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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
 Valerie Belt has a B.A. in Economics from U.C.L.A., a Multiple Subject teaching credential and received her Humane Education Certification through the Institute for Humane Education. Valerie has been active with farmed animal campaigns and humane education issues for the past 7 years, doing outreach and presentations for students of all ages as well as adults. She spent ten years teaching mathematics in middle schools in Los Angeles and overseas in Kuwait, Singapore and Bolivia. She is currently a technology instructor at a charter elementary school.
 Pedro Hernandez is a Legal Assistant at Public Advocates, a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy. Pedro holds a B.A. in Political Science from U.C. Davis, where he worked with Viva!USA, a national nonprofit vegan advocacy organization. He has been active in social justice and animal rights campaigns since high school.
Mia MacDonald is the executive director of Brighter Green, a New York-based public policy "action tank" that aims to raise awareness and encourage dialogue on and attention to issues that span the environment, animals, and sustainable development both globally and locally. Brighter Green's work has a particular focus on equity and rights. She is also 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's book, entitled Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food, was published by Simon and Schuster in March, 2008 and appeared on the L.A. Times and Boston Globe bestseller lists.
Lawrence Carter-Long is the Executive Director of 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 a long time animal advocate and has facilitated workshops on effective outreach and communications across the nation for over 15 years.
Orly
Degani is senior counsel in the appellate department of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s Los Angeles office. She has represented a number of animal protection organizations and individuals engaged in litigation concerning animals, and has also been actively involved in legislative efforts on behalf of animals. She is the founder and former chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Animal Issues Committee.
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 recently received her Ph.D. from the University of California Davis. Her degree is in Cultural Studies (with Designated Emphasis in Critical Theory) while her work focuses on 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.
Jennifer Knapp serves as F.E.P.'s pro bono counsel. She is a senior associate at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., the premier legal advisor to technology and growth enterprises worldwide, where she practices corporate and securities law. In addition to providing pro bono legal counsel to a number of organizations, she volunteers her time on various animal-related issues. She graduated with High Honors from U.C. Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Sociology, and she received her law degree from U.C. Hastings graduating Magna Cum Laude.
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 Chair of the “Ethical Eating: Food and Environmental Justice” Core Team of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and serves as co-minister of Winchester Unitarian Society in Massachusetts. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. He previously worked 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.
Donnie Smith is originally from Brooklyn, New York and is currently a third year English major at Earlham College in Richmond, IN. He is a member of the animal rights group on campus (Friends of Animals) and is becoming active in the food movement by not only reaching out to fellow students about food policies, but also helping them understand how their food choices can change the world.
Zoe Weil is the president of the Institute for Humane Education (IHE) and the author of several books, including Most Good, Least Harm and Above All, Be Kind. She has been a humane educator for over twenty years, 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 as well as a Humane Education Certificate Program and weekend training workshops across the U.S. and Canada.
David Williams is a Licensed General Contractor, a Certified Green Builder and in 2006 he earned his Permaculture Design Certification. This pioneering science integrates technology and biological systems to lessen the impact of human waste and resource consumption on the planet. David also participates in a local community garden where he grows an assortment of vegetables, and where all surplus foods are shared with both the members and the local Alameda Food Bank. Here he is allowed to practice the Permaculture Principles of Ethics: Care for the Earth, care for people, and set limits to consumption, reproduction, and share the surplus.
Special Thanks
Thanks to all the people who have made The Food Empowerment Project possible: FEP would like to thank Emily Bellairs and Monica Cendejas, 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.
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