegan Outreach. Jon travels across the US leafleting on behalf of Vegan Outreach's Adopt a College campaign; in the past 5 years, he has handed out over 350,000 booklets at 275 schools.
	Andréa Carvalho is the Database Manager of FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement), a non-profit organization advocating vegan diets to save animals, protect the environment, and improve health. She is also the author of FARM's weekly e-newsletter, Meatout Mondays. Andréa became involved in the animal rights movement in 2005, after working as an environmental educator in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She specializes in outreach to environmental communities, leafleting at events, conferences, and social meetings. This will be Andréa's fourth year on board as staff at the Animal Rights National Conference.
	Rick Corbett strapped into the animal movement at the age of 13, specializing in farmed animal issues and youth outreach. At the age of 21, he now holds 2 bachelor’s degrees, speaks 4 languages, has spoken all over the country, and an award for his activism at AR 2005. He is speaking on the youth outreach, grassroots activism, and individual activism panels. He lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
	Saurabh Dalal advocates for veganism and Ahinsa (non-violence) as compelling solutions to many global problems. He is Deputy Chair of the International Vegetarian Union, President of the Vegetarian Union of North America, President of the Vegetarian Society of DC, and volunteers in various capacities with numerous like-minded non-profits. A lifelong vegetarian and vegan since 1991. Saurabh holds graduate degrees in Physics and Engineering and explores ways to integrate sound science into the movement.
	Aurelia d’Andrea is VegNews Magazine’s editorial director and an award-winning journalist who has helped transform and develop the magazine into a nationally recognized publication. With smart editorial focused on the best of compassionate living, VegNews gives readers information and ideas for enhancing their vegetarian lifestyles, and continues to win industry awards in the process. As editorial director, d’Andrea has become an expert on the subjects of print media and vegetarianism, and has been quoted in numerous publications including The New York Times and Mediabistro.com.
	Karen Davis is the founder and President of United Poultry Concerns, Inc., a nonprofit organization that promotes the compassionate and respectful treatment of domestic fowl and includes a sanctuary. She has a PhD in English from the University of Maryland-College Park where she taught for 12 years in the English Department and pioneered a course on the role of animals in the Western philosophic and literary tradition. In 2002, Karen was inducted into the U.S. Animal Rights Hall of Fame. She has also authored many essays, articles, & books.
	Karen Dawn founded DawnWatch in 1999 after working as a news researcher and writer. She served on the Genesis Awards voting committee from 2001-2004. As a spokesperson for the animal protection movement, Karen has appeared on MTV, and she has lectured at national animal rights conferences since 2001. She has hosted animal issues talk shows and her opinion pieces have appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, New York's Newsday and the UK Guardian. Harper Collins recently published her first solo book, Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals.
	Christine Dorchak, Esq. is the President of national greyhound protection group, GREY2K USA (www.grey2kusa.org) and Co-Chairperson of the Committee to Protect Dogs (www.protectdogs.org). As an attorney, she works to end dog racing through the legislative and ballot initiative processes. Formerly, Christine served as the Resarch Director for the New England Anti-Vivisection Society and as manger of the Ellen Gifford Sheltering Home for Cats. An avid runner, she has completed six Boston Marathons to date.
	George Eisman is the co-founder of Vegetarian Nutrition Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association. A Registered Dietician since 1978, he has taught at Florida State University, and founded the Vegetarian Studies program at Miami-Dade Community College. He is the author of The Most Noble Diet, A Basic Course in Vegetarian and Vegan Nutrition, and Don't Let Your Diet Add to your Cancer Risk. George was inducted into North American Vegetarian Hall of Fame in 1993.
	Debra Erenberg is Organizing Director for Rainforest Action Network (www.RAN.org) where she oversees the development of local activist groups, activist training, online community-building, education and outreach. Prior to joining RAN, Debra served as Director of Affiliate Resources for NARAL Pro-Choice America, providing strategic support and training to the organization’s 27 state affiliates and campus organizing efforts at more than 100 schools. In 20 years of grassroots organizing, election campaigns and nonprofit management, Debra has also worked with CSPI, PETA, the Great Ape Project, & many others.
