Meena Alagappan

Meena Alagappan joined the Animal Legal Defense Fund board in 2024. Since 2005, Meena has been the Executive Director of HEART (Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers), a full-service nonprofit humane education provider. She is former chair of the animal law committees of the New York City Bar and the American Bar Association Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section. Meena is a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and serves on the board of the Mayor’s Alliance for New York City’s Animals. Before joining HEART, she was an associate at Shea & Gould and a senior faculty member of Advantage Testing.

Meena received her B.A. Cum Laude and with Distinction in All Subjects from Cornell University. She earned her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was an editor for the Journal of International Law and Business and published an article on the United States’ enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. She holds an M.S. in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Meena shares her home with her husband Robert and their gregarious rescue dog, Louie.