Meet Lesley Tse: Our New Board President!
Woodstock Sanctuary is pleased to introduce Lesley Tse as our organization’s new President of the Board of Directors. We also thank Ethan Ciment who served four years as our president, and who will remain an active member of the board and involved member of the Sanctuary. Click below to learn a little bit more about Lesley!
“Hello! My name is Lesley Tse and I’m the new President of the Board of Directors of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. I’m really excited to take on this role and to continue the work the Board has done under the amazing leadership of our previous President, Ethan Ciment.
Woodstock Farm Sanctuary was instrumental in my becoming vegan four years ago. I had been a vegetarian for most of my life, since I was about 19 years old. But in all that time, I still hadn’t internalized what I knew about the immense suffering that animals in the egg, dairy and wool industries go through. Once I started volunteering regularly at the Sanctuary and getting to know the amazing beings who were rescued from these horrendous industries, I couldn’t keep living in a way that was inconsistent with what I knew and how I felt. I encourage everyone to come visit the Sanctuary to meet the animals, to learn about animal agriculture industries, and to think about the ways you can better align your actions with your values.
One of the things I love most about Woodstock Farm Sanctuary is its vision of a peaceful world rooted in respect and justice for all living beings. This manifests itself in Woodstock Farm Sanctuary’s mission to advocate for animal rights in alliance with other social justice movements. As a woman of color, intersectionality is so important to me. In order to achieve collective liberation, we have to recognize that our fates are all intertwined. I am a workers’ rights attorney and I see everyday how workers are best able to advocate for change and better working conditions when they act collectively. In the same way, it is when different social justice movements work together that we can most effectively fight against oppression and achieve our common goals.
What I hope to bring to the table as Board President are my experiences as a woman and as a second-generation Filipino-American. I hope to show people that there are many paths to veganism and that the animal rights world is as diverse and dynamic as this planet we all share. I look forward to seeing you at the Sanctuary.”