	Tammy Grimes is founder and executive director of Dogs Deserve Better, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the chaining and penning of dogs, and bringing 'man's best friend' into the home and family. She is an animal advocate and artist living in rural Pennsylvania. Tammy holds a B.A. in Art from the University of Maryland, and a B.A. in Naturology from the American Institute for Holistic Theology. She will relate her famous rescue of a sick chained dog and her resulting arrest at AR2008.
	Sue Grisham is a lay Episcopalian, the Anglican Society for the Welfare of Animals' US representative, and co-founder of the Episcopal Network for Animal Welfare. She has been involved directly or behind the scenes with the writing & submission of diocesan and national Church animal and food-related resolutions, and has tabled on the local and national level. She enjoys her veganic garden, adding to her Episcoveg blog, and corresponding with Episcopal church leaders on a variety of topics, including humane humanitarianism, institutional abuse, congregational social events, choice of language, etc.
	George Guimaraes is a vegan dietitian and animal rights activist in Brazil. As a dietitian, his practice is dedicated to the research of vegetarian diets and counseling of vegetarian patients. He is also a regular lecturer and a writer. Guimaraes is the director of two vegan restaurants, VEGETHUS, and the founder of VEDDAS (Ethical Vegetarianism, Animal Rights Defense and Society). VEDDAS holds educational activities, protests and lawsuits on issues ranging from vivisection to animal farming & entertainment and has recently organized the first animal rights meeting in the country.
	Kris Haley is the Manager of Multifaith Outreach for Best Friends Animal Society’s Animals & Religion program. A former Animal Kinship Ministry leader, Kris was instrumental in the recent move to a more animal-centric guiding principle document for the United Church of Religious Science/Centers for Spiritual Living. A believer that peace begins on your plate, Kris is one of the organizers of an annual ThanksLIVING celebration held at a Phoenix, AZ, vegan eatery, as part of the fledgling Co-Create Peace Project that she co-founded.
	Camille Hankins is co-founder of Win Animal Rights (WAR), a group of hardcore, grassroots, direct action campaigners dedicated to bringing an end to the brutality and killing at Huntingdon Life Sciences and ultimately to total animal liberation. With almost 20 years of sales, marketing and management expertise, Camille specializes in using her knowledge base to capitalize on critical weaknesses of animal exploitation businesses. She also acts as a Press Officer for the N. American Animal Liberation Press Office and annually serves as Exhibit Coordinator for the AR national conferences.
	Alex Hershaft is the Conference Chair and founder of the Vegetarian Information Service in 1976 and FARM in 1982. He launched World Farm Animals Day in 1983, the Great American Meatout in 1985, Gentle Thanksgiving in 1990, and he's organized 17 national AR conferences. He is a member of the Vegetarian and the Animal Rights Hall of Fame. He describes himself as a "late bloomer", having accomplished all this after earning a Ph.D. in chemistry and devoting nearly 30 years to science research and consulting.
	Steve Hindi was a “sportsman” for the first thirty years of his life, hunting many species of animals both on land and in the sea. In 1989, a critical turning point led him in the direction of compassion. In 1993, he founded Showing Animals Respect and Kindness (SHARK), a nonprofit animal protection organization that has shaken up the rodeo industry with its hidden camera investigations. SHARK is also well-known for the “Tiger Truck” – an enormous truck fitted with 100-inch TV screens. Rolling through towns & cities across the U.S., it reveals the harsh realities of animals abuse.
	Mike Hudak, Ph.D., founded Public Lands Without Livestock in 1999 to advocate for ending ranching on U.S. public lands. As a Sierra Club member, Mike lobbied that organization for two years (1998-2000) before the Club adopted a stronger position against such ranching. Since 1998, Mike has given presentations in 25 states about the harms of ranching at colleges, organizations, and national conferences. He is the author of Western Turf Wars: The Politics of Public Lands Ranching, which exposes the mismanagement and corruption within the agencies that manage ranching on America's federal lands.
	Mike Jaynes is an independent animal advocate and full time lecturer in English and Western Humanities at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. His academic and creative writing has appeared in peer reviewed journals, nationally circulated magazines, newspapers, ejournals, and books. In his Animal Advocacy pieces, he focuses mainly on the plight of the elephant and the whale shark but also argues against "Sustainable Use," Animals used for Entertainment, Mass Confinement Factory Farming, Whaling, Sealing, Shark Finning, Speciesism and Anthropocentrism.
