lauren Ornelas

Who is lauren Ornelas?

lauren Ornelas is an animal rights advocate for more than 20 years and the founder and Director of the Food Empowerment Project and veganmexicanfood.com.

Ornelas grew up in Texas, where she became a vegetarian as a child. When in high school, she became a vegan and started her first animal rights group. She continued her work for animals while attending university and eventually became the National Coordinator for In Defense of Animals.

Four years later, Viva! UK asked lauren to start and run Viva! USA, a national nonprofit vegan advocacy organization, where she did numerous factory farm investigations. As Viva! USA’s executive director, in cooperation with activists across the country, she also brought corporate changes to such powerful companies as Whole Foods Market, Trader Joe's, and Pier 1 Imports.

In 2006, Ornelas’ desire to address a variety of social justice issues came to fruition with the opportunity to give a talk “Corporate Animal Farms: Exploiting Animals, Workers and the Environment, and Why You Should Work to Stop It” at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela.