Born and educated in the U.S.A., Cynthia Moss moved to Africa in 1968 and she has lived and worked for wildlife there ever since. Her involvement with elephants began in Lake Manyara National Park in Tanzania where she worked with Iain Douglas-Hamilton on his pioneering elephant study. In 1972, with Harvey Croze, she started the Amboseli Elephant Research Project (AERP) in Kenya, which she continues to direct. Her studies have concentrated on the distribution, demography, population dynamics, social organization and behavior of the Amboseli elephants. In 2001 she created the Amboseli Trust for Elephants in both Kenya and the USA. Her present activities include: overall direction of ATE which includes: research and monitoring; training elephant researchers from African elephant range states; outreach to the Maasai community in Amboseli; disseminating scientific results; networking with other elephant scientists and conservation in Africa and Asia; and promoting public awareness by writing popular articles and books and by making films about elephants. Moss is the author of four books: Portraits in the Wild (University of Chicago Press); Elephant Memories (University of Chicago Press); Echo of the Elephants (William Morrow); Little Big Ears (Simon & Schuster); and co-author with Laurence Pringle of Elephant Woman (Atheneum). She has written numerous popular and scientific articles and has made four award-winning TV documentaries about elephants.
Dr. Sandra L. Bloom is a Board-Certified psychiatrist, graduate of Temple University School of Medicine and currently Associate Professor, Health Management and Policy at the Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University (www.sandrabloom.com). She is also the Founder of Creating Presence, an online organizational approach for creating trauma-informed systems. 
Scott carries a lifetime of experience, working both with and for captive elephants for over 30 years. He is a leading expert in natural habitat elephant sanctuary development and operation, and the co-founder of two elephant sanctuaries: The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee and the first and only sanctuary in South America, Elephant Sanctuary Brazil. Utilizing his strong aptitude for design and construction, complemented by his knowledge and comprehension of the physical and emotional needs of captive elephants, Scott has pioneered progressive elephant captive care for emotionally and physically abused elephants desperately in need of a second chance. Scott’s provable record is a testament to the fact that elephants can recover from the harsh traumas of captivity if given respect, space, compassionate care, and the companionship of other elephants that so many have never known.
For over thirty years, Michele Franko has worked in multiple Animal advocacy-related venues including Animal care, welfare and shelters, thoroughbred Horse racing and sport Horse breeding farms, veterinary assistance, and Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. The past fifteen years, Michele has served as a carer for rescued Elephants in sanctuary. Her work and expertise have also brought her outside the U.S. to work with severely traumatized Elephants in India and South Africa. She approaches Elephant care and understanding through a trauma-informed lens focusing on individuality, well-being, understanding and self-discovery to help facilitate their healing.
Elke Riesterer was born in southern Germany, and immigrated to the US in 1983. She is a Certified Massage Therapist and registered Jin Shin Do Practitioner with the broad experience of having worked with humans and Animals for over 30 years. She has volunteered as an all-species Body Therapist at the Oakland, California, USA, Zoo since 1997 and uses a combination of body-centered therapies including her most favored modality the Tellington Touch (TTouch™). In general, her work centers around the complex well-being issues of Elephants worldwide with an emphasis on helping heal symptoms of PTSD. Besides Elephants, Elke works with Aldabra Tortoises, Monitor Lizards, Snakes and Giraffes, and Sea Life including Dolphins and Sea Lions. Elke has lectured and traveled extensively and in particular, visited Africa multiple times to provide healing touch for residents at the Elephant and Rhino Orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya, Lilayi Elephant Nursery in Lusaka, Zambia, and Asian Elephants in Thailand and India. In addition to many exotic species, Elke also enjoys working with Horses, Dogs and other home animals. Her work has appeared in numerous articles and radio and television programs. Elke is also the co-founder of World Elephant Alliance.
Therese Lilliesköld is an anthrozoologist, an author and currently a PhD-student. Her research is centrered around questions of knowledge; of more-than-human animals as knowledge-bearers and possible decision makers in societal planning as well as on human knowledge production behind decisions affecting other animals. Her previous work has been within animal protection with a wide range of topics; from the link between violence towards humans and other animals, to trauma and the emotional life of companion animals.
David Ebert, a retired lawyer, founded Weeping Elephant Project in 2025 as a means of more fully devoting himself to reducing the suffering of elephants. WEP is a continuation and expansion of his work on behalf of captive elephants in the US over the past decade.
Ms. Suparna Baksi Ganguly, Hon. President and Co-Founder Trustee, Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation Center (WRRC) & Co-Founder Trustee, Compassion Unlimited Plus Action (CUPA)November 21, 2025
For over thirty years, Michele Franko has worked in multiple Animal advocacy-related venues including Animal care, welfare and shelters, thoroughbred Horse racing and sport Horse breeding farms, veterinary assistance, and Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation. The past fifteen years, Michele has served as a carer for rescued Elephants in sanctuary. Her work and expertise have also brought her outside the U.S. to work with severely traumatized Elephants in India and South Africa. She approaches Elephant care and understanding through a trauma-informed lens focusing on individuality, well-being, understanding and self-discovery to help facilitate their healing.
Prior to her work with Elephants, Michele served as a California State Humane Officer investigating criminal Animal cruelty which included active rescues of Animals in distress and crisis. Her responsibilities included monitoring and inspections of treatment of Animals in circuses and rodeos. Having studied psychology and criminal justice and served in the investigation and subsequent prosecution of many cases of violence against Animals, Michele began formal studies in trauma and trauma healing as work as an intern with The Kerulos Center for Nonviolence where she became a member of the Stewardship council in 2009.
