Irena Rindos

Irena is a software engineer from Chapel Hill, NC. She’s been vegan since 2004 and involved in animal activism for almost as long. In her free time she likes to draw, bike, make nachos, and hang with her rescue dog, Pepper.

Rosemary Van Kleeck, Head Caretaker & Secretary

Rosemary, a graduate of Columbia University, is a passionate vegan who has been rescuing and caring for non-human animals for more than five years. She is a whiz at everything from giving medications to baking cupcakes. Rosemary is enjoying a life amongst the trees after returning to Chapel Hill in late 2013.

Justin Van Kleeck, President & Executive Director

Justin has a Ph.D. in English but left academia in part to work on veganism, the environment, and other social issues. He is a freelance writer and editor, who has written for Our Hen House, Vegan Publishers, and Project Intersect, among others. He has experience with education and community organizing. All of Justin’s work, as his life, centers on and starts with veganism and animal rights, and from there extends to environmentalism, sustainable and local food production, individual empowerment, education, and economic and social justice, to name a few. Despite all of that, Justin is an extreme and unapologetic introvert.