Leah Garcés

Leah Garces is President of the nonprofit Mercy For Animals, one of the world’s largest farmed animal rights organizations and leads a team of 130 staff globally.

“At this point in the history of human society, we’re very polarized. My theory of change is that if we’re going to move the world to a better more compassionate food system, instead of trying to beat down the enemy, we need to sit down with them and have them join us.” On any given day, whether Leah is flying to meet with business executives to discuss moving their company to more plant-based offerings or speaking at a conference about her radical theory of change, she’s ultimately advocating for a win-win between corporate ideals and improving the lives of animals.

Leah is the author of the book Grilled: Turning adversaries into allies to change the chicken industry. She is a passionate and engaged advocate for animals and has partnered with some of the largest food companies in the world with a mission to end factory farming. Her work has been featured in many national and international media outlets including the New York Times, the Washington Post, Buzzfeed, Vice Magazine, and the Chicago Tribune. She is a contributing author to Huffington Post and Food Safety News and serves on the advisory board of Encompass and Seattle Food Tech.