Laura Donahue

Laura Donahue serves as Best Friends Animal Society's senior director of advocacy and network.

Within this division of external affairs, Laura leads Best Friends' legislative advocacy campaigns as well as the Best Friends Network Partner program, a community of more than 5,000 animal welfare organizations dedicated to ending the killing of dogs and cats in shelters. She oversees a diverse team of attorneys, campaign strategists, and animal shelter experts who are working to achieve Best Friends' goal of bringing the country to no-kill.

Laura has more than two decades of experience working in legislative advocacy and animal sheltering. She comes to Best Friends after most recently working for Austin 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, as an officer with The Pew Charitable Trusts, and as the Virginia state director for the Humane World for Animals.

Laura has founded two independent political action committees for animals in Texas and Virginia. 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 enjoys time with her pets, which include her dog Chica, her horse Bow, and many loved foster pets from Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter. She and her husband, Daniel, live in Austin, Texas, and are proud parents to their daughter, Evelyn.