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MEET OUR TEAM

Lauren Mee Animal Advocacy Careers

Lauren Mee

CEO & Co-Founder

Lauren is the Founder & CEO of Animal Advocacy Careers (AAC).

She took part in the AIM incubator in 2019 after many years of trying to find a job that aligned with her ambition for impact, skills and experience. Prior to AAC she worked as a consultant at a global data intelligence company, helping businesses with market entry and expansion projects. She is also a board member of The Mission Motor, Consultants for Impact and The Animal Law Foundation.
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Karolina Skowron-baka

Karolina Skowron-Baka

Managing Director

Karolina is a lifelong animal advocate. She has served as Executive Director and President of the Board of Akcja Demokracja, Poland’s biggest multi-issue, progressive campaigning organisation.

Previously she was the Country Director of the Polish branch of the Albert Schweitzer Foundation, working for farmed animal rights. She is an expert and speaker on the connections between animal rights and women’s rights and has been bringing the two movements together in numerous initiatives. Her book “Feminism is veganism” on this issue has become a bestseller at her Polish publishing house Krytyka Polityczna.
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Ana Barreiro

Ana Barreiro

Director of Marketing

Ana is Director of Marketing at AAC, where she leads the marketing team and sets the organisation's marketing strategy.

Ana has been at AAC for 4 years. She sets marketing goals in line with AAC's strategy, builds the annual marketing plan, and decides channel mix and budget allocation. She holds a marketing management bachelor's degree and built her early experience across start-ups, NGOs and digital marketing agencies.
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Riccardo Varenna

Director of Special Projects

Riccardo is an experienced serial Founder and Builder with more than 10 years of experience across many different organisations.

He is driven by the desire to have a positive impact in the world, empower others to become the best version of themselves, and takes full ownership of solving challenging problems.
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Lorenzo Fruscella

Career Advising Specialist

Lorenzo is a biologist with a background in sustainable farming systems and biotechnology.

Originally from Rome, Italy, after studying in California (Bachelor’s), Scotland (Master’s), and London (PhD) and gaining hands-on experience at research centers and farming operations in North America, Europe, Madagascar, and New Zealand, Lorenzo decided to apply his expertise in the animal advocacy movement. In his spare time, Lorenzo enjoys practicing martial arts, studying Japanese, and reading about philosophy.
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Samuel Mazzarella

Research & MEL Manager

Sam has over a decade of experience in research and learning across international, mission-driven organisations.

He has led the design and delivery of evidence-based learning programmes, informed by a background in applied research. He is motivated by work that advances animal welfare and global well-being.
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Aneeha Patwardhan

Aneeha Patwardhan

Finance Consultant

Aneeha is an operations and management consultant with a background in engineering, business consulting, and programme leadership.

She helps mission-aligned organisations become more effective by building and streamlining their back-offices. Aneeha also consults for and oversees global operations at several leading nonprofits. She is passionate about ending animal suffering and has over a decade of experience with animal protection in India.
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Headshot of Gabriela who is the Growth Specialist at AAC.

Gabriela Falcón

Growth Specialist

Gabriela is a growth specialist who brings 6+ years of product and conversion optimization experience from the tech industry to the animal advocacy movement.

She's passionate about using data and experimentation to help mission-driven organizations scale their impact. As a growth specialist, she works on website optimization, analytics, and conversion—making sure AAC reaches the right talented people.
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Brooke Jeffers

Operations Specialist

Brooke is an operations specialist with a background in sustainable development and experience in international NGO operations.

She supports mission-aligned organisations by building and refining core operational systems—spanning HR, recruitment, and internal processes—to improve consistency and efficiency across teams. An avid traveller, she’s motivated by cross-cultural collaboration and creating systems that empower teams to do their best work in service of meaningful impact.
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BOARD OF
DIRECTORS

David Nash

David Nash

Board Chair

David has been the community director for EA London since 2017, having previously worked in operations since 2010.

He has given over 100 one-on-one career advising sessions. He co-founded the Effective Animal Advocacy London group in 2016 and has mentored people in a variety of EA and animal advocacy organisations.
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Alex Cerussi

Board Secretary

Alex Cerussi is a public policy expert with a robust foundation in food system reform, animal protection, and environmental sustainability.

Alex currently serves as the senior state policy manager at Mercy For Animals where she oversees the organization’s state and local policy initiatives throughout the United States. Alex is also a licensed attorney and serves as the resolutions vice-chair of the American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee and on the advisory council of Animal Defense Partnership.
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Jake Wilson

Jake Wilson

Board Treasurer

Jake Wilson is a financial professional spanning many industries such as aviation, auto finance, higher education, farmed animal welfare, and environmental conservation.

