Laura Donahue

Laura Donahue serves as Best Friends Animal Society's Director of Legislation and Advocacy. In this capacity, she leads Best Friends' legislative efforts, advocacy and outreach campaigns, and grassroots engagement. She oversees a diverse team of attorneys, policy experts, research analysts and advocacy professionals who are working to achieve Best Friends' goal to make the country no-kill by 2025.

Laura has two decades of experience working in campaigns, legislative advocacy and nonprofit management. She comes to Best Friends after most recently working for Austin Pets Alive! and American Pets Alive! as the Director of Mission Advancement. Prior to joining the no-kill movement, Laura served as the Executive Director of the Texas Humane Legislation Network for four years. Before returning to her home state of Texas, she worked on the East Coast, serving as an in-house policy consultant for the Pew Charitable Trusts and as the Virginia State Director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Laura has founded two independent political action committees for animals: Humane Dominion and THLN PAC. She got her start in policy reform working for former U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski and former Baltimore Delegate Salima Marriott, while pursuing her master's degree in social work, specializing in social action and community development.

In her spare time, Laura serves as the President of the Parelli Foundation and enjoys time with her animals, which include her two dogs, Demi and Chica, and her horse, Bow. She and her husband, Daniel, live in Austin, Texas, and are proud parents to their recently adopted daughter, Evelyn.