Nina Jackel is a global activist known for effecting change for animals around the world through her non-profit organization, Lady Freethinker. As the founder of LFT, Jackel leads numerous divisions at the org. that expose cruel and illegal activities through undercover operations; targeted education to change outdated cultural norms; and galvanizing ordinary citizens to make a difference by signing petitions for government and law enforcement.
Jackel founded LFT in 2013 as a personal blog and maintained it while working as campaign director at a prominent international animal advocacy organization in Los Angeles. As a writer and editor for numerous publications, Jackel understood the power that the media has to illuminate, educate and influence.
The impact of her work was almost immediately felt. A petition Jackel started to stop a school hunting contest in which children as young as five years old were rewarded for killing possums resulted in public outrage that shut down the event in 2017.
Today at LFT, Jackel leads a team of dedicated writers covering breaking news and grassroots actions with the mission of creating a more compassionate world. So far, Lady Freethinker has published thousands of news articles and amassed more than 10 million signatures on petitions to fight cruelty to dogs, cats, farmed animals, animals in entertainment and more.
In recent years, Jackel expanded LFT to go beyond publishing, providing direct aid to dogs and cats rescued from the horrors of the meat trade in Asia, and sponsoring educational ads for the public in these regions that show how dogs are family, not food.
Jackel’s newest undercover division shut down a dogfight breeding operation in South America last year, with the surviving dogs finding permanent homes with loving families and the perpetrator now facing legal consequences
Also on the legal front, in 2019 Jackel and LFT became part of a collation to pass the foie gras ban in the state of New York to help end violent force-feeding of geese for a luxury food product that many restaurants and retailers already refuse to sell over animal cruelty.
A philosophy major in college, Jackel believes that humans can evolve for the better through reason and compassion, and feels that animal rights are among the most important social justice issues of our time – one that is centuries behind and overdue for advancement. Bringing society up to speed through Jackel’s three-pronged approach of investigations, petitions and educational awareness is her goal with LFT.