He has been vegan since 2021 and can regularly be found volunteering his time helping rescued farmed animals and working towards a cruelty-free future.
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Zoë Gumm

Board Member & Vice Treasurer

Dr Zoë Gumm is the Operations Director at Generation Pledge, a global organization that helps inheritors navigate the complexities of creating outstanding impact.

Before Generation Pledge, Zoë completed a PhD in Mathematics and volunteered with several non-profits. After a period of interning with Animal Ethics, Zoë decided she wanted her career to focus on the mitigation of suffering experienced by everyone, including beings that are yet to be born. Zoë is passionate about using her experience in research and organisation to enable others to make a positive impact.
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Taylor Quinn

Board Member

Nutritious, delicious, affordable, local food. These 4 principles guide Taylor's work across sectors and geographies as he works towards the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger by 2030.

Over the last 10 years he has worked inside UNICEF, the World Food Programme, the World Bank, Save the Children, Mercy Corps, Unilever, and others. He works in Liberia, Brazil, Congo, Somalia, Canada, and the United States as he builds coalitions of local entrepreneurs, farmers, industrial manufacturers, and multilateral development institutions to design and take-to-market food products for people living in poverty. He leverages his academic background as a food anthropologist to build food systems and new routes to market, spending his days everywhere from smoky kitchens to the board rooms from where those that control the biggest actors in the food system make decisions. When not working he can be found getting lost running through a new city or on a multi-day trail run.
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Jacob Ayang

Board Member

Dr. Jacob Ayang is a veterinary surgeon and animal welfare researcher based in Ghana.

He serves as Senior Corporate Campaigns Lead for the Animal Welfare League, where he secures corporate welfare commitments and builds regional partnerships. He co-founded Effective Altruism Ashesi and leads the Sheep, Health, and Economic Empowerment Project (SHEEP), which supports rural widows through livestock programs and training.
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ADVISORY
BOARD

Nicole Rawling-image

Nicole Rawling

Board Member

Nicole is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at the Material Innovation Initiative.

Nicole has a B.S. in International Politics from Georgetown and a law degree from Northwestern. She has been in the animal protection movement for decades, working at the Humane Society of the United States, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, and The Good Food Institute. She is also a mentor through Wanbam.
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Deep Dhillon

Deep Dhillon

Board Member

Deep is the Chief of Staff at The Humane League, where he partners with senior leadership to develop and drive organizational strategy and effectiveness.

Before joining THL, Deep served as Managing Director for the United States and Canada at Mercy For Animals, leading the region's work across corporate campaigns, policy advocacy, organizing, and food system transformation. He has also held leadership roles in engineering, strategy, and consulting, including positions as a Project Leader at BCG and a Director at Bell. As part of his transition to animal advocacy, Deep benefited from AAC's services and now proudly supports us in our mission
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Edie Bowles

Edie Bowles

Board Member

Edie is CEO and co-founder of the UK's first animal protection law firm, Advocates for Animals.

She is a solicitor specialising in animal protection law and has advised many animal protection organisations and individuals on a wide range of issues, from farming and wildlife through to animal experiments and entertainment. She is also a trustee of The Humane League. She often speaks on animal protection issues and has done so in the UK Parliament, the French Senate, and the East African Legislative Assembly.
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Meghan O'Brien Lowery

Meghan O'Brien Lowery

Board Member

Meghan is Partner and Director of The Greenbaum Foundation.

In her role, she focuses primarily on domestic and global projects to end factory farming and promote plant-based lifestyles. Meghan is passionate about relational literacy, supporting movement building and making people laugh.
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Laila Kassam

Board Member

Laila is a Co-Founder and Mission Lead of Animal Think Tank, Co-Founder of the Veterinary Vegan Network and Ethical Globe, and Co-Editor of the book Rethinking Food and Agriculture: New Ways Forward.

Laila has a Ph.D. in development economics and has worked in the international development sector since 2003.
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Brenton Mayer

Board Member

Brenton is Head of Internal Systems at 80,000 Hours, an organisation which aims to solve the most pressing skill bottlenecks in the world’s most pressing problems.

Previously, Brenton practiced clinical medicine and co-founded the Run to Better Days and Effective Altruism Australia, nonprofits promoting effective development aid.
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Joey Savoie

Joey Savoie

Board Member

Joey is Co-Founder and Director of Strategy of Charity Entrepreneurship.

Before that, he also co-founded Charity Science, a meta-organization that increased the amount of counterfactual funding going to high-impact charities. Subsequently, he co-founded Charity Science Health, a nonprofit that increases vaccination rates in India using mobile phones and behavioral nudges. He has given lectures on various aspects of charity entrepreneurship and Effective Altruism.
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