Animal Law & Advocacy Conference 2026

Camille Labchuk

Executive Director at Animal Justice

Camille is one of Canada's leading animal rights lawyers and has worked to protect animals for over 15 years. As a lawyer, Camille seeks out cases that enhance the legal interests of animals, expose hidden animal suffering, and result in meaningful policy changes. As an advocate, Camille's work includes documenting the commercial seal kill on Canada's East Coast, exposing cruelty in farming, protecting the free speech rights of animal advocates, and campaigns against ag gag laws, trophy hunting, circuses, zoos, aquariums, shark finning, puppy mills, and more. Camille is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and Mount Allison University. She is a frequent lecturer and media commentator on animal law issues. Camille lives in Toronto with her cat, Cecily.

Charu Chandrasekera

Founder and Executive Director at Canadian Institute for Animal-Free Science

Chris Green

Executive Director at Animal Legal Defense Fund

Cristina Kladis

Staff Attorney at Animal Legal Defense Fund

Daniel Dylan

Associate Professor at Bora Laskin Faculty of Law, Lakehead University

Danielle Hanosh

Co-Founder/Executive Director at LEAP

David Michelson

Chief Petitioner at IP28 Oregon

Dr. Kendra Coulter

Professor and Coordinator of Animal Ethics and Sustainability Leadership at Huron University College at Western University

Dr. Martha-Elin Blomquist

Ph.D., Senior Site Manager, Juvenile Justice at National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Dr. Paulina Siemieniec

Animal Philosopher

Dr. Tayler Zavitz

Advocacy Programs Specialist at Animal Justice

Tayler Zavitz is the Advocacy Programs Specialist at Animal Justice. She brings a powerful combination of scholarly insight and dedicated activism to the movement for animal rights. Tayler holds a PhD in Sociology, specializing in Critical Animal Studies, from the University of Victoria. Her doctoral research offered a deep dive into the history of the animal rights movement in Canada, its repression and criminalization, and the emotional experiences and responses of animal activists to their repression. Tayler has spent the last almost decade teaching in academia, educating students on pressing issues like critical animal studies, crime and deviance, social movements, and food studies. She's also a passionate and long-time animal activist, with close to two decades of experience collaborating with various non-profits and local organizations to advance animal protection. Her passion extends to the intersectionality of social justice advocacy, advocating for the collective liberation of all animals, human and non-human, and the environment.

Elizabeth Schoales

Independent Scholar and Advocate

Ellie Ponders

Senior Director of Global Corporate Engagement at The Humane League

Erin Martellani

Humane Education Program Lead at Montreal SPCA

Hannah Brown

Director at Animal Welfare Foundation of Canada

Hattie More

Animal Ethics and Sustainability Leadership Student at Huron University

Ilaria Cimadori

PhD Candidate

Ira Moon

Investigations Manager at Animal Justice

Ira Moon is the Investigations Manager for Animal Justice, an Animal Photojournalism Fellow with We Animals, and a former undercover investigator. They’ve been conducting investigations for 8 years and continue to train new undercover investigators. They have worked undercover in a variety of animal use industries and witnessed the abuses that all animals face in those environments. Their experiences have led them to explore the broader extractive and racialized labour model on which contemporary animal agriculture largely depends. In addition to animal advocacy, Ira is active in the anti-war movement and other intersectional social causes. They are based in Tkaronto/Toronto.

Jeffrey Phillips

Managing Director at Dawson Strategic

Jessica Schwarz

Staff Lawyer at Animal Justice

Jessica Scott-Reid

Journalist

Jo-Anne McArthur

Photojournalist, Founder & President at We Animals

Josh Lynn

Public Relations Manager at Animal Justice

Judge Rosa Figarola

Judge

Justin Marceau

Law Professor at University of Denver

Kaitlyn Mitchell

Director of Legal Advocacy at Animal Justice

Kathleen Wood

Animal Legal Defense Fund

Kathy Hessler

The George Washington University Law School

Kimberly Carroll

Coach for Changemakers, Academy Director & Campaigns Strategist at Animal Justice

Kimberly Carroll is a coach for changemakers, a campaigns strategist with Animal Justice, and director of Animal Justice Academy. Her passion is to create transformations—in people and the world—through her programs, talks, activism, and community-building. As a coach and teacher for 15 years, she helps activists, social entrepreneurs, and mission-driven leaders who want to make a bigger difference in the world with the inner shifts, high-performance habits, and strategies to take their important work to the next level. Kimberly has worked to help empower thousands of animal advocates and has counseled those in high-stress activist positions like undercover investigators and executive directors. Kimberly has been an animal rights activist for 20 years. For the past 10 years, she's been with Animal Justice working on campaigns, investigations, and creating the Animal Justice Academy (10,000 members strong!)—an online training program (with 80-plus instructors), supportive community, & action collective for those who want to make a better world for animals. She produces and hosts AJA's popular live online panels and workshops. Kimberly's also a director with the Toronto Vegetarian Food Bank, which provides cruelty-free, eco-conscious, and healthy foods to those living under the poverty line, and is also passionate about environmental activism, democratic reform, and amplifying the voices of Indigenous peoples and other marginalized communities.

Kip Phillips

Junior Associate Solicitor at City of Guelph

Kira Berkeley

Animal Law Research Associate at University of Toronto

Krystal-Anne Roussel

Co-Director and Legal Counsel at AEL Advocacy

Krystal-Anne Roussel is head of AEL Advocacy's environmental law division. She also holds the role of Research Associate in Animal Law at the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law. Krystal has a Bachelor of Arts from St. Thomas University in Fredericton, New Brunswick, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of Ottawa, Faculty of Law in June 2020. While completing her studies, Krystal took part in the uOttawa-Ecojustice Environmental Law Clinic and worked as a legal intern with East Coast Environmental Law, Animal Justice, and the Wolastoqey Nation in New Brunswick. She completed her articles with the Canadian Environmental Law Association (CELA) and subsequently served as a staff lawyer and water policy coordinator at CELA before starting AEL Advocacy.

Lesley Fox

Executive Director at The Fur-Bearers

Lori Cohen

Founder, Executive Director at The Beagle Alliance

Maddie Youngman

Graduate Student Researcher, Philosophy Department at University of Alberta

Marie-Andrée Plante

Professor at Faculty of Law, Université de Sherbrooke

Marine Lercier

Founder and Executive Director at International Centre for Animal Rights and Ethics (ICARE)

Michael Swistara

Staff Attorney at Animal Legal Defense Fund

Michaël Lessard

Professor at Faculty of Law, Université de Sherbrooke

Nives Ilic

Mobilization Manager at Animal Justice

PJ Nyman

Corporate Engagement Manager at Animal Justice

Pierre Sadik

Government & Legislative Affairs Counsel at Animal Justice

Rachelle Hansen

Board Chair at Story Book Farm Primate Sanctuary

Rajesh K. Reddy

Animal Law Program Director at Center for Animal Law Studies, Lewis & Clark Law School

Riana Topan

Program Director at Humane World for Animals Canada

Sadie Jacobs

Research Advocacy Coordinator at Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

Sangita Iyer

Founder, Voices for Asian Elephants, Author & Wildlife Filmmaker

Sayara Thurston

Senior Policy Advisor, Farmed Animals at SPCA Montreal

Sophie Gaillard

Director of Animal Advocacy and Legal and Government Affairs at Montreal SPCA

Suzanne Zaccour

Director of Legal Affairs at National Association of Women and the Law

Will Potter

Investigative Journalist