People

Sarah Pickering is a mission-driven communications specialist with more than 25 years’ experience directing proactive and reactive media work resulting in international coverage in The Washington Post, Al Jazeera, BBC, Times of India, and more. Prior to joining the Brooks McCormick Jr. Animal Law & Policy Program (ALPP) at Harvard Law School, she was International Director of Communications for Animal Equality and oversaw media outreach on its undercover investigations into factory farms and slaughterhouses in eight countries. Throughout her career, Sarah has consulted for numerous animal protection and environmental organizations, including Compassion in World Farming, Greenpeace, and FAI Farms at Oxford University.

Before moving to the US from the UK in 2016, Sarah was Head of Communications for The Equal Rights Trust, a global center for excellence in equality law. Prior to that, she lived in Denmark, overseeing global programs and projects for the Foundation for Environmental Education, the world’s largest environmental education organization. Sarah also served as Communications Director for Copenhagen Climate Council for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15), World Climate Solutions, and the World Business Summit on Climate Change.

Sarah’s first job in the non-profit sector was with World Animal Protection. In addition to promoting its international campaigns, for example, to end the long-distance transport of animals for food, commercial whaling, bear bile farming, and the use of animals in entertainment, Sarah was the organization’s first disaster relief media lead deployed to Pakistan after the earthquake in 2005 and Bangladesh after cyclone Sidr in 2007, among other countries. She also has worked on sustainable development projects in Kenya and Mali.

Sarah began her career as a newspaper reporter in the UK, following postgraduate study in journalism. In addition to overseeing communications for ALPP and its Animal Law & Policy Clinic, Sarah also assists the school’s Program on Law and Society in the Muslim World with communications, and has served on the board of Animal Charity Evaluators.