	Pattrice Jones, coordinator of the Eastern Shore Sanctuary & Education Center, nurtures and advocates for chickens in the heart of a rural region dominated by the poultry industry. An activist in various social change movements since the 1970s and now the coordinator of the Global Hunger Alliance, Pattrice speaks and writes frequently of the connections between earth, animal, and human liberation. She currently teaches public speaking at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. She is the author of Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World: A Guide for Activists and Their Allies.
	Dr. Elliot Katz began his career as a trained veterinarian. Recognizing the immense animal suffering that takes place around the world, he founded In Defense of Animals (IDA) in 1983. IDA works to end animal exploitation, cruelty, and abuse by protecting for the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals, as well as to raise their status beyond mere property, commodities, or things. I DA's campaigns cover animals around the world, through investigation, rescue and rehabilitation, public education, political and consumer advocacy, and litigation.
	Shannon Keith is an animal liberation attorney in Los Angeles, California as well as the President of ARME and Uncaged Films. Shannon and her organizations made the award-winning documentary, "Behind the Mask," which explores the history of the animal liberation movement, from its inception to present day. Shannon is now working on her second documentary about the fur trade, called "Skin Trade."
	Marti Kheel is a prominent writer & activist in the areas of ecofeminism, animal liberation, and environmental ethics and author of the recently published Nature Ethics: An Ecofeminist Perspective. Over the years, her primary goal has been to develop an ecofeminist philosophy that is capable of bridging the seemingly disparate movements and philosophies of feminism, animal liberation, and environmental ethics. She co-founded Feminists for Animal Rights in 1982 and holds a doctorate from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where she is currently a visiting scholar.
	Greg Lawson has been a National Park Service ranger for 22 years and the environmental reasons are a strong motivation for his veganism. For eight years, he was lead journalist for Animal Rights Online. President of the Vegetarian Society of El Paso, Greg also has co-hosted an AR/vegan radio show, ACT Radio (Animal Concerns of Texas), for the last five years.
	Cheryl Leahy is general counsel at Compassion Over Killing. Compassion Over Killing focuses on abuse to animals raised for food, and Cheryl's position is aimed at targeting large-scale abuse of farmed animals through litigation. These cases include criminal and civil causes of action challenging the treatment of animals on commercial facilities, as well as efforts to challenge misleading advertising as it relates to the way animals are treated. She also sits on the Maryland State Bar Association's Animal Law Section Council. Cheryl received a J.D. from UCLA School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Chicago.
	Lisa Levinson is the Co-Founder and Director of Public Eye: Artists for Animals, a Philadelphia-based group teaching compassion for animals through the arts. Lisa is also a member of MAARC, Mid-Atlantic Animal Rights Coalition, producing annual symposia to empower regional activism. Lisa sits on the board of Mobilization For Animals Pennsylvania, an animal protection nonprofit. She rescues cats, toads, geese, raccoons and other animals in need.
	Howard Lyman, known as the “Mad Cowboy,” is a former cattle rancher-turned vegan and food safety activist. In 1996, he appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, resulting in the infamous “Veggie Libel” case brought on by Texas ranchers. He is the author of “Mad Cowboy: Plain truth from the cattle rancher who won’t eat meat” and former Director of the "Beyond Beef Campaign" & the Humane Society of the US' "Eating With Conscience" Campaign; past President of both the International Vegetarian Union, and EarthSave International; and is currently President of Voice for a Viable Future.
	Anthony Marr has a science degree and is the author of "Omni-Science and the Human Destiny" and “Homo Sapiens! SAVE YOUR EARTH”. A wildlife preservationist since 1995, he has been to India 3x for the Bengal tiger, to Japan 2x for the whales and dolphins, and conducted 5 Compassion for Animals Road Expeditions (CARE) each covering 30-40 states over 3-7 months. He founded Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE) in 1999 and is the leader of HOPE’s Global Emergency Operation (GEO) on climate change and mass extinction, which will take him through 25 countries in 5 continents over the next 3 years.
	George Matejka, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Chair of the Philosophy Department at Ursuline College. Since he developed a course entitled Animals and Ethics in 2004, roughly 175 Ursuline students have elected to take this class. He has published reviews of two books in the field of Animals and Ethics, including a review of Peter Singer’s In Defense of Animals: The Second Wave. George volunteers at Happy Tails cat sanctuary in Chesterland , Ohio , and resides in Lyndhurst , Ohio , with his two cats Peanut and Snuggles.
