Team
Ms. Ankita Shanker
Founder & Director
Ankita Shanker LLB (R'dg) BCL (Oxf) BPTC (Lond BPP) is a social entrepreneur and legal researcher specialised in Public International Law, Animal Law, and Legal Philosophy and Theory. She earned her post-graduate degree in law from Oxford University and qualified as a barrister at the Bar of England and Wales. Ankita is now working towards her doctorate in Animal Rights Legal Philosophy and Theory at the Universities of Basel and Helsinki. She is the Founder and Director of the first world moot on International Law and animal rights.
Altamush Saeed
Deputy Director | Regional Co-Director, Northern America
Altamush Saeed BA-LLB (Lhr LUMS) LLM (Mich) LLM (Pdx L&C) LLM (Pdx L&C) is an Animal Law LLM Graduate from the Center for Animal Law Studies, Lewis and Clark Law School. He is currently pursuing an Environmental Law, Natural Resources, and Energy Law LLM at Lewis and Clark. Altamush is a Co-Founder/Director of Charity Doings Foundation and an Animal Welfare Ambassador to Comprehensive Disaster Response Services.
Eduardo Kapapelo
Strategic Advisor
Eduardo Kapapelo BA BAdmin MPhil (Pret) MA (Vie) PhD (Pret) is a Project Manager and Researcher at the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. With a focus on a variety of critical topics, Eduardo is currently working on issues relating to climate justice and human rights.
Danielle Yeatman
Executive Assistant to the Director
Danielle Yeatman BA-Law (Pret) is a final-year LLB student at the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She is currently a research assistant for the Global Network for Human Rights and the Environment's Climate Litigation in the Global South Project.
Uzma Hussain
Executive Assistant to the Director
Uzma Hussain Btech (Noida Bernett) is a graduate in Engineering Physics from Bennett University. She is interested in Environmental Science and is committed to minimizing the damage that humans have caused our Earth.
Sara Mehak
General Counsel
Sara Mehak BMgt (Leth) LLB (Law) LPC-LLM (Law) CID (Camb), originally from Canada and currently based in London, is a licensed lawyer in England and Wales. With extensive experience in private practice and in-house, Sara has served as legal counsel for a defense intelligence company, and served as a litigator successfully litigating against major airlines, financial institutions, and other prominent companies.
Vanessa Man-Yi Wong
Legal Operations Manager
Vanessa Man-Yi Wong MA (HK) JD (HK CUHK) PCLL (HK CUHK) is an LLM candidate in International and Transnational Criminal Law at the University of Amsterdam, with a specialism in International Law and Comparative Literature.
Shreya Padukone
Partnerships Manager
Shreya Padukone BSc-LLB (Amd GNLU) is a legal and policy researcher with an integrated degree in Science and Law from Gujarat National Law University. She leads programs at the Animal Law Centre – NALSAR University of Law, and assists on custom operations projects with nonprofits at Aneeha Patwardhan Consulting.
Sabina Bravo
Marketing Manager
Sabina Bravo Rebolledo LLB (Stgo UCH) is a law school graduate from Universidad de Chile, where she specialised in Animal Law with background in civil and criminal law. Since 2020, she has been a committed advocate for Animal Rights.
Imogen Suett
Marketing Associate
Imogen Suett is a second-year Philosophy and Politics undergraduate student at the University of Bristol in England. As a keen advocate for animal welfare and rights, she seeks opportunities to make substantial positive change in this sector.
Daniel Clark
Head Content Creator
Daniel Clark BA (Camb) MPhil (Camb) is a writer, editor and translator based in the UK. He has a Master's degree in European Cultures from the University of Cambridge, where he also co-founded Plant-Based Cambridge, a fast-growing climate campaign calling for fully plant-based catering.
Ben Wambold
Information Technology Manager
Ben Wambold, an independent developer from Germany, is currently pursuing a degree in computer science. Beyond his academic endeavors, Ben engages in a multitude of projects, offering his expertise to various companies as a freelancer.
