Meet the Teams

Need help planning a protest? Grassroots protest coordinators support activist-led demonstrations and engage with activists on PETA campaigns. Click here to see who the grassroots protest coordinator is for your region, and contact them to learn where you can join (or lead) a protest today.

Matthew Braun

Manager of Grassroots Protest Campaigns
[email protected]
I went vegan to win a bet in 2006, and I never would have imagined the impact that it would have on my life. After winning the bet, I decided to stay vegan, because I felt so much better. As I learned more about cruelty to animals used in experiments and for food, fashion, and entertainment, I increasingly felt the need to share this information with others, so I started leafleting and attending protests.

I worked as an eyewitness investigator in a chicken slaughterhouse before landing an internship with PETA that involved traveling around the country to spread the animal rights message to people at concerts, parks, and YMCAs as well as outside animal circuses. After traveling for two years, I became a grassroots protest coordinator. I relocated to Los Angeles, and now, I get to work with dedicated and compassionate activists on the West Coast of the U.S. and Canada by helping them plan protests for animal rights!

Carla Wilson

Grassroots Protest Coordinator
[email protected]
I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to work with grassroots activists, helping them to make changes for the animals in their communities. In 1996, I rescued my first greyhound, Allan, on the day he was scheduled to be killed because he was no longer considered “fast enough” at the local dog track. He opened my eyes to the way animals are used in entertainment. That summer, I attended the March for Animals conference in Washington, D.C., where my life changed forever. It was there that I watched a video of a pig being slaughtered. Having loved animals my entire life, I never took it a step further to think about where the animals on my plate came from. I stopped eating animals immediately, returned home, and got involved with a local animal rights group. I have helped get laws passed in my town banning tethering dogs, retail pet stores that sell puppies, and circuses with animals. When I’m not protesting and helping animals in other ways, I enjoy traveling with my husband, photography, and spending time with our rescued cats.

Autumn Stairs

Grassroots Protest Coordinator
[email protected]
I have worked closely with animals my whole life. My love for them quickly grew into a fierce passion to save every individual I could. That’s what led to me to go vegan over a decade ago and begin organizing animal rights protests of my own with PETA. Now, I’m so grateful to have a position at PETA as a grassroots protest coordinator, helping others speak up for animals by organizing strategic protests.

I stay active advocating for rights for all individuals, mentoring new vegans, organizing animal rights events, and volunteering at sanctuaries for rescued animals. In my spare time, I enjoy skateboarding and going on adventures with my best friend and animal companion, Nausicaa.

Amelia (Amy) Stewart

Grassroots Protest Coordinator
[email protected]

When I was 12, my best friend, a cat named Chica, passed away. Watching her suffer at the end of her life made me realize that all sentient beings have the capacity to feel pain, and I vowed that I would never again eat another animal. Another 19 years passed before I saw my first activism video, which showcased passionate individuals inside a supermarket speaking out against the meat and dairy industries. My life changed while I watched that video, and after contacting the organizers of that event and participating in my first demonstration, I could confidently say that I was both vegan and an activist. My animal rights journey began by protesting with Direct Action Everywhere and expanded to include volunteering with Animal Save Movement, Anonymous for the Voiceless, PETA, and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. I now find myself regularly protesting outside slaughterhouses, roadside zoos, aquariums, fish markets, animal testing facilities, racetracks, fairs, and other places where animals are abused. When I’m not engaged in activism, you can find me reading and writing scary stories and spending time with my daughter and our two rescued cats.

Nathan Edwards

Grassroots Protest Coordinator
[email protected]

I’ve been heavily involved in the animal rights movement since early 2018. I was inspired to go vegan a few months earlier when I read the book Beyond Beef: The Rise and Fall of the Cattle Culture after finding it in a thrift store. I quickly came to the realization that I must dedicate my life to helping change humans’ violent relationship with other animals. While at university that fall, I formed a student group for animal rights as one of PETA’s Students Opposing Speciesism (SOS) campus reps. I majored in persuasive communications to understand the psychology of shifting people’s moral perspectives through conversation. I’ve regularly organized activities in support of animal rights, including outreach events, disruptions, direct action, vigils, and marches. Now, I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to work with PETA and assist grassroots activists across the U.S. and Canada who fight for nonhuman individuals. During my spare time, I can be found visiting local sanctuaries, creating art, or spending time with my friends of all species.

Want to spread the word about animal rights? Contact the Action Team for free leaflets and stickers to pass out or to set up an animal rights information table at a large event. Get ideas on ways to get more active for animals at home, at work, and in your community.

Casey Kern

Senior Manager of Action Team
[email protected]
My hometown of Pittsburgh, the “City of Bridges,” will always be near to my heart, but after earning my bachelor’s degree and working as a corporate industrial designer, I moved out West. I first got involved with PETA as an Action Team volunteer, attending demonstrations and helping to get animal rights legislation passed. Fast-forward and now I manage the Action Team, helping to grow our network of activists and increase grassroots actions for animals.

For fun, I like to check out concerts and festivals, hike trails with my family, and go skiing. My most memorable New Year’s resolution was going vegan in 2012 after watching Earthlings. This transformative exposé inspired me to work toward ending speciesism, and I never looked back!

DRUANA DOWD

Action Team Coordinator
[email protected]
My connection with animals began in elementary school—I loved PETA’s stickers and dreamt of one day working for the group. I felt so connected to animals and had no idea I was indirectly harming them! Thanks to stumbling upon “Vegucated” in 2015, my views about the world nearly flipped and I went vegan. My activism started with leafleting and placing PETA’s vegan starter kits around my college campus’s newspaper stands in Moorpark, California. From there, I engaged in various organizations’ actions throughout Los Angeles and became an organizer for Anonymous for the Voiceless. Currently living in L.A., I am obsessed with my senior Chihuahua, Logan, and love listening to audiobooks, trying new vegan recipes and activities, and basking in the outdoors!

Kiara Lynes

Action Team Coordinator
[email protected]
Growing up, I always knew that nonhuman animals are similar to us in all the ways that matter, but I didn’t realize that I was causing them to suffer in my daily life. In August 2016, I went vegan after watching 101 Reasons to Go Vegan, astounded by the cruelty I had paid for my entire life.

I became involved in animal rights activism in 2020, attending and planning protests and outreach events in North Texas. My devotion to taking action for animals grows every day, and I look forward to assisting animal advocates around the world as a member of PETA’s Action Team. I believe that anyone with a little time and effort can find some ways to speak out for animal rights and work to create positive changes for animals.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading, cooking vegan meals, and visiting animal sanctuaries.

RICHARD ZISSER

Action Team Coordinator
[email protected]
From as early as I can remember, I always thought of myself as an animal lover. Yet I was oblivious to the scope of harm that humans were causing to all other species. Consuming animal flesh, eggs, and secretions was normalized and something I didn’t question until much later in life. I then began a spiritual journey rooted in meditation and eastern philosophy. This triggered an epiphany—that the way we were treating our fellow earthlings was deplorable—and I immediately went vegan. Since then, I have become an advocate for all animals and have involved myself with many types of animal rights activism. Working for PETA’s Action Team is a perfect fit because I’m now building a career doing something I’m deeply passionate about.

In my spare time, I enjoy studying mycology, immersing myself in nature, and volunteering at a local farmed animal sanctuary.