Heather Gillen serves as Mercy For Animals’ Toledo Campaign Coordinator, where she works with local supporters to organize and carry out lectures, educational video screenings, and benefit dinners, as well as pro-vegetarian leafleting at area college campuses.

Holding a Bachelor of Science in Dietetics from Bowling Green State University, with experience in outpatient nutrition counseling, community nutrition, and diabetes, Heather has put her education as a Registered Dietitian to good use promoting a healthy and humane vegan diet.

Heather first considered the plight of farmed animals after stumbling upon an educational exhibit at a campus fair by an animal protection organization. After learning of the inherent cruelty in battery-cage egg production – where up to seven hens are crammed into file-drawer sized cages for their entire lives – Heather began to question the ethics of her food choices. Always conscious of dietary requirements, it was after reading the American Dietetic Association’s position paper on vegansim - which states that well planned vegan diets are healthy for any stage of life, whether old or young, infant, pregnant, or lactating – that Heather adopted a plant-based diet.

Along with her husband, Greg, Heather currently shares her Toledo home with her adopted terrier mix, Pepper, and 10-year-old rescued goldfish, Ed.

As an animal advocate inspired by grassroots activism, Heather understands the power of effective community outreach efforts to educate consumers about factory farming and veganism. It is this understanding that motivates her as a regional coordinator for MFA.