Lauren Ornelas

lauren T. Ornelas
lauren Ornelas gives a presentation at the University of California, Berkeley.
Born	San Antonio, Texas
Alma mater	St. Edward's University
Organization	Food Empowerment Project

lauren T. Ornelas, an animal rights advocate for more than 20 years, is the founder and executive director of the Food Empowerment Project and VeganMexicanFood.com.

Ornelas was born in San Antonio, Texas and grew up in Texas, where she became a vegetarian as a child. She attended Douglas MacArthur High School in San Antonio from 1984 to 1988. When in high school, she became a vegan and started her first animal rights group.

Ornelas studied at St. Edward's University in Austin from 1990-1993, majoring in communications and minoring in political science. In 1992, she founded the St. Edwards Animals Rights Society, which transitioned into Action for Animals after she graduated. While in college, nuns tore down her "Go Veggie" posters. In the 1992-93 academic year, Ornelas was a recipient of the St. Edward's University Presidential Award.

Ornelas received her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. Edward's. She continued her work for animals while attending university and eventually became the National Coordinator for In Defense of Animals.

Ornelas worked for In Defense of Animals from 1995 to 1999. Viva! UK then asked Ornelas to start and run Viva! USA, a national nonprofit vegan advocacy organization, where she did numerous factory farm investigations. Ornelas ran Viva!USA from February 1999 to April 2006. 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 2003, Ornelas appeared at the annual shareholder meeting of Whole Foods Market and spoke about the treatment and the lives of the ducks that were killed to be sold in Whole Foods stores. Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was present and initially responded to Ornelas's speech dismissively. But a subsequent sequence of e-mails between Ornelas and Mackey, plus Mackey's reading of a dozen books on animal agriculture, resulted in Mackey becoming vegan.