This page lists all ACE staff and board affiliations with current or past recommended charities per our Employment/Affiliation Policy, and optionally lists affiliations with other animal charities that team members have chosen to report. It also lists affiliations of staff and board members involved in the evaluation process with charities we may review, per our Charity Evaluation Committee Policy.
Staff & Board Involved in the Charity Evaluation Process
Jon Bockman, Executive Director
- Volunteered for Vegan Outreach (VO), Christian Vegetarian Association, and Mercy For Animals (MFA)
- Used materials from Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine at outreach events
- Conducted pay-per-view for MFA, humane education presentations using The Humane League (THL)’s materials, and Meatless Monday institutional outreach using the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)’s materials
- Worked with THL on international Facebook campaigns
- Received funding from VegFund for 35+ outreach events as well as for international Facebook campaigns
- Worked for TAILS Humane Society and Oaken Acres Wildlife Center
- Served as coordinator for Farm Sanctuary’s Walk for Farm Animals
- Served as advisor to Effective Altruism Ventures
- Has donated to The Good Food Institute (GFI), Animal Equality, Faunalytics, Act Asia, VO, MFA, THL, Sentience Politics, Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM), Better Eating International, Encompass, A Well-Fed World
Sofia Davis-Fogel, Managing Director
- Member of THL’s Fast Action Network and MFA’s oINK volunteer writing group
- Has donated to THL, Animal Equality, Encompass, L214 Éthique & Animaux, and AnimaNaturalis
- Maintains close personal relationships with one person at The Reducetarian Foundation, one person at ProVeg International, one person at The Good Food Institute, and one person at Encompass
- Lives with one person at Compassion in World Farming USA
- Maintains close personal friendships with one person previously on DxE’s Coalitions committee and one person previously at New Harvest
Toni Adleberg, Director of Research
- Has donated to The Good Food Institute (GFI), MFA, THL, and Collectively Free
Kieran Greig, Researcher
Currently on leave
- Member of THL’s Fast Action Network and MFA’s Hen Heroes volunteer group
- Volunteered at Faunalytics and the Animal Welfare Action Lab
- Has lived/lives with people who worked for the Foundational Research Institute and who volunteer for Animal Ethics
- Maintains a personal friendship with one person who works at The Good Food Institute
- Maintains a personal friendship with people who work at Rethink Priorities; Lives with someone who works for Rethink Priorities; Manages volunteers at Rethink Priorities
- Maintains a personal friendship with people who work at Charity Entrepreneurship
Aaron Call, Research Associate
- Maintains a personal friendship with a founder of Northwest Veg
- Volunteered with Northwest Veg
- As a teacher, arranged classroom presentations by Factory Farming Awareness Coalition and The Ethical Choices Program
Trent Grassian, Research Associate
- His wife works at Animal Aid (U.K.)
- Has close friends at THL and Compassion in World Farming (U.K.), and friends at Animal Defenders International (U.K.) and Animal Equality
- Has donated to Animal Equality, Palestinian Animal League, and A Well-Fed World
- Through his research, he worked with Viva!, Animal Aid (U.K.), and Part-Time Carnivore
- Member of The Vegan Society’s Researcher Network
Jamie Spurgeon, Research Associate
- Has donated to MFA, THL, GFI, VO, and Veganuary
- Maintains personal friendship with one person at Sentience Institute
Kathryn Asher, Research Scientist
- Served as Research Director at Faunalytics
- Worked with Animal Equality, Animal Welfare Action Lab, Farm Sanctuary, FARM, MFA, GFI, Toronto Pig Save, VegFund, and Veganuary through Faunalytics
- Provided limited research feedback to a number of animal organizations through Faunalytics
- Interned at VegFund and World Animal Protection
- Volunteered at Beyond Carnism, Faunalytics, MFA Canada, GFI, Vegan America, Cat Rescue Maritimes (Saint John chapter), and the Fredericton Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- Donates monthly to GFI and New Harvest
- Has donated to Better Eating International, FARM, Faunalytics, MFA, THL, Toronto Pig Save, We Animals, Cat Rescue Maritimes, Rattle The Cage Productions Inc., and Organization for the Rescue of Animals
- Served as a member of a proposal writing committee for a project funded by the Animal Advocacy Research Fund
- Received PhD funding from VegFund Merit Award and from an anonymous donor via a fiscal sponsorship through Faunalytics
- Maintains a close personal friendship with one person at Better Eating International
- Serves as a member of the Animal Advocacy Research Fund oversight committee, which reviews proposals from charities being evaluated by ACE
Jonas Müller, Board Chair
- Served as project leader for a Swiss veg ads project done by Vegan Society Switzerland and Sentience Politics, which received advice from Nick Cooney and footage from Farm Sanctuary
- Was responsible for creating a Swiss version of a brochure from Albert Schweitzer Foundation (ASF)
- Leafleted for ASF and THL
- Earning-to-give for THL
Peter Hurford, Board Treasurer
- Collaborated with MFA on their online ads study
- Provided free consulting to MFA on how to improve email and direct mail fundraising
- Leads Rethink Priorities, a research group doing animal welfare work
- Donates to Rethink Priorities
Jeff Sebo, Board Secretary
- Contributed to writing projects in support of the Nonhuman Rights Project
Claire Zabel, Board Member
- Works for the Open Philanthropy Project, which has a program in farm animal welfare that includes research and grant-making (not heavily involved in this program)
Other Staff & Board Members
Erika Alonso, Director of Communications
- Volunteers for Encompass
Gina Stuessy, Director of Operations
- Has volunteered with THL, MFA, VO, Animal Equality, DxE, Save, and Anonymous for the Voiceless
- Member of THL’s Fast Action Network volunteer group and MFA’s Hen Heroes
- Received funding from VegFund for many outreach events
- Served as a vegan mentor with VO’s mentor program
Heather Herrell, Philanthropy Manager
- Worked at In Defense of Animals
Samantha Berscht, Research Fund Program Officer
- Served as a member of the Education Committee on the Alberta Spay and Neuter Task Force
- Serves as Fund Development Coordinator and board member at Fur-Ever Homes Rescue
- Volunteered at Little Mutts, Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society, The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals, and Canadians for Ethical Treatment of Farmed Animals
- Has donated to MFA, FARM, World Animal Protection Canada, and The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals
Krystal Caldwell, Researcher
- Worked at MFA for over two years as a data analytics manager
- Conducted the clean meat naming survey for GFI while at MFA
- Co-founded Animal Welfare Action Lab (AWAL)
- Conducted research with The Reducetarian Foundation through AWAL
- Submitted four proposals to the Animal Advocacy Research Fund (three with MFA, one with AWAL)
- Received funding from OPP for research with AWAL
- Maintains close personal friendships with many people at MFA, one person at Balanced, one person at THL, and one person at The Reducetarian Foundation
- Married to Bobbie Macdonald (co-founder at AWAL and researcher who has received funds from the Animal Advocacy Research Fund)
- Has provided research feedback on at least two research projects by Faunalytics
- Has donated to MFA, THL, GFI, and Better Eating International
Sydney Heiss, Researcher
- Interned at Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary
- Volunteered at Animal Legal Defense Fund, Compassion Over Killing, Animal Protection League of New Jersey, For the Animals Sanctuary, Lighthouse Farm Sanctuary, and HSUS
- Aided in submitting two proposals to the ACE Animal Advocacy Research Fund
Carlene Kucharczyk, Copyeditor
- Has donated to GFI
Sydne Daniels (Social Media Coordinator), Kimberly Ebel (Data Analyst), Becca Imrich (Graphic Designer), Sam Bankman-Fried (Board Member), and S. Greenberg (Board Member) do not have any affiliations to report.
This page lists affiliations that ACE has to organizations eligible for a recommendation, as per our Conflict of Interest Policy.
Compassionate Action for Animals
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 leafleting study by handing out booklets
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 humane education study by enrolling students in the study
Direct Action Everywhere (DxE)
- Zach Groff (International Press Coordinator) volunteers as a member of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund
Ethical Choices Program
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 humane education study by enrolling students in the study.
Factory Farming Awareness Coalition (FFAC)
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 humane education study by enrolling students in the study
Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM)
- ACE staff have spoken at the annual AR conference, hosted by FARM, each year since 2014
- Michael Webermann (past Executive Director of FARM) volunteers as a member of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund. He served this role concurrently with his ED role at FARM for about six months.
Faunalytics
- ACE worked with Faunalytics to produce the survey guidelines project in 2014. In both 2015 and 2016, ACE worked with them to update this project.
- Che Green (Executive Director) and Kathryn Asher (Research Director) both volunteer as members of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund.
- ACE consulted with Faunalytics when creating several studies in 2013.
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
- Paul Shapiro (Vice President of Policy and formerly Vice President of the Farm Animal Protection Campaign) volunteered as a member of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund. He served this role for about 10 months.
Mercy For Animals (MFA)
- ACE board member Peter Hurford ran an online ads study in 2014–2016 that included working with Mercy For Animals to gather data
- Nick Cooney (Executive Vice President) volunteers as a member of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund.
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 leafleting study by handing out booklets
Sentience Politics1
- ACE accepts donations from two international countries through EAF, SP’s parent organization.
- ACE has been recommended to a donor by REG, which is a sister organization to SP, in 2015. REG staff tell us ACE is still on the list of charities they would recommend based on donor interest.
- Former ACE Researcher Jacy Reese co-founded and now works for Sentience Institute, a branch of Sentience Politics
- Two ACE staff spoke at the Sentience Conference in 2016
- ACE consulted with Sentience Politics in 2016 about overlap between our respective research on animal sentience and welfare and shared documentation to reduce duplication of effort
The Good Food Institute (GFI)
- Nick Cooney (Board Member) volunteers as a member of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund.
The Humane League (THL)
- Harish Sethu (Board Member, and Director of Humane League Labs) volunteers as a member of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund.
- Nick Cooney (Board Member) volunteers as a member of the Oversight Committee, which monitors and provides feedback to ACE Program Officer Greg Boese regarding grant applications for the Animal Advocacy Research Fund.
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 leafleting study by handing out booklets
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 humane education study by enrolling students in the study
Vegan Outreach
- Assisted ACE with a 2013 leafleting study by handing out booklets