Meet MFA

Nathan Runkle
Executive Director
NathanR@MercyForAnimals.org

Nathan Runkle is the Founder and Executive Director of Mercy For Animals. Raised on a farm in rural Ohio, Nathan has long had a deep connection with farmed animals and agriculture. After a local farmed animal abuse case, involving a piglet slammed head first into a concrete floor during an agriculture project at a nearby high school, Nathan founded Mercy For Animals to give “food” animals a much needed advocate in his local community.

Since founding Mercy For Animals a decade ago, Nathan has overseen the organization's growth into a leading national force for the respectful and compassionate treatment of farmed animals. A grassroots organizer and coordinator for many years, Nathan has spearheaded hundreds of demonstrations and outreach events across the country – ranging from protests outside pork and egg producer conventions to parade marches, educational exhibits, and more.

A nationally recognized speaker on animal advocacy, grassroots activism, and factory farming, Nathan has spoken at colleges, forums, and conferences from coast-to-coast.

>> Read more about Nathan

Derek Coons
Director of Information Technology
DerekC@MercyForAnimals.org

Derek Coons serves as Mercy For Animals' Director of Information Technology and is a long-time board member, overseeing the direction, focus, effectiveness, and efficiency of the organization.

A graduate of Miami University with a degree in Computer Science and Systems Analysis, Derek actively combines his passions for animals and technology – developing and implementing all of MFA's websites, database systems, web advertising programs, and email communications. Under his direction, MFA's ChooseVeg.com website has become widely recognized as one of the web's most helpful and compelling pro-vegetarian websites, attracting over 2 million visitors annually.

Derek's journey into animal activism began as a teenager while working in the kitchen of a local Red Lobster restaurant. After witnessing lobsters steamed alive and stabbed with knives, Derek pledged never to eat lobster again. Derek quickly began to question the manner in which pigs, chickens, and cows were treated during meat production. Such questioning quickly led Derek toward vegetarianism after he acknowledged that he could not ethically justify causing animals to suffer and die simply for a palate preference.

>> Read more about Derek

Alicia Boemi
Director of Membership Development
AliciaB@MercyForAnimals.org

Alicia Boemi serves as MFA's Director of Membership Development. As a graduate of Drake University, with a Bachelor of Journalism in Public Relations, Alicia found her passion for animal rights as she was actively volunteering at local animal shelters while in college. Also at Drake, she served as a communications and fundraising administrator for a number of non-profit organizations. Her volunteer internships with community-based organizations gave her a deeper knowledge in the field of public relations and fundraising.

After moving back to her hometown of Chicago, she quickly realized the pressing need to help farmed animals and began volunteering for a number of animal-related organizations and shelters, including MFA. Alicia was soon hired by MFA and has planned numerous successful events and coordinated fundraising initiatives.

>> Read more about Alicia

Daniel Hauff
Director of Investigations
DanielH@MercyForAnimals.org

Daniel Hauff serves as Mercy For Animals' Director of Investigations. Daniel earned his Bachelor in International Studies with a concentration in Human Rights and Social Justice from DePaul University. It was this passion for justice and compassion that eventually led Daniel toward advocacy efforts on behalf of abused and neglected animals.

Through his work with various local, national, and international animal protection organizations, Daniel has drafted a plethora of animal cruelty complaints on a broad range of issues, engaging law enforcement at the local, state, and federal levels.

Daniel works closely with attorneys, veterinarians and animal welfare experts to compile farmed animal cruelty cases, which have pressed for cruelty prosecutions, strengthened animal protection laws, and encouraged corporate policy changes.

>> Read more about Daniel

Dan Foley
Director of Visual Media Production
DanF@MercyForAnimals.org

Dan Foley serves as Mercy For Animals' Director of Visual Media Production, where he oversees the creative development of the organization's documentaries, event reviews, commercials, and other media-related projects.

While training for his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance at Ohio University, Dan learned about issues facing farmed animals and became a vegan advocate shortly after.

A driving force behind MFA's powerful use of visual media to advocate on behalf of animals, Dan orchestrates video shoots, voiceover recordings, music production, and audio and visual set-ups at special events.

Brooke Mays
Director of Communications
BrookeM@MercyForAnimals.org

Brooke Mays serves as Mercy For Animals' Director of Communications, overseeing all of the organization's written materials, including content for Compassionate Living magazine, grant requests to foundations, letters to the editors of newspapers, and communications with the media, corporations and general public.

An artful master of the English language, Brooke earned a Bachelor of Arts in Linguistics at University of Michigan in 1999 and a certificate for teaching English as a foreign language from the University of Cambridge that same year.

