Wayne Pacelle

Wayne Pacelle is founder of Animal Wellness Action and its political action committee, co-founder of the Center for a Humane Economy, and a leader with the Animal Wellness Foundation. Previously, he led The Humane Society of the United States as president and CEO for nearly 14 years, tripling the budget and net assets of the organization. He founded the Humane Society Legislative Fund and prior to that, he was executive director of The Fund for Animals. For seven of his 13 years as HSUS CEO, the Non-Profit Times named him as one of the nation’s top 50 non-profit executives, and in 2005, he was named executive of the year.

He wrote two New York Times bestselling books: The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals and Our Call to Defend Them. and The Humane Economy: How Innovators and Enlightened Consumers Are Transforming the Lives of Animals. Wayne has led efforts to pass 1,500 state laws for animals, more than 100 federal laws and amendments, 30 ballot initiative, and 500 corporate agreements, including policies by McDonald’s to phase out gestation crates, by Walmart to adopt the Five Freedoms of Farm Animal Welfare, by Armani to end its use of fur, and by SeaWorld to stop the breeding of orcas.