Animal Wellness Action Press Release

Animal Wellness Action Welcomes Lain Kahlstrom as Director of State Affairs

For Immediate Release:

Contact:
Marty Irby • 202-821-5686
marty@animalwellnessaction.org

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Washington, D.C. — Animal Wellness Action (AWA) is pleased to announce that Lain Kahlstrom of Phoenix, Arizona has joined the group as Director of State Affairs. In this role, Kahlstrom will oversee a network of advocates to advance state-based advocacy programs, with a focus on legislation. Kahlstrom has been active in animal protection as a part-time activist and has a professional background in management consulting, change management and strategy development. She previously worked and consulted for such entities as Microsoft, eBay, PayPal and the University of Washington.

 

“Lain has a tremendous blend of professional experience in strategy and management and a personal passion for animals,” said Marty Irby, executive director at Animal Wellness Action. “That combination of skills is going to allow our field program to flourish. I know she’ll welcome hearing from people who want to get involved in Animal Wellness programs to prevent cruelty.”

 

Kahlstrom’s past advocacy volunteer work includes initiatives to increase awareness of the benefits of plant-based foods and the detrimental impacts of industrialized animal agriculture. She has assisted with the care of 260 chimpanzees at the Center for Captive Chimpanzee Care in New Mexico and has been a leader in the ongoing effort to ban Wildlife Killing Contests in Arizona. She has also researched and written position statements on behalf of a range of nonprofit animal protection and wildlife protection groups.

 

Kahlstrom holds certifications as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and Professional Certified Coach (PCC). As a consultant specializing in change management and organizational effectiveness, Kahlstrom has led major corporate initiatives such as managing technology implementations and professional staff and executive development programs. Other examples include opening a new outpatient hospital facility and leading the corporate-wide training and communications effort to guarantee adherence to new regulatory requirements for a major utility company.

 

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to devote my full-time energies and leverage my past professional experience to make the world a safer place for animals,” said Kahlstrom. “I invite people who want to pursue their dreams of doing more for animals to join me and to become part of our network.”

 

Earlier this week, Animal Wellness Action announced the hire of Josh Marquis, a former seven-term District Attorney from Clatsop County, as Director of Legal Services and Enforcement, and a month earlier, the selection of Penny Eastman as Deputy Director of Federal Affairs.

Animal Wellness Action (Action) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(4) organization with a mission of helping animals by promoting legal standards forbidding cruelty. We champion causes that alleviate the suffering of companion animals, farm animals, and wildlife. We advocate for policies to stop dogfighting and cockfighting and other forms of malicious cruelty and to confront factory farming and other systemic forms of animal exploitation. To prevent cruelty, we promote enacting good public policies and we work to enforce those policies. To enact good laws, we must elect good lawmakers, and that’s why we remind voters which candidates care about our issues and which ones don’t. We believe helping animals helps us all.