Mimi Brody has been director of federal affairs at Humane Society Legislative Fund and the Humane Society of the United States since 1999, helping enact a broad range of pro-animal legislation, defend against hostile efforts, and seek strong enforcement of animal protection laws affecting companion animals, farmed animals, animals in research, and wildlife. To attract diverse congressional support, she links animal protection issues to other concerns such as the environment, public health, food safety, national security, and budget savings.
Some of the issues on which she has worked include boosting funds to enforce key animal welfare laws, “soring” of show horses, animal fighting, shelter options for domestic violence survivors with pets, disaster planning, alternatives to animal testing and research, chimpanzee retirement to sanctuary, wildlife trafficking, shark finning, trade in dog and cat fur and meat, crush videos, “downer” livestock (too sick or injured to walk), intensive confinement and antibiotic overuse in animal agriculture, blocking legislation designed to negate state animal protection laws, and requiring USDA to repost on its website inspection reports and enforcement records purged by the agency in February 2017.
Prior to joining HSUS/HSLF, Mimi worked for Senator Edward Kennedy for ten years, covering issues including environment, energy, transportation, community development, appropriations, and Massachusetts concerns. Before that, she clerked for the Honorable Judge Richard Arnold of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and worked at Public Citizen and the ACLU, among her earlier jobs.
She received her BA from the University of Michigan and her JD from Harvard Law School, and wrote an article published in the Harvard Environmental Law Review on legislative reforms for animal research. Mimi and her jazz pianist husband live in Silver Spring, Maryland, with their beloved rescue dog and cat, and have two amazing daughters living in Detroit and New Orleans.