Wayne Pacelle is senior vice president for Communications and Government Affairs for The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the nation's largest animal protection organization. He sets The HSUS' communications and legislative agenda and is a leading spokesperson for the organization.

Since 1990, Mr. Pacelle has conceived of or helped to direct more than a dozen successful ballot initiatives including the recent ban of the use of gestation crates for sows in Florida. Last year he led the fight in Congress to ban any interstate transport or exports of birds for fighting - a measure that should have a major impact on Hawaii's cockfighting industry.

Mr. Pacelle is chairman and founder of Humane USA, the non-partisan political arm of the animal protection movement. Prior to joining The HSUS, Pacelle served as the national director of The Fund for Animals, a national animal advocacy group founded by Cleveland Amory. Pacelle received his B.A. in history and environmental studies from Yale University in 1987.

Mr. Pacelle will discuss the importance of challenging industrial animal agriculture and other animal abuse industries through a combination of consumer activism and political participation.