Wendi Deetz

Wendi Deetz is Chief Operating Officer of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. She serves on the Senior Leadership Team, where her role spans HR, IT, operations, and organizational strategy. She partners with leaders across the organization to build strong, sustainable systems and a workplace culture aligned with its mission and values.

Wendi has spent more than two decades in nonprofit and social justice organizations, working across executive leadership, HR, finance, operations, technology, organizational development, and labor relations. She previously served on the executive team at Huckleberry Youth Programs, a multi-site Bay Area youth and family nonprofit, and spent a decade at Global Fund for Women, building infrastructure for a gender justice organization serving grantee partners in 175+ countries.

A social worker by training, Wendi brings a social justice orientation to organizational leadership and a conviction that how organizations do their work is as important as the work itself. She believes mission-driven institutions have a responsibility to create environments where people can do meaningful work without sacrificing their humanity, and that equitable, well-run internal systems are essential to lasting external impact.

Wendi’s commitment to animal protection is deeply personal, grounded in a broader concern with power, vulnerability, and the responsibility to challenge systems that harm animals and people. She is especially drawn to the Animal Legal Defense Fund’s use of law and systemic advocacy to create durable change. A longtime vegan, she practices that commitment at home: three neighborhood cats, Max and Mochi (the “M&Ms”) and Earl (the little grey guy), found her through her TNR efforts and never left.

Wendi holds a Master of Social Work from California State University, East Bay, and a BA in English and Women’s Studies, with a minor in Queer Studies, from UCLA. She is a SHRM Senior Certified Professional.

Wendi lives in Oakland with Farley, a shy, sensitive rescue mutt who loves big once you win him over. They start every day with a walk, and she spends as much time as possible outdoors, especially hiking the abundant and beautiful Bay Area trails. The granddaughter of a raisin farmer and an aspiring urban farmer herself, she grows vegetables, herbs, and flowers with an improvisational approach and a deep appreciation for whatever takes root.