	Justine Mayela has built a 25-year professional career as vocalist and musician. Her musical genres have ranged from country and western to folk and mariachi. Because of her love for animals, Justine began her transition to a veganism at age 16. In songs that range from the humorous to the heartfelt, she stirs our souls and opens our eyes with the complementary themes of compassion for animals and a vegan lifestyle. For her AR2008 performance, Justine is joined on guitar by Neil Kaplan. Owner/musical director of New Attitude Productions, Neil is a long time vegan and animal advocate.
	Kim McCoy is the Executive Director of Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS), an international non-profit, marine wildlife conservation organization whose mission is to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans in order to conserve and protect ecosystems and species. Sea Shepherd uses innovative direct-action tactics to investigate, document, and take action when necessary to expose and confront illegal activities on the high seas. Kim holds a degree from Lewis & Clark College with a specialty in animal law.
	Erica Meier is the Executive Director of Compassion Over Killing (COK), a non-profit animal advocacy organization based in Washington , D.C. that focuses on exposing cruelty to farmed animals and promoting vegetarian eating as a way to reduce animal suffering. COK’s undercover investigations inside factory farms have been featured in various newspapers, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. Before working at COK, Erica spent four years as an animal control officer in D.C., rescuing sick, injured, and homeless animals as well as enforcing animal protection laws.
	Heather Mills is a prominent public figure who proudly speaks out on behalf of animals. In 2005, she became involved with Viva!, a British animal rights organization, voicing outrage about the fur trade. Ms. Mills also worked with PETA, posing in an anti-fur ad with the message “If you wouldn’t wear your dog, please don’t wear fur.” In 2006, she traveled to Canada to bring attention to the country’s annual seal hunt. Most recently, she has been outspoken about the benefits of veganism and how it can help reduce global warming.
	Dawn Moncrief is the Conference Director and Executive Director of FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement), a non-profit, public interest organization advocating plant-based (vegan) diets to save animals, protect the environment, and improve health. She has two Masters degrees from The George Washington University, one in International Relations specializing in economic development, the other specializing in women-in-development. Her specialty is the detrimental effects of animal agriculture on world hunger, particularly women in less-developed countries.
	Donny Moss is the producer and director of BLINDERS, the new documentary film about the plight of the New York City carriage horses. After a series of horse-drawn carriage accidents in 2006, Moss, a stand up comedian, put his jokes aside and started to document this highly controversial industry. Through original footage with hidden cameras and interviews, BLINDERS exposes the truth behind the tradition. It has been screened at eight film festivals and won best film in the "Point of View" category at the 2008 Int'l Wildlife Film Festival. The New York premiere was hosted by Alec Baldwin in June, 2008.
	Peter Muller has been involved in wildlife protection since 1976. He has participated in patrolling posted land against hunters during hunting season, given presentations on the deleterious effects of hunting at various universities and other groups, published numerous articles on this topic, debated and educated on radio and TV. Peter is currently President of LOHV (League of Humane voters), a PAC (Political Action Committee) whose mission is to support candidates for political office who promise their support of animal protective legislation.
	Robert Nixon has been involved with animal issues for over 30 years. He has participated in and orchestrated dozens of demonstrations, has written several news columns on animal issues, is a registered humane investigator in Illinois, and co-founded the Illinois Humane Political Action Committee. He is vice president of the Kankakee County Animal Foundation in Illinois whose primary objective is to spay/neuter a minimum of 100 cats & dogs a month. Nixon is a professor with a doctorate in communications and lives on a farm with 17 dogs & 21 cats.
	lauren Ornelas runs Food Empowerment Project. She has been active in the animal rights movement for over 19 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. As the leader of Viva!USA, she investigated factory farms and ran consumer campaigns. Some of her accomplishments include persuading Trader Joe’s to stop selling all duck meat, Pier 1 to stop using feathers and was the spark that got the CEO of Whole Foods to become a vegan.
	Charles Patterson is a social historian, author, Holocaust educator, editor, and therapist. He is a graduate of Amherst College, Columbia University (Ph.D.), and the Yad Vashem Institute for Holocaust Education in Jerusalem. Dr. Patterson has authored many books, including Eternal Treblinka: Our Treatment of Animals and the Holocaust. The influential book explores the similar attitudes and methods behind modern society's treatment of animals and the way humans have often treated each other, most notably during the Holocaust.
