Partners in Animal Welfare, Inc. © 2023. All Rights Reserved.
Partners in Animal Welfare, Inc. © 2023
All Rights Reserved.
our team
karen sacks, esq.
Meet our Founder
Karen Sacks isn’t just our founding leader; she’s the embodiment of PAW’s core values. With an illustrious career that spans decades, Karen’s experience in both nonprofit management and animal welfare positions her perfectly to spearhead PAW’s initiatives.
Karen holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and earned her law degree from New York University School of Law.
Beyond her professional achievements, Karen’s personal life also revolves around her love for animals. She lives in NJ with her family, which includes her husband, two sons, and four beloved rescue dogs.
Animal Welfare Advocacy
- Began her journey in animal welfare as a volunteer at the Montclair Township Animal Shelter.
- Served as trustee and Chair of the Friends of the Montclair Township Animal Shelter board.
- Currently chairs the Montclair Township’s Animal Welfare Advisory Committee.
- Recognized by the Humane Society of the United States and appointed as a New Jersey Humane Policy Leader in 2021.
professional highlights
- Founded a nonprofit in 2000 with fellow NJ lawyers to increase legal representation for NJ’s underserved. Grew the organization from a nascent concept to a renowned statewide model that serves over 4,000 indigent New Jersey residents annually.
- Honored with numerous accolades for her impactful work, with the “2021 Community Visionary Award” at VLJ’s 20th Anniversary Gala standing out as a recent testament to her dedication.
meet our team
board of trustees
Brian Silver
treasurer
Brian is a Montclair native who moved back into town in September 2022 with his wife Nikki. He currently works at The Bravitas Group Inc. which is a real estate development and management firm specializing in the repurposing of architecturally interesting buildings based in Montclair. Prior to that, he worked at two real estate funds where he focused on acquisitions and asset management throughout the United States and Western Europe. He has a Bachelor of Science from Cornell University and a Masters in Real Estate Development from New York University.
Brian enjoys traveling, golfing, tennis, playing with his three pets (two cats and one dog), going to events around town and watching sports. He has also been volunteering with the cats at the Montclair Animal Shelter since June 2024.
Brianna Ferrante
Brianna is a corporate attorney specializing in mergers and acquisitions, private equity, and capital markets, advising the goals of businesses and investors across a wide range of industries. She is also deeply committed to nonprofit and community service work, with a particular passion for animal welfare and advocacy for children in foster care. An avid equestrian and animal lover, Brianna volunteers with equine-assisted therapy programs and actively supports animal rescue and welfare initiatives throughout New Jersey and New York.
Dori Sedransk
Dori is Vice President and In-House Counsel of David Frankel Realty, Inc. in New York, where she has been employed for the last thirty years after working in a law firm as a corporate transactional attorney. Dori has served on the FOMTAS board since 2017, and has fostered and helped place many dogs over the years. She lives in Verona with her husband, Noel, and two rescue dogs, Rosie and Lainey. Dori and Noel have two grown children (OB and Orly), also both animal advocates and long-time volunteers at the Montclair Township Animal Shelter.
Karen Moreira
secretary
Karen manages in-house litigation at a global Fortune 100 company based in NJ. As a volunteer passionate about animal welfare, she is a Humane Law liaison at the Monmouth County SPCA. There, as part of her efforts, she works on strengthening animal cruelty laws. Initiatives include “Ban the Crates,” which addresses the cruelty and the health dangers created by extreme confinement of pigs and calves. She is also an avid dog walker at the Monmouth County SPCA. Karen serves on the Board of Directors for Mid-Atlantic English Springer Spaniel organization. Karen also volunteers for a local rescue, Wag On Inn, where she helps to counsel owners and rehome dogs.
Stacey Bussel
Stacey is the current Managing Attorney at Disability Rights New Jersey. She is also one of the Founders of Legal Service of New Jersey’s (LSNJ) Medical-Legal Partnership called LAMP. When not working Stacey spends time with her family including her rescue dog, Darwin, and rescue cat, Tiki. A vegetarian since the age of 16, animal rights and animal welfare have played an integral role in her life since childhood. As an attorney in Miami, Stacey was one of the founding members of UWAG, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve the lives of animals throughout Miami-Dade County. Prior to volunteering for UWAG, Stacey also served as an intern for the Humane Society of Greater Miami, Inc. working with their cruelty investigators and providing legal research on animal welfare laws throughout the state.
meet our team
advisory board
AJ Albrecht, ESQ.
AJ is the Chief Operating Officer for the Animal Legal Defense Fund. A licensed attorney, AJ is the 2020-2021 Chair of the American Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee and a past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Animal Law Committee. Prior to joining MFA, AJ was a legislative attorney with Best Friends Animal Society and before that, she practiced family law at a boutique law firm in NJ. AJ is the founder of the East Orange Animal Alliance, a nonprofit that supports the City of East Orange in effectively caring for its at-risk animals and the people who are dedicated to them.
Brian Hackett
Brian recently joined Associated Humane Societies in Newark, New Jersey as Director of Government and Community Relations after serving as Legislative Affairs Manager at the Animal Legal Defense Fund and before that, as New Jersey State Director for the Humane Society of the United States. Brian has also worked as a political consultant and operative. Brian currently serves as board member for People for Animals, Inc., a New Jersey-based network of low-cost spay/neuter and veterinary wellness clinics. Brian has been repeatedly recognized by Insider NJ’s OUT100 List as one of the most successful advocates in the state.
Nancy Willis
Nancy is the Vice President of Strategic Growth for the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. Nancy has more than two decades of leadership experience across a wide range of nonprofit and for-profit organizations, including the Maui Humane Society, Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation, and the Major League Baseball Players Association. Nancy has fostered many dogs (and a few cats) and she has a soft spot in her heart for senior animals.
Faith Krausman, DVM
Dr. Faith Krausman is a veterinarian practicing in New Jersey. Her business is Vet on Wheels, and she does house calls for cats, dogs, and exotics. She was recently awarded a fully electric cargo van by the NJ Zero Emissions Incentive Program (NJZIP), designed to decrease emissions in the greater Newark area. She converted it into a mobile veterinary clinic. She has done volunteer work with Liberty Humane in Newark and a shelter in South Orange.
She is on the Institutional Animal Care and Use for William Paterson University, to ensure that the laboratory animals are treated humanely during experiments. Faith wrote a book about her work 101 ‘Tails’ of a House Call Veterinarian. She is currently at work on a second volume.
Faith has always loved music; she played in the jazz ensemble while in vet school at Cornell.
After graduating, she immediately sought saxophone lessons and continued her musical journey. In May 2023 she was graduated from the Montclair State University Jazz Studies program with a degree in saxophone performance and was the recipient of the Excellence in Jazz award. She intends to continue both her veterinary business and her musical escapades, for a long time to come.
Faith is married to a writer who concentrates on sports. They have a daughter who heads the photo division of iHeart Media. And one dog, two cats, and three birds (and two fish in the pond).