Our Team
Special thanks our to directors, advisors, staff, designers, and volunteers for helping create a world that maximizes health and well-being... for all.
Josephine Bellaccomo
Communications Specialist / Board Advisor - Josephine Bellaccomo is a strategic communication consultant and executive coach, with a master's degree from the New York University. She is a social justice advocate and the author of Move the Message: Your Guide to Making a Difference and Changing the World, a guidebook for community organizers, and a textbook in a Human Rights Advocacy course at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. She has been training professionals, from Associate to C-level corporate leaders to communicate powerfully since 1995.
Hope Bohanec
Eco-Eating Specialist / Board Advisor - Hope Bohanec has been active in animal protection and environmental activism for more than 20 years and currently lends her organizational talents to In Defense of Animals as their Grassroots Campaigns Director. She is a nationally recognized leader and speaker in the animal protection movement, and a well known presenter throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and across the U.S. Hope was the Sonoma County Coordinator for Proposition 2 and soon after that victory, founded Compassionate Living Outreach. Hope developed an influential power point presentation called Eco-Eating: A Cool Diet for a Hot Planet that addresses the environmental impact of animal agriculture through peer-reviewed scientific research. Eco-Eating has been presented at conferences and schools throughout the U.S. for the past five years.
Caroline Cherry
Advocate / Board Director - In addition to her journalism degree from the University of Maryland, Caroline Cherry has years of research and communications experience working and volunteering with nonprofit organizations. She has worked with the writer's group for the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and has served on the Board of Directors for the Vegetarian Society of DC. Most recently Caroline has launched a new website, VeryVegelicious, which aims to help individuals with the how-to's of veganism, from personal shopping to nutrition advice.
Email - ccherry@awfw.org
Andrew DellaPietra, D.D.S.
Mobile Technology Specialist / Board Advisor - In addition to being a public health advocate, providing dental care to under-served families throughout New York City, Dr. DellaPietra is also the founder of MobileMatters, a cause-based mobile technology that helps non-profit organizations "go mobile". Intrigued by the speed and reach of mobile devices, yet equally dismayed at its limited application to the non-profit sector, Dr. DellaPietra set out to harness the engaging and interactive nature of mobile phones to help advance humanitarian causes around the globe. It is his personal belief that mobile technology will revolutionize the way in which organizations and their members interact, and it is his personal mission to help introduce, educate, and advocate its use to further their cause.
Email - A.DellaPietra@MobileMatters.
D. Maurice Herring
Nutritionist / Board Director - D. Maurice Herring's formal education on health and wellness includes a B.S. in pre-med biology and chemistry from Seton Hall University and an M.S. in community nutrition and food science from Cornell University. He has actively promoted healthy people and a healthy planet through his work as a full-time nutritionist. He has also been involved with the Vegetarian Society of DC (VSDC) as the Editor of VSDC News from 2004-2010, as a VSDC Board Member from 2005-2010, and as the Director and Instructor of the 2007 VSDC Eat Smart Program - an outreach nutrition program prioritizing the African American women in Washington, DC.
Email - dherring@awfw.org
Robert Goodland
Climate Change Specialist / Board Advisor - Dr. Robert Goodland served the World Bank Group as their Environmental Adviser for 23 years, during which time he drafted and persuaded the Bank to adopt most of its current social and environmental policies. He was then appointed as the technical director of the independent Extractive Industries Review of the World Bank's oil, gas and mining portfolio. He was elected president of the International Association for Impact Assessment, and Metro Chair of the Ecological Society of America. He was honored in 2008 as the first recipient of the Coolidge medal for lifetime achievement in environmental conservation, presented by the prestigious International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Jaime Hecht
Outreach Coordinator - Jaime Hecht has a master's degree in sociology from the University of Central Florida, where she studied the cultural and social barriers to the maintenance of a vegetarian/vegan diet. Her thesis found that the influence of family, traditions, labels/definitions, peers, gender and the lure of social status to be very significant regarding vegetarian flux. Results indicate that vegetarian membership is fluid and permeable, takes on a life course trajectory and is rooted within the context of many social and cultural factors. Her other research areas include the feminist-vegetarian connection, food culture, and social movement theory.