	Jeff Popick, also known as "The Vegan Sage," has worn many hats over the years, from radio host ("Vegetarian Lifestyles," KIEV 870 AM, Los Angeles) to businessman to author. His latest book is The Real Forbidden Fruit: How Meat Destroys Paradise and How Veganism Can Get It Back. His newest project is VeganWorld.com a social networking website.
	Will Potter is an award-winning independent journalist who focuses on how the “War on Terrorism” affects civil liberties. He has closely followed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act (AETA), the Earth Liberation Front arrests in “Operation Backfire,” and the landmark First Amendment case of the SHAC 7. His reporting on AETA has been recognized by Project Censored “for outstanding investigative journalism,” as one of the top 25 “stories that didn’t make the news” in 2007. He is the creator of GreenIsTheNewRed.com, where he blogs about the Green Scare and history repeating itself. He is currently pursuing a master’s in writing from Johns Hopkins University.
	Eric Prescott publishes ananimalfriendlylife.com, an online resource for animal-related news, commentary, links, reviews & archived podcasts. He has also been published by VegNews, the L.A. Times and weeklies such as L.A. CityBeat & OC Weekly. A filmmaker as well as a writer, Eric is producing and directing a documentary called, "I'm Vegan," which will shake up preconceived notions about vegans and veganism. He currently resides in Boston, where he is the director of the Boston Vegan Association.
	Jen Riley is Program Director of FARM (Farm Animal Rights Movement), a non-profit organization advocating vegan diets to save animals, protect the environment, and improve health. With the goal of empowering individuals to speak out on behalf of farmed animals, Jen works with grassroots activists around the world in hosting outreach events for FARM’s annual campaigns including Meatout, Vegan Earth Day, World Farm Animals Day, and Gentle Thanksgiving. For the past 2 years she has managed operations at the AR National Conference.
	Becky Robinson is the President of Alley Cat Allies and has worked in the animal protection field for 23 years. She co-founded ACA in 1990 and has consulted with animal control agencies, animal organizations, humane societies, spay/neuter clinics, veterinarians, local governments, and individuals worldwide. She established two spay/neuter clinics for stray and feral cats in the Washington, DC area, in 1994 and 1998. She serves on the board of the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies and as an Advisor to Animal Balance. She is also a Cat Expert for CatChannel.com, Cat Fancy's Online Community.
	Nathan Runkle serves full-time as the Executive Director of Mercy For Animals (MFA), an organization he founded in 1999. He has helped organize and execute MFA's investigations and open rescues at Ohio's four largest egg factory farms. Through his work with MFA, Nathan has appeared in stories by dozens of newspapers and radio programs, as well as on PBS, NBC, CBS, ABC and FOX affiliates. He has organized hundreds of demonstrations & educational outreach events and frequently speaks on AR issues at high schools and colleges.
	Richard Schwartz, Ph.D. is an Orthodox Jew, teacher, and author. He is the president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) and co-founder of the Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians. His best-known book is Judaism and Vegetarianism concluding that vegetarianism is the highest form of kosher and the best diet for Jews in the modern world. His writings inspired the 2007 documentary film, A Sacred Duty: Applying Jewish Values to Heal the World. Dr. Schwartz also has over 100 articles. He often speaks and contributes articles on environmental, health, and other current issues.
	Brenda Shoss formed Kinship Circle to empower people to write/speak/act influentially on behalf of animals. In response to Hurricane Katrina, Kinship Circle mobilized volunteers/supplies to nearly 80 Gulf Coast sites. Brenda later became Food/Water Assignments Director for Animal Rescue New Orleans and went on to form Kinship Circle Animal Disaster Aid Network. At the 8/29/08 third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, Kinship Circle will receive a Pioneer Spirit Award in New Orleans. Her column runs in Healthy Planet and she has written for The Animals Voice, Satya Magazine, VegNews, & other publications.
