About Us

Leadership

Gene Baur, President and Co-Founder
Gene grew up in Hollywood, California and worked in commercials for McDonald's and other fast food restaurants. Today, he campaigns to raise awareness about the negative consequences of industrialized factory farming and our cheap food system. He lives in rural New York state and is the co founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, America's leading farm animal protection organization, which runs the largest rescue and refuge network for farm animals in North America. Gene holds a bachelor's degree in sociology from California State University Northridge and a master's degree in agricultural economics from Cornell University.

After volunteering and working with various environmental and human rights causes, Gene turned his attention to animal agriculture. He has conducted hundreds of visits to farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses to document conditions, and his pictures and videos, exposing factory farming cruelty, have been aired nationally and internationally, educating millions. He has testified in court and before local, state and federal legislative bodies, and has initiated groundbreaking legal enforcement and legislative action to raise awareness and prevent factory farming abuses. He played a significant role in passing the first U.S. laws to prohibit cruel farming systems - including the Florida ban on gestation crates, the Arizona ban on veal and gestation crates, and the California and Chicago bans on foie gras. His efforts have been covered by leading news organizations, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, National Public Radio, ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN. His book, entitled Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts and Minds about Animals and Food, will be published by Simon and Schuster in March, 2008.

Jeff Lydon, Executive Director
Jeff gained his first experience in activism canvassing for Greenpeace in the late 1980s. He took on organizational and fund raising work for New England Animal Action before accepting a summer post at Farm Sanctuary as Education Coordinator in 2000. Jeff was also a Staff Writer for Satya Magazine, and has published on animal issues in other journals, books, and on-line sources as well.

With two decades in the non-profit sector, Jeff has worked as a teacher of the deaf, an advocate for the homeless and disabled, and an executive with organizations serving both people and animals. He cut his teeth in executive management as the Executive Director of Schuyler County Head Start, which serves pre-school children of low-income families. His last post was that of Executive Director of the Tompkins SPCA, one of the nation's leading companion animal shelters.

Jeff holds a BA from Allegheny College and a MA in teaching from Smith where humane education was the focus of his graduate work. He became a vegetarian in 1985 and had his last piece of cheese in 1995. His wife, two daughters, two dogs, and four cats share a cabin with Jeff near Farm Sanctuary.

Farm Sanctuary Board Members

Jane Hoffman - Chair
Gene Baur
Stewart David
Fred Ey
Lionel Jolivot
Mariann Sullivan