Email - jhecht@awfw.org
Robin Helfritch
Graphic Designer - Robin Helfritch is the founder of Red Robin Design, Inc. She has more than 15 years professional design experience in the graphic and web design industry. Her talents include graphic design (both print & digital), web design and authoring, animation, digital image editing and creative manipulation, logo design, interactive CD authoring, Flash and PowerPoint presentations, package design, and trade show display design. She has won many industry awards for her work. Additionally, Robin donates time to grassroots animal and vegan groups, and sponsors rescued farm animals at sanctuaries.
Pattrice Jones
Hunger Specialist / Board Advisor - founder of the Global Hunger Alliance and co-founder of the Eastern Shore Sanctuary and Education Center. Pattrice Jones has been active in multiple social change movements since the 1970s. Pattrice speaks and writes frequently of the connections between earth, animal and human liberation. She is the author of Aftershock: Confronting Trauma in a Violent World.
Gary Lowenthal
PB&J Campaign Director - Gary Lowenthal is the co-founder of Compassion for Animals and founder of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sake. In 2009, the WVBS was honored by VegNews Magazine as "Veg Event of the Year" as well as featured on CNN in 2010. Gary and his wife live in Falls Church, Virginia with their cat Mike and bunny Fiona.
E-mail - gary@pbjcampaign.org
Milton Mills
Race & Nutrition Specialist / Board Advisor - Dr. Milton Mills is the Associate Director of Preventive Medicine with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and co-author of PCRM's report on Racial and Ethnic Bias in the U.S. Dietary Guidelines. Whether internist Dr. Mills is practicing at Fairfax Hospital in Virginia or at free clinics in Washington, D.C., his prescription for patients is likely to include some dietary advice: go vegetarian. "Medical research shows conclusively that a plant-based diet reduces chronic disease risk, so that's something I absolutely encourage my patients to move toward," says Dr. Mills, a graduate of Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Mills doesn't limit his message to his patients. He takes it to audiences around the country as well, speaking at hospitals, churches, and community centers.
Dawn Moncrief
Founder and Executive Director / Board Director - Dawn Moncrief has been a social justice advocate for more than 20 years. She has two master's degrees from The George Washington University: one in International Relations, the other in Women's Studies, both focusing on economic development. Her work highlights the ways in which high levels of meat consumption in the U.S. and globally exacerbate global hunger, especially for women and children. She also draws attention to the negative consequences of increasing livestock production and intensification on climate change and oil scarcity.
Email - dmoncrief@awfw.org
Molly Phemister
Biodiversity and Landscape Architecture Specialist / Researcher - Molly Phemister is the founder of eatcology.com, a blog focused on the nexus of ecology, design, and community food systems. She holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Virginia, as well as a Master of Education and a BA in Art. She is a published author, most notably "Designing a Landscape for Sustainability" in ActionBioscience, the online journal of the American Institute of Biological Sciences, and "The Biggest Picture: Global Food and Hunger Issues" for Planning magazine, the flagship publication of the American Planning Association. Other articles include "The Beets Out Back: Bringing the Local Food Movement Home" for Joyful Dissent, and smaller pieces for Ecoagriculture Partners and The Cultural Landscape Foundation.
Maru Vigo
Latino Outreach Specialist / Board Advisor - Maru Vigo holds an M.A. in Education in addition to her Modern Languages degree. She has been an advocate for social change for more than 30 years and works as a foreign language educator and translator. Her activism began in Lima, Peru. Since moving to to Arizona in 1987, her work has expanded to include public speaking, media presentations, statewide initiatives, advocacy training, and development of advocacy networks. Maru is a correspondent for The Ark, the official bulletin of Catholic Concern for Animals and a certified Humane Education Specialist.
Michael Weber
Environmental Specialist / Researcher - Michael Weber specializes in environmental cost/benefit analyses and opportunity costs and holds a degree in Environmental Economics and Policy. At Evergreen State College, he was part of the team that conducted the first greenhouse gas emission and sequestration calculation of a US college. Michael organizes national and local social justice campaigns on issues public health, environmental sustainability, and animal well-being.
Aaron Wissner
Peak Oil & Energy Specialist / Board Advisor - Aaron Wissner is founder and president of Local Future, a nonprofit, educational organization. A graduate of the University of Michigan, Wissner holds a major in mathematics with an emphasis in educational theory and science. His advanced coursework includes graduate studies at Grand Valley State University and Michigan State University in educational leadership. Aaron was president of the Wayland Union Education Association, the Allegan County Education Association, and the MEA/NEA Region 9 Education Association. In January 2008, Aaron was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal detailing his peak oil education efforts.