	Lee Slonimsky is a hedge fund manager (Ocean Partners LP) with a growing interest in "green investing" and how it can be used to promote the rights of animals. He is also a poet and his discovery, researching his 2007 book PYTHAGORAS IN LOVE, that the famous mathematician was also an ancient animal rights activist whose political party held power in Magna Graecia 2,500 years ago, has emboldened his view that, with the right sorts of financial networking and support, Animal Rights can make new gains in modern politics, as has happened recently with the Dutch Party for the Animals.
	Veda Stram is Vice President, Associate Editor, Administration & Outreach for AnimalsVoice.com and The Animals Voice Magazine. Veda saw a photograph of an animal in a lab around noon one day in April 1988 and attended an animal rights meeting that night. She was vegetarian within weeks, vegan within months. She volunteered for The Animals Voice Magazine from 1988 through 1999, began working for AnimalsVoice.com in 2001. Veda has been on the Boards of Orange County People for Animals (OCPA) and the Northwest Animal Rights Network (NARN).
	Meili Swanson a 14 year-old Freshman at Northview High School in Georgia. She has been a vegetarian for two and a half years and a vegan for the last seven months. At a young age, Meili decided to take action for animals and speak out about compassionate living. She currently works with her local animal rights group, Georgia Animal Rights And Protection. At AR2008, she will speak at the "Engaging Children" session on how to effectively conduct outreach to youth.
	Cheri Thompson graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1999. She became so moved by what she learned about the link between violence towards animals and violent crime in society, that in 2000, she gave up practicing law to write the first ever animal-assisted violence-prevention curriculum to be endorsed by a state board of education. Her program, The Healing Species, has appeared in numerous magazines & newspaper articles. Currently, she is an adjunct professor at the USC and speaks about implementing character & violence prevention programs across the US.
	Brian Vincent is Communications Director for Big Wildlife, a non-profit wildlife protection organization based in the Pacific Northwest. He has done extensive media coordination, outreach, and mobilizing for a range of animal rights and conservation groups including the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance, American Lands Alliance, and Animal Protection Institute. In addition, he has organized some of the most successful and creative non-violent direct actions in the US. Brian leads Big Wildlife's media, grassroots organizing, and coalition building efforts. Contact Brian at big_wildlife@shaw.ca
	Eleni Vlachos finds that truth appears most in the spontaneous answers of unprepared subjects. It is to this end that she spent the last four years of her life asking random people and family members questions about a topic close to our mouths but far from our hearts: our food. The unexpected and eclectic group of individuals interviewed bring humor and poignancy to Eleni's first documentary, Seeing Through the Fence. This mix inspires her to continue asking questions, with a belief that action might follow the answer. In addition to documentary filmmaking, she is also known as "Eleni Binge," half of the rock duo Beloved Binge.
	Dave Warwak is a meditator, philosopher, poet, humanitarian, artist, musician, and author of "Peep Show for Children Only". Formerly a tenured middle school art teacher, he became an animal rights activist after he was notoriously fired for teaching kindness, i.e.: veganism, to his students. Warwak's mission has since been to tell children the truth about our world.
	Odette Wilkens is Executive Director of the Equal Justice Alliance, which is seeking legislative and judicial remedies to repeal or amend AETA. She is also a member of the Animal Law Committee of the American Bar Association and a member of the Committee of Legal Issues Pertaining to Animals of the New York City Bar Association. As a corporate attorney, Odette was Assistant General Counsel for a major international recruiting firm. She also holds a masters degree in business administration in finance from New York University.
	Peter Young is a former political prisoner sentenced to a two year prison term in 2005 for releasing and conspiracy to release thousands of mink from fur farms across the Midwest in 1997. Recently released after 7 years on the FBI's wanted list and a 24 month federal prison sentence, this veteran activist is an emerging voice of strength through sacrifice in the struggle for animal liberation. Now returned to the world on this side of the fence, Peter Young brings with him an arresting story, speaking on the subjects of political repression, animal liberation, politicized prosecutions, and more.
	Bruce Zeman, along with his dachshund Nathan, spearheaded the enacting of the "Guardian Campaign" in his hometown of Wanaque, NJ. The ordinance, which drew national media coverage, is known as "Nathan's Law." Bruce also initiated a humane education program in the schools - where (assisted by Nathan) he speaks to students about animal issues. He regularly appears in court on behalf of abused or neglected animals. In 2005, he conducted advanced animal rescue in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina. Bruce & Nathan were awarded the "Kinship Award" by the Doris Day Animal Found.