My journey to Farm Sanctuary began in 2021, when I started volunteering at a local horse and farm animal rescue and decided to become vegan. Having been a strict vegetarian my whole life (only eating honey, butter, and eggs if they were in something), it wasn’t a huge change. But after looking into the eyes of those cows and chickens and getting to know their unique personalities, feelings, and emotions, I knew I needed to do more for them.
The founders of the local rescue often spoke about Gene Baur and Farm Sanctuary, sharing how inspiring they were. That’s when I started following Farm Sanctuary and Gene on social media and learning more about the mission.
By 2024, I was a huge fan of Farm Sanctuary and Gene Baur, and I knew I needed to visit! So, for our 14th wedding anniversary, my husband and I traveled to Watkins Glen for a visit. It was magical. The tour was unforgettable, so informative, and left us both wanting to do more! I remember asking about educational resources because I wanted to bring a piece of that experience back to my second graders. When I returned, I told my colleagues all about the trip and even declared that working at Farm Sanctuary was my new dream job!
In the meantime, I began using Farm Sanctuary’s educational materials in my classroom and delved deeper into humane education. Then, for my birthday, my sweet husband surprised me with tickets to hear Gene Baur speak at Villanova. We left so inspired and even had the chance to meet him, speak with him, and get a photo!
By early 2025, I knew I wanted to make humane education my career. After 22 years in public education, I reached out to humane educators for advice. Everyone I spoke to was so generous with their time, but the one who made the biggest impact was Ardyn, my predecessor here at Farm Sanctuary. About a week after our meeting, she emailed me to say Farm Sanctuary was hiring. And the rest, as they say, is history.
