BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Interested in joining the board? Contact Sharon MacNair

Sharon MacNair has been involved with Green Mountain Animal Defenders (originally known as the Vermont branch of Friends of Animals, then renamed People for Animal Rights before becoming known as GMAD) almost since its inception in 1983. Sharon was sensitized to animal suffering as a young teen which compelled her to become a vegetarian at the age of 13. In 1984, after reading Peter Singer's book Animal Liberation, she became a vegan. Her passion for animals led her to join GMAD where she currently serves as president, coordinates wildlife rescue, is the central contact for inquiries, and oversees the day-to-day operations of the organization. Over the years, Sharon served on the board of directors of the Vermont Humane Federation, the Vermont Vegetarian Society and EndTrap. Sharon especially enjoys working with like-minded people who share her passion for protecting animals.

Kathee Ludwig, Vice President

Kathee Ludwig has been involved with GMAD since the 1980's. She realized at a very young age that the animals on the farm she grew up on were treated very differently depending on their species. Orphaned piglets would be kept in the kitchen and they played with the family dogs. It seemed odd to her that they ate the pigs but not the dogs, especially since the piglets were even smarter and learned faster than the dogs. This disparity helped inspire her to follow a vegan lifestyle. Kathee has her Nursing Degree and spent 24 years as an RN. This career lasted until she helped start the Cat Spay/Neuter Clinic in Colchester with Dr. Prior & Dr. Larson over 20 years ago. Kathee roles there included being the office manager and vet tech. Due to Dr. Larson's retirement, the clinic was closed at the end of 2014. Kathee is currently the vice president of GMAD, the leader of our Companion Animal campaign, serves as our cat specialist, as well as handles all spay/neuter inquiries. In addition, to follow her passion she makes time to volunteer at various low-cost spay/neuter clinics.

Barbara Mines, Secretary   

Barbara Mines has always loved nature and animals. It’s very important to her to give back to the causes she is passionate about. To address her love of animals Barbara became a volunteer with Green Mountain Animal Defenders. After serving on the Advisory Council, she is now on the GMAD board of directors.  She has helped with database work and has coordinated the outreach tables for GMAD for several years. Barbara also has volunteered with Branch Out Burlington!, a group that promotes and grows trees for Burlington. Barbara has been a vegetarian for about 28 years and is now vegan. She  spends quite a bit of time with her two cats, Ivan and Phantom, and enjoys their antics.

Anne Jameson has been a member of GMAD since 2015, but has been an animal lover since a young child when she began taking solo hikes into the woods near her family’s summer home in southwestern Colorado to be closer to the birds and animals.  In her late teens she made her first venture into animal advocacy when she joined what was then known as the Animal Protection Institute to protest the annual clubbing of the Canadian harp seals and from there moved on to various other organizations such as Defenders of Wildlife and the Humane Society of the U.S.  A chance meeting with Sharon MacNair at a tabling event in Williston led her to join and volunteer with GMAD where she now manages the monthly receipting process and donor database maintenance as well as other tasks.  She was elected to the Advisory Council in 2019 and also serves as the Wildlife Advocacy Coordinator, continuing her passion for the protection and humane conservation of all the wild ones.  Anne lives with her feline companions, Cloud and Onyx in a rural area of Central Vermont and enjoys gardening, singing with a local chorus and just being outdoors with her wild friends and Mother Nature. 

Jill Jacobelli

Jill Jacobelli has always loved animals and cares strongly about animal welfare, so shortly after she moved to Vermont, she got involved with GMAD. She was inspired by the work GMAD does to help all types of animals and joined the GMAD Board of Directors in 2013. Jill lives in Winooski with her son, dog, and cats. She loves outside activities with her son and dog - including going for long walks, hiking, swimming, gardening, and camping. For her day job, Jill works at Burlington High School. She mainly teaches reading and writing to New Americans.

ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS

Lori Peckham

Lori Peckham is a recently elected advisory council member for GMAD. She has been an animal lover and advocate since a young child. As a member of GMAD, Lori enjoys using her background in marketing and graphic design/illustration to help get the visual eye catching information to Vermonters about issues that will improve the life of animals, especially about wildlife coexistence solutions for towns and cities without harm or kill to the precious wildlife Vermont has. Lori loves to paint and write short stories with animals being a key subject and inspiration to all her creative pieces. Lori lives in Shelburne with two cats that she adores. “Animals heal so much pain for me, I  cannot imagine a world without animals to share life with.”

Lisa Vear 

Originally from the NEK, Lisa is an eighth-generation Vermonter who has loved animals her entire life. She often says that her religion is her lifelong devotion to animals and her unwavering faith that they were not put on earth for the use of humans but that humans were put on earth to care for animals. Lisa has been a loyal vegetarian for over twenty years and is always anxious to improve the lives of animals. As a kid, she would race outside at the sound of a bird hitting the window because she wanted to help any animal in need (and, in her childish zeal, she secretly hoped they would become best friends). Her other passions are books, fake tattoos, running, moving newts, clip-on earrings, G ’n’ R, writing, winning dance competitions (with a self-choreographed performance to Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted”), hugging cows, and telling her nieces outlandish stories and nonsensical, “rubbishy things” (-Roald Dahl).