SUPPORT TEAM

Anne Gaydos / Director of Brand Development: Anne is a freelance art director and graphic designer with over 20 years of experience in a wide variety of industries and clients including Pepsi, Random House Children's Books, Annie's, Inc., and Cumulus Media. She also serves as a political campaign consultant to many municipal and state candidates, providing creative services including print, web design and social media. Anne is also an active volunteer in her community, serving as a Parks and Recreation commissioner, and a member of the public school's Strategic Plan Committee. 

Karen Connell Hess / Director of Special Projects: Karen is a public relations professional with two decades of experience in political, business and non-profit communications.  In addition to advising numerous local, state and federal political candidates over the last ten years, she has devoted her time to a number of charitable organizations focused on increasing educational opportunity.  Karen also serves as the President of the David and Geri Epstein Private Foundation, which provides grants for education, medical research and animal rescue organizations.

Laura Beth Jackson / Staff Counsel: Laura Beth is a lawyer and lifelong animal lover, with professional experience at the federal, state, and local government levels. Laura served as a regulatory and legislative intern in the Federal Affairs office of the Humane Society of the United States. She studied animal law in law school, where she also served as President and Co-Founder of the law school's Student Animal Legal Defense Fund. Laura's research paper on elephants in captivity won a national award, and she still enjoys research and writing about elephant protection issues. A graduate of Mississippi State University and Emory University School of Law, she now resides in Arlington, Virginia. 

Sebastian Qvortrup / Editor - The Elephant Times: Sebastian is an editorial professional with freelance experience in editing both commercial and academic works. He graduated from The University of Sussex in 2018 with a masters in Modern and Contemporary, Literature, Culture, and Thought where he enjoyed a focus on ecology, ecocriticism, and animal rights in literature.