2021 Speakers
It is our enormous privilege to collaborate with several exceptionally talented, insightful activists from across the movement who have offered to speak at this event. You can learn more about each of our accomplished speakers below.
Jane Velez-Mitchell
Jane Velez-Mitchell is the founder and content editor of #JaneUnhained, a multi-platform social media news outlet that produces original video content on animal rights and the vegan lifestyle. She has won four Genesis Awards/commendations from the Humane Society of the United States for her reporting on animal issues, and VegNews named Velez-Mitchell Media Maven of the Year in 2010. In 2013, Mercy for Animals awarded her their Compassionate Leadership Award, and in 2014, she was honored for fighting animal abuse by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. In 2015, she received the Nanci Alexander Award at PETA’s 35th anniversary.
For six years she hosted her own show on CNN Headline News, where she ran a weekly segment on animal issues. Previously, Velez-Mitchell reported for the nationally syndicated Warner Brothers/Telepictures show Celebrity Justice, where she did numerous stories on animal issues championed by celebrities. Velez-Mitchell is the author of four books. Her 2014 nonfiction New York Times bestseller, “Exposed: The Secret Life of Jodi Arias,” offers a detailed psychological analysis of a salacious trial that gripped the American public.
pattrice jones
pattrice jones is a cofounder of VINE Sanctuary, an LGBTQ-led refuge for farmed animals that works for social and environmental justice as well as animal liberation. More than 700 animals live at the sanctuary, co-creating their unique multi-species community. Their method of rehabilitating roosters used in cockfighting is used by sanctuaries around the world, and their solar-powered sanctuary is driven by an ecofeminist understanding of the intersections among the ways that humans hurt animals, each other, and the environment.
Christopher Sebastian
Sebastian is the director of social media for Peace Advocacy Network, he sits on the Advisory Council for Encompass, he is a senior fellow at Sentient Media, he is co-founder of VGN, and he lectures at Columbia University in the Department of Social Work for the graduate course POP: Power, Oppression, and Privilege. Using a multidisciplinary approach that includes media theory, political science, and social psychology, he focuses on how human relationships with other animals shapes our attitudes about race, sexuality, and class. Learn more about the Peace Advocacy Network below.
Kyle Luzynski
Kyle is the founder, Executive Director, and Chairperson of Project Animal Freedom. Kyle earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy from St. Louis University in May 2020 with plans to complete a Master’s Degree in nonprofit management. His major areas of focus include environmental, business, and animal ethics, and he spends most of his spare time fighting to abolish factory farms, slaughterhouses, and other animal-abusing institutions. In 2016, he had the honor of being named the highest-scoring member of the All-Missouri Academic Team from a potential pool of 100,000 applicants. He was also one of just 40 incoming students at SLU to be named an MLK Scholar. Recognizing funding as the greatest limiting factor to our continued rapid growth, he strongly encourages you to become an official Project Animal Freedom Movement Builder today. What are you waiting for? Invest in the future of the Midwestern animal rights movement and discover all of the perks to doing so today!
Register today!
Growing the animal rights movement, waging successful pressure campaigns against mega-corporations, and passing historic legislation to benefit animals will take millions of animal rights activists fighting in unison. What are you waiting for? Register for this summit and join our team at Project Animal Freedom today!