Mikalah Singer
Regional Co-Director, Northern America
Mikalah Singer BA (Cle CWRU) JD (Pdx L&C) LLM (Pdx L&C) is an Oregon-barred attorney with a JD, a Certificate in Animal Law, and an L.L.M. in Environmental, Natural Resources, and Energy Law. She currently works as the Public Policy Manager for the Center for Contemporary Sciences (CCS), a 501(c)(3) working at the intersection of animal exploitation and public health, and is the Founder and Executive Director of Fox Protection International.
María Francisca Tapia Thenoux
Regional Co-Director, Latin America and the Caribbean
María Francisca Tapia Thenoux LLB (Stgo UCH) is a law school graduate from Universidad de Chile, where she specialized in criminal law and became a passionate advocate for Animal Rights. Since 2017, she has been an Associate of Fundación Derecho y Defensa Animal, where she has organized, moderated, and spoken at various symposiums and forums on Animal Rights Law.
Angie Vega
Regional Co-Director, Latin America and the Caribbean
Angie Vega LLB (Bog PUJ) LLM (Mich State) is a Colombian attorney and the current Animal Law Fellow at Michigan State University. With an LL.M in the American legal system, she has used her expertise in civil law and common law to advance animal law in the academic field.
Cheslyn Ceaser
Regional Co-Director, Sub-Saharan Africa
Cheslyn Ceaser LLB (Bel UWC) LLM (Bel UWC) is a graduate of The University of the Western Cape (UWC), completing a Bachelor of Laws degree in 2018. He completed a master's degree in environmental law with a focus on climate change in 2020 from his alma mater.
Michaela Tafani
Regional Co-Director, Sub-Saharan Africa
Michaela Tafani LLB (Pret) LLM (Pret) is an admitted attorney of the High Court of South Africa with several years of legal practice experience. Michaela holds a Bachelor of Laws degree (2018), and a Master of Laws degree (2022) in environmental law with a specific focus on animal rights, from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
Dara Eisen
Regional Co-Director, Northern, Western, and Southern Europe
Dara Eisen LLB (Liv J Moores) LLM (Durh) is a full-time PhD candidate at Durham University Law School, an aspiring Barrister, and Exhibition Scholar of The Honourable Society of The Inner Temple. Dara's thesis title is: 'Reconsidering the International Legal Approach to Harmful Cultural practices'.
Rimona Afana
Regional Co-Director, Eastern Europe, Central and Western Asia, and Northern Africa
Rimona Afana BA (Crai) BA (Crai-Biel) MA (Crai) MSc (Ams) PhD (Uls) is a Romanian–Palestinian researcher, lecturer, activist, and multimedia artist working on environmental harms, nonhuman rights, violent conflicts, state–corporate crimes, and colonial legacies.
Lu Shegay
Regional Co-Director, Eastern Europe, Central and Western Asia, and Northern Africa
Lu Shegay LLB (Ala KIMEP) LLM (Pdx L&C) is the co-founder of the Institute of Animal Law of Asia, has earned her LL.B degree at KIMEP University School of Law (Kazakhstan) and her LL.M degree at Lewis & Clark Law School (Portland, Oregon). Twice Ambassador of the Center for Animal Law Studies, Lewis & Clark Law School, under the initiative Global Ambassador Program, Lu worked on the projects of aquatic animals and animal abuse in Kazakhstan.
Aman Garg
Regional Co-Director, Southern Asia
Aman Garg BA-LLB (Blr NLSIU) earned his bachelor's degree in law from the National Law School of India University, Bengaluru, with research interests in constitutional law, animal law, environmental ethics, and Indian philosophy.
Dulki Seethawaka
Regional Co-Director, Southern Asia
Dulki Seethawaka LLB (Lond) BA (N'ria) LLM (Cmb) MPhil (Cmb) completed her LL.B. from the University of London and B.A. in Interior Design from the University of Northumbria at Newcastle, both with honours. She took oaths as an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 2015. Her special focus on animal protection within the legislative regime began when she was pursuing her LL.M. degree in 2016 from the University of Colombo. Currently, Dulki is a Senior Executive Researcher at the Centre for Environmental Law and Policy (CELP) of the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. She represents animal laws and policy related sectors in CELP publications, proposals and other projects.