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OUR TEAM
Lauren Mee
CEO & Co-founder
Before starting AAC, Lauren worked previously for just under 7 years in the for-profit sector, consulting organisations on using data to improve business efficiencies and market entry projects. In her spare time she volunteered for effective animal advocacy organisations.
Lauren participated in the 2019 cohort of Charity Entrepreneurship, and currently serves as a mentor for WANBAM.
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Sofia Balderson
Head of Programs
Sofia's mission is to serve the planet and its inhabitants, with a focus on the most neglected causes. Since 2018, she led international projects and teams at Veganuary and ran their international NGO partnerships program.
Sofia has advised multiple animal advocacy charities on their internal communications and project management. She runs a Impactful Animal Advocacy Community newsletter and serves as a mentor on LEAD for Farmed Animals.
Sofia has a degree in International Relations and Chinese Mandarin.
Aneeha Patwardhan
Operations Manager
Aneeha is an operations and management professional with a background in engineering, business consulting, and programme leadership. She enjoys enabling effective nonprofits to scale their programs through operations excellence.
Aneeha also leads global operations for Vegan Outreach and previously led their India branch. She is passionate about reducing animal suffering and has a decade of experience in animal protection in India.
Engin Arıkan
Researcher and M&E Manager
Engin is a co-founder at Kafessiz Türkiye (cage-free Turkey) and is involved in animal advocacy since 2014 after he finished his master's thesis on animal rights.
He has a Ph.D. in public law and is an assistant professor in the philosophy and sociology of law department at Turkish-German University in Istanbul.
Ana Barreiro
Marketing Manager
Ana has a marketing management bachelor and has been in the digital marketing field for over 5 years, collecting professional experience in start-ups, NGOs and digital marketing agencies.
She loves using (ethical) marketing to drive change. Ana is also working as a digital marketing specialist at Creative Compass, a vegan marketing agency.
ADVISORY BOARD
Nicole Rawling
Nicole is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at the Material Innovation Initiative. Nicole has a BS 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.
Pia Voltz
Pia is co-founder and board member of CellAg Germany, an association to accelerate cellular agriculture in the Germany. She also co-founded and managed an EA local group for two years. She holds degrees in organisational psychology and general management.
As a consultant and project manager she has been providing solutions for clients from different industries. Her areas of expertise include recruitment, personnel selection and development, employer branding, and organisational development.
Edie Bowles
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.
Brenton Mayer
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.
Meghan O'Brien Lowery
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.
Laila Kassam
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 PhD in development economics and has worked in the international development sector since 2003.
Joey Savoie
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.