AJ Albrecht

As the Chief Operating Officer, AJ Albrecht oversees the organization’s communications, fundraising and development, operations and strategic planning.

Prior to joining the Animal Legal Defense Fund in March of 2024, AJ was the inaugural Managing Director of Mercy For Animals US & Canada, where she led a team of approximately 60 staff members and oversaw the organization’s programmatic work including government affairs, corporate engagement, campaigns, public engagement, organizing, and the Transfarmation project. A licensed attorney who spent the first five years of her legal career litigating family law matters, AJ has a deep understanding of the law and legislative policy work. She built Mercy For Animals’ government affairs team as the department’s first hire and was a Legislative Attorney for Best Friends Animal Society prior to that. Her unique background of litigation, public policy and executive leadership has allowed AJ to be a pragmatic yet zealous advocate for animals and social justice throughout her career.

AJ is a past chair of the American Bar Association’s TIPS Animal Law Committee, as well as the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee, and has also been involved in direct animal rescue for many years. She is the founder and past president of the East Orange Animal Alliance, serves on the advisory board of Partners in Animal Welfare, and on the board of Project Street Vet–an organization whose founder was recognized as CNN’s 2023 “Hero of the Year” for the organization’s work to provide free veterinary care to the companion animals of people experiencing homelessness. AJ shares her home in southern California with her two rescue dogs, and a continuous procession of fosters who are available for adoption through Frosted Faces Foundation.