Board of Trustees

Founding Director

Eileen Weintraub

Eileen Weintraub is a lifelong animal advocate/rescuer who has volunteered with many groups. In 1998, she began supporting animal protection groups in India. During her many trips to the country, Eileen discovered groups which, despite little financial support, were helping animals in extremely difficult conditions and against all odds. Deeply impressed by how these dedicated groups and individuals were making such a big difference for the animals, Eileen was inspired to found Help Animals India in 2008 to advise groups like these and facilitate the flow of support from donors worldwide. She has won the Unsung Vegan Heroes award from The Pollination Project.

Board Director

Vivek Garg

Vivek Garg builds software products and is a strong advocate against animal cruelty. He turned ethical vegan in 2010, where he followed his wife who could no longer ignore the ways of animal agriculture. He along with his wife, who is the founder of VeganRicha.com support various charities worldwide ranging from animal rescue, farm and wildlife sanctuaries, food empowerment, and children's education in India. He is quick to remind people that one eats and lives with more variety once they go vegan. Vivek lives in Seattle and is supported by his wife and rescued Pomeranian. Vivek helps out with donations and marketing for Help Animals India.

Board of Trustees

Sandhya Sunderrajan

Sandhya Sunderrajan is a software engineer at Microsoft. She was born and brought up in TamilNadu, India and moved to Redmond in 2010. In India, she has volunteered for PFA Chennai and for an independent animal welfare activist . Her heart is with the animals in India and she was fortunate to find Help animals India right here in Seattle. She helps out by replying to the email correspondence received by the organization.
Mark D. Johnson

Mark D. Johnson actively supports Help Animals India through project planning, budgeting and bookkeeping. He particularly values the community education and outreach programs which lead to more humane awareness for animals in India and contribute to a more compassionate world. Mark has been a licensed practitioner of Chinese medicine for humans and family companion animals in California and Washington State.
Donna Marino

Donna Marino is a long-time animal activist and vegan, and has campaigned for the rights of all animals, ranging from those in the circus to domestic animals to farm animals. A former attorney, Donna became more involved in the issue of animal rights when she took part in the country’s first Animal Rights Law Clinic at Rutgers University. She engages in frequent outreach to educate the community about veganism and is the organizer of the Boulder and Beyond Vegan Meetup in Boulder, CO, a group with over 1,000 members. She currently manages Help Animals India’s Twitter feed.

Advisory Board

Suparna Baksi Ganguly

Suparna Baksi Ganguly is the cofounder, trustee and secretary of Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA), founded in 1991 in Bengaluru (Bangalore), and the Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Center (WRRC), founded in 1999. Suparna is dedicated to raising awareness and galvanizing advocacy for the rescue and rehabilitation of captive elephants all over India. She has contributed to reports that meticulously document the plight of these majestic creatures. Suparna serves on various committees for domestic animals and captive elephant welfare in Karnataka State and was a member on the National Task Force for wild and captive elephants in 2011. She was awarded the prestigious Nari Shakti 2015 award by the Honorable President of India on International Women’s Day, 2016. Suparna was also one of the eight finalists in the Namma Bengaluru Awards of 2015–16, which recognized animal welfare for the very first time.
Dr. Askhay Prakash

Dr. Askhay Prakash was born to a farmer's family in a remote village of Bihar, India where basic necessities like electricity and roads were only dreams. Compassion for animals was evident from childhood when he would rescue injured birds and puppies. In 2007 he received a degree in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry in Himachal Pradesh (HP).

Dr. Prakash is a co-founder trustee of a Bangalore, NGO - Sarvodaya Sevabhavi Samstha. Sarvodaya's aim is to reduce human animal conflicts by spreading animal welfare awareness and using humane and scientifically- based methods to control street dog populations and rabies. Sarvodaya has among the best team of highly trained and proficient veterinarians, animal handlers, and staff in India.

As of 2016, Dr. Prakash has sterilized more than 40,000 dogs over his career.

In his love and care for animals, he is passionate about his veterinary medicine work, and his professional knowledge empowers him to care for animals in the best way possible.
Praveen Ohal

Praveen Ohal was born and raised in Aurangabad and Pune Cities (Maharashtra) in India. He has traveled eleven South-Asian countries on foot without money to spread the message of eco-protection and animal welfare. These countries included India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore, where he visited more than 200 schools and motivated thousands of children to be a part of the eco-protection and animal welfare movement. Praveen formed a non-profit group, Helping Organisation for People, Environment, and Animal (HOPE and Animal) in Ranchi, India. He is also the CEO of Varanasi for Animals; the North India Regional Manager for Mission Rabies, and the CEO of HOPE Animal Equipment, a company formed to supply low cost animal handling and surgical supplies. Praveen has received education and training in both India and the United States.
Dawn Moncrief

Dawn Moncrief has been a social justice advocate since the early 1990s. She has two master’s degrees from George Washington University in International Relations and Women’s Studies, both focusing on economic development. Dawn is a founding director of A Well-Fed World where her work has highlighted how excessive meat consumption in the U.S. and elsewhere exacerbates global hunger, especially for women and children. Dawn’s work has also shed light on the disastrous impact of animal agriculture on climate and the deceptiveness of “humane”-label marketing.
Judy Hungerford

Judy Hungerford is a graphic designer and passionate advocate for animals. She has campaigned to ban greyhound racing in New South Wales and against the live export of animals from Australia. Judy is also a champion of animal welfare in the developing world, as exemplified by her support for Help Animals India and its partner charities.