Along with her communications experience, she has tremendous passion for animal advocacy. For the past decade, Brooke has devoted great time and energy to companion animal protection, including direct care of shelter animals, adoptions and even adopting Maggie, a special-needs dog of her own. In more recent years, in addition to companion animals, Brooke has worked hands-on with farmed animals, volunteering at a number of local and national animal sanctuaries.

>> Read more about Brooke

Heather Patrick
Chicago Campaign Coordinator
HeatherP@MercyForAnimals.org

Heather Patrick works full-time as Mercy For Animals' Chicago Campaign Coordinator, organizing events and campaigns in Illinois, coordinating volunteers, and running MFA's Internship Program.

Her concern for animals began in childhood, as she was raised vegetarian and her family owned a small sanctuary for abandoned or injured farmed and wild animals.

Later in life, she founded and served as the Director of Students Educating for Animal Liberation for four years and worked at various national and international animal protection organizations and sanctuaries.

>> Read more about Heather

Corey Roscoe
Ohio Campaign Coordinator
CoreyR@MercyForAnimals.org

Corey Roscoe serves as Mercy For Animals' Ohio Campaign Coordinator, organizing events and campaigns, and coordinating volunteers throughout Ohio.

Corey has worked for ten years in the nonprofit sector on behalf of animals. Holding a Masters of Arts in Education from Cleveland State University, Corey actively combines her passion for animals and education. She has extensively given humane education presentations, teaching children and adults how to think critically about their actions as they relate to animals.

She has also facilitated outreach events and trainings, coordinated volunteers, appeared on local television and radio, and managed web sites and social networks.

>> Read more about Corey

Mikael Neilson
Chicago Outreach Coordinator
MikaelN@MercyForAnimals.org

Mikael Neilson serves as Mercy For Animals' Chicago Outreach Coordinator, where he oversees, coordinates, and attends dozens of grassroots outreach events annually, including vegetarian leafleting, educational exhibits, and more.

Watching friendly turkeys on TV that were about to be killed and eaten for Thanksgiving is what brought animal protection ideals to the forefront for Mikael. That was more than 12 years ago and Mikael has been a staunch advocate for the animals ever since.

Inspired by one of EarthSave Chicago's Conferences for Conscious Living, Mikael became involved with the group, coordinating outreach events, conferences, helping with Fur Free Friday events and the Compassion on Wheels TV van.

>> Read more about Mikael

Mindy Sanders
Dayton Ohio Campaign Coordinator
MindyS@MercyForAnimals.org

Mindy Sanders serves as Mercy For Animals' Dayton Campaign Coordinator, where she oversees grassroots outreach events, local campaigns, and a diverse group of volunteers throughout Ohio's Miami Valley.

Mindy has worked closely with community leaders in the religious, peace, and human advocacy fields to promote lifestyle choices that respect animals, human health, and honor responsible environmental stewardship.

With an affinity and empathy toward animals that began as a young child, Mindy was first inspired to move toward vegetarianism by her older sister. Her passion for protecting society's weak and vulnerable motivated Mindy to travel cross-country to an animal protection conference – where she found her voice as a passionate and effective vegan advocate.

>> Read more about Mindy

Heather Gillen
Toledo Ohio Campaign Coordinator
HeatherG@MercyForAnimals.org

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.

>> Read more about Heather

Jennifer Kaden
Cleveland Ohio Campaign Coordinator
JenniferK@MercyForAnimals.org

Jen Kaden has been volunteering with Mercy For Animals as the Cleveland Regional Coordinator since 2007. Born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Jen graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Consumer Economics in 1991. Since then she's been employed in the non-profit field helping people as a financial counselor for most of her career.

Although she's always had a strong affinity for animals, it wasn't until she saw the film Peaceable Kingdom, while visiting Farm Sanctuary in 2004, that she became inspired to get involved in animal advocacy and speak up on animals' behalf. She began by helping the filmmakers bring this documentary to the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2005 and then started to arrange community screenings of Peaceable Kingdom, along with other documentaries on animal rights and environmental sustainability.

>> Read more about Jennifer

Kayla Worden
Asheville North Carolina Campaign Coordinator
KaylaW@MercyForAnimals.org

Kayla Worden serves as Mercy For Animals' Asheville North Carolina Campaign Coordinator - organizing local events, campaigns and coordinating volunteers.

Having grown up on a small farm in northwest Pennsylvania, Kayla befriended many of the farmed animals around her. It was during this time she formed a great sense of compassion for animals. This inspired her to move toward vegetarianism at the age of twelve.

In 1988, Kayla moved to Asheville and a year later became a vegan after receiving information in the mail about cruelty to animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses. In 1990, she formed an animal rights group in Asheville, organizing various grassroots outreach events and campaigns.

>> Read more about Kayla