Student Convention – 2024

Chris Green is the Executive Director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund where he earlier established the organization’s Legislative Affairs Program and was its director from 2013–2015. Chris spent the past 8 years serving as the inaugural Executive Director of the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program at Harvard Law School, and he currently is a Fellow with the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics. Green also is the former Chair of the American Bar Association’s TIPS Animal Law Committee. In those capacities, Chris persuaded the top three US airlines to stop transporting endangered animal hunting trophies, helped defeat Ag-Gag legislation in several states, and successfully passed ABA-wide resolutions recommending that all US legislative bodies outlaw the possession of dangerous wild animals and provide police officers with non-lethal animal encounter training. Chris also served on a National Academies of Sciences committee assessing the Dept. of Veterans Affairs’ use of dogs in biomedical research. Chris regularly testifies at legislative hearings on animal protection matters and he has been quoted on animal legal issues in dozens of major media outlets. Green is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Illinois, where he created the college’s first Environmental Science degree. Chris also spent several decades working in the fine arts, film, and music industries, and currently manages an Illinois farm that has remained in his family for 186 years. In 2022, Chris received the American Bar Association’s Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Animal Law.

Speak Out for Animals (SOFA) is a non-governmental organization which aims to protect animals through the legal system. Under Chinoda’s leadership, SOFA has facilitated the training of lawyers, prosecutors, magistrates, investigators, and students on animal and wildlife law. She has authored essential resources including the Wildlife Legal Guide, Wildlife Law Code, and a Rapid Reference Guide for Zimbabwe. Chinoda works to protect animals through legal advocacy and education. Chinoda is a Wildlife Law Lecturer at both the Great Zimbabwe University and the University of Zimbabwe. She introduced the first-ever Wildlife Law module in Zimbabwe, and in all of Africa, Zimbabwe is the only country offering this groundbreaking program. Advocate Chinoda obtained her Bachelor of Law Honors degree from the University of Zimbabwe and holds a Master’s degree in Animal Law from Lewis and Clark Law School in the USA. She previously worked as a lawyer for the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority, and also served as a prosecutor for three years under the National Prosecuting Authority in Zimbabwe. Chinoda’s exceptional legal acumen has been recognized with awards, including being named the Best Corporate Lawyer in Zimbabwe in 2021. She was further honoured as one of the Top 100 Young African Conservation Leaders. Ever Chinoda has cemented her reputation as a leading voice for animal rights and conservation in Africa and beyond.

Katie Kraska is a recovering federal lobbyist who spent seven years leading federal initiatives for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals with a particular focus on equine welfare, most recently as the Director of Federal Legislation in Washington, D.C. She has testified to Congress on multiple animal protection issues and advanced legislation intersecting with agriculture, climate, public lands, food safety, policing, disaster preparedness, sports, and federal funding. Her work in animal protection and environmental policy spans five continents. Notably, she was a U.S. Fulbright Research grantee to Indonesia, and remains a Fulbright Alumni Ambassador for the program. Most recently, she worked under the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s General Counsel on international issues. Katie is currently pursuing a JD at Harvard Law School with particular focus on food systems, environmental and agricultural technology and policy, and innovative approaches to sociopolitical gridlock. She holds a master’s degree in philosophy and public policy from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and dual degrees in Biology and Art History from DePauw University in Indiana.

From 2006-2019, Cheryl helmed the Legal Advocacy program at Animal Outlook as its general counsel, targeting large-scale abuse of farmed animals through undercover investigations, proactive litigation, policy, and other innovative legal campaigns.  From 2019-2020 she served as Animal Outlook’s executive vice president, and in 2020 became executive director. In this role, she works on the strategic direction of the organization, especially focusing on the use of undercover investigations as a mechanism for high-impact advocacy and culture change, and on targeting systemic abuse of farmed animals through proactive litigation. Her work, which has helped shape the development of animal law in the U.S., includes challenging cruel, yet standard, practices forced upon farmed animals as well as the misleading marketing and unfair business practices by corporations that produce meat, milk and eggs often found in grocery stores. She builds and oversees Animal Outlook’s campaigns to reform the practices and offerings of major food corporations to reduce animal suffering and bring more vegan options into the food supply, and the growth of the vegan movement in mainstream culture. Her campaigns have included the initial research and case development of what became a class action lawsuit against the dairy industry for price fixing, settled for the consumer class for $52 million; whistleblower litigation, federal intervention, and a settlement resulting from Animal Outlook’s investigation of the largest lamb slaughterhouse in the U.S.; and an investigation of Tyson Foods that resulted in hard-hitting evidence driving the first-ever charges and convictions for broiler breeder chicken cruelty. She developed and taught one of the nation’s first courses on animals in agriculture and the law at UCLA Law and served as the project coordinator for the university’s launch of its Animal Law and Policy Small Grants program. She also worked on the Initiative on Animals in Our Food System at the Resnick Program for Food Law and Policy. Cheryl and her work have been featured in major media outlets including NPR, The Washington Post and many more. She is a regular speaker at law schools and conferences. Cheryl earned her J.D. from UCLA School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Chicago in Environmental Studies. She is a member of the bar in the District of Columbia, Maryland and California, and is based in Los Angeles.

Manny Rutinel is a Representative for the Colorado State House, representing the great people of Adams County. Manny Rutinel is also the CEO of Climate Refarm—a platform for individuals and corporations to fund high-impact climate solutions in the food system. Manny received his J.D. from Yale Law School. After law school, Manny was an Attorney for Earthjustice. Before law school, Manny was an economist for the US Army Corps of Engineers, where he also served as a First Responder in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. Manny holds a master’s in economics from Johns Hopkins University and a bachelor’s in microbiology from the University of Florida.

As a Senior Law School Programs Attorney with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Priscilla Rader Culp develops and implements the organization’s Animal Law Program’s law school initiatives, including student chapter programmatic work, the annual Student Convention, scholarships, mentoring, and student events. As a 2016 Lewis & Clark Law School graduate, Priscilla interned with Mercy for Animals, clerked for the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s Litigation Program and the Center for Animal Law Studies, and acted as co-director for the school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter, winning Chapter of the Year Award for its work. Priscilla served as the 2014 student coordinator for the Animal Law Conference. Priscilla’s commitment to animal law has been recognized with the Animal Law Leadership Award, the Advancement of Animal Law Scholarship and the Richard J. Peppin Animal Rights Scholarship. Priscilla was also selected by professors and faculty of her law school to join its Cornelius Honor Society for her commitment to animal law and community support. Priscilla completed her bachelor’s degree at Pacific University where she studied philosophy, with a special focus on animal ethics.

As Chief People Officer with the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Beth oversees human resources at the organization. Prior to joining the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Beth was a program manager for the Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights where she managed a 50-person office charged with investigating and resolving federal civil rights complaints in educational settings. Beth also served as the program manager at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. Beth’s expertise includes managing equal employment opportunity and immigration matters, reasonable accommodations, and crafting policies, procedures and training. Beth began her career at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission where she served as a trial attorney and senior trial attorney, litigating employment discrimination cases on behalf of individuals who experience workplace discrimination.

As Law School Programs Attorney, Alyssa manages the Animal Legal Defense Fund student chapters and all duties related to helping chapters succeed. She also assists in the development and implementation of the Animal Law Program’s law school initiatives. Alyssa is a 2020 graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. During law school, she served as a Source Checker of Animal Law Review, interned for the International Animal and Environmental Law Clinic, clerked for the Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Center for Animal Law Studies, and was Pro Bono Chair of the school’s Animal Legal Defense Fund Student Chapter. As Pro Bono Chair, Alyssa served as the law student representative on the planning committee for the 27th Annual Animal Law Conference. Alyssa was also selected by professors and faculty of her law school to join its Cornelius Honor Society largely due to her involvement in the animal law program. Alyssa completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Toledo where she majored in Law & Social Thought and minored in Political Science.