Our Team

Founder and Executive Director for Animal Advocates International. She is an International
Animal Law Advocate. She holds a Master of Laws in Animal Law from the Center for
Animal Law Studies, Lewis & Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon, USA. She is a
Zimbabwean registered lawyer with extensive experience in the criminal justice system. She
attained her law degree from the University of Zimbabwe in 2010. After obtaining her
degree, she worked with the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe as a Principal
Public Prosecutor for nine years, prosecuting among other criminal cases wildlife crimes and
animal cruelty before the Magistrates Court and the High Court of Zimbabwe.
Thereafter, she served as the Legal Manager for Speak Out for Animals, a non-profit,
focusing on protecting animals through the legal system in Zimbabwe for three years. She has
been involved in the capacity building trainings for investigators, prosecutors, and
magistrates on combating wildlife crime in Zimbabwe. She has also been involved in the
development of the first Rapid Reference Guide, a toolkit for prosecutors in Zimbabwe. She
has been actively involved in case monitoring of all wildlife crime cases, which led to
improved investigations and prosecutions. In addition, she has conducted wildlife crime
baseline surveys in Zimbabwe.

She has worked with the Animal Welfare Institute, Washington DC, USA, as a wildlife law
and policy fellow where she assisted with a variety of wildlife and policy issues. She worked
on projects to protect threatened and endangered species, international wildlife trade and
commenting on federal and state rule making proposals.
She has certificates in animal law and wildlife crime short courses. She is passionate about
animals and her vision is to contribute to the growth and development of domestic, farmed,
and wild animal laws in Zimbabwe and abroad. The animal welfare laws are outdated, and it
is her desire to lobby for better and effective animal welfare laws. The criminal justice system
has always been her area, and she aspires to see animal abusers punished. To Yvonne, animals
are sentient beings who deserve justice too. She has always wanted to be a voice for the voiceless.