Meet the Board
President: Josh Baldwin
Josh found the Refuge during the 2020 Durham Vegan Mac & Cheese cook-off while meeting some Refuge volunteers tabling at the event. He signed up for volunteer efforts and started with house cleaning shortly after. His first day at the Refuge turned out to be the last day for tours due to shutting down for COVID-19, so he never officially went on a tour. Now he gives tours! You will find Josh with his wife Taryn at the Refuge nearly every Saturday and Sunday.
Josh grew interested in animal liberation after becoming vegan in 2020. In addition to the Refuge, he helped start NC Animal Advocates United to help bring an end to animal exploitation.
When not working to remedy the plight of the animals, Josh can be found reading or listening to heavy metal music. He lives in Cary with his wife and four cats.
Vice President: Bailey Frank
Bailey joined the board in August 2023. After moving to NC for law school, she discovered Piedmont Farm Animal Refuge and immediately fell in love with the animals at the facility. She volunteered at Piedmont throughout law school and is a practicing animal rights attorney. She is honored and excited to have a chance to serve the rescue as a board member.
Bailey became vegan in 2016 after witnessing the brutality inherent in our food system and committed herself to the cause of animal rights. When not at the rescue, you can find her snuggled up on the couch with her dog, Pomegranate, or annoying her cat, DD, with lots of kisses and affection.
Secretary: Trish Soysal
After being vegetarian for a few years, Trish decided to go all the way and become vegan. She joined a local meet-up group to meet like-minded people. This is when she learned about a fundraiser for “ Building the Hen House” at the Refuge. After meeting Lenore and hearing about her dream to build a refuge for abused/neglected farm animals, she was hooked. Since 2012, she has been supporting the Refuge and all of the incredible work. She especially likes brushing the goats and representing the Refuge at different events.
She lives in Raleigh with her husband, Oral, and their three “foster failures” Roxanne the Pitbull and Sweetpea & Wendy, their two little Beagles. In her free time, she enjoys reading, quilting and going for hikes on the Raleigh greenway. Most of all, she enjoys spending time with her new granddaughter, Daphne.
Treasurer: Monika Caruso
Monika first learned about the Refuge at an animal law symposium in 2012, before it was formally incorporated. She became a board member in 2013 and rotated off six years later. She is honored to rejoin the board in 2024, after a five-year hiatus.
An ethical vegan since junior high school, Monika has spent over half her life advocating for animals through shelter work, outreach, policy change, and mentorship.
As a Midwest native who swore she’d never leave Chicago, a small acreage in Saxapahaw was all it took to change her mind. She and her family left downtown Chicago in 2008 and traded up for a small subsistence farm and several rescue hens. When not at the Refuge, Monika’s interests include animal law, gardening, freelance recipe development, hiking, and genre films.
Steve Griffin
Steve, along with his husband Tim, woke up and became vegan in 2014, after having been pescatarian for a year and realizing that wasn't good enough. Very shortly after that he discovered the Refuge through their Facebook page. They came for a personal tour given by Lenore and immediately fell in love with the Refuge, Tony and Flower in particular, and all the amazing rescue work that was being done.
Steve had been very involved with a cat and dog rescue group for a number of years, but when hot dogs and hamburgers were served at their fundraisers he became acutely aware of the disconnect and how hollow and incomplete that concept of animal rescue was. He was very thankful to have discovered the Refuge, and he and Tim have been volunteering and attending events over the years since. He has often said that the Refuge is not just a sanctuary for the animal residents, but for him as well, a place of love and peace that can, at least temporarily, shut out the ugliness and violence of the world outside its boundaries.
After he retired in early 2023 it was a given when he was asked to join the Board later that year. Steve and his husband Tim live in Sanford and spend a great deal of their time and effort tending to and spoiling six rescued cats. They enjoy the daily visits from the birds, squirrels, deer and wild turkeys in the woods that surround their home.
Nick Miller
Nick has been vegan since 2008 when he and his partner Sara made the decision to give up all animal products. His enthusiasm for veganism is driven by a desire to reduce the suffering in the world.
After moving to North Carolina from New York he met Lenore and Monika and became involved with the Refuge. He loves the quality of care the animals receive and the spirit of the people who guide its mission. It has been a pleasure to watch it grow over the years and it is an honor to be a part of that journey.
Nick lives in Holly Springs with his partner, daughters and rescue rabbits. He spends his free time relaxing with his family, reading non-fiction and sci-fi/fantasy, listening to loud, fast music (Propagandhi fans are encouraged to reach out at Refuge events he is at!), and running.
Liz Van Voorhees
Liz and her husband, Mike, completed their transition from vegetarian to vegan in late 2022, when they fully awakened to the fact that it was unlikely that the pasture-raised chickens could actually be living “good” lives and still be producing enough eggs to supply every supermarket in the country.
Liz was naive about the actual state of animals raised for food, having preferred to not consider it for decades, until she leaned about gestation crates for sows in an interview by Ezra Klein with Leah Garces about the Hidden Costs of Meat. Despite struggling with overwhelming grief, hopelessness, and moral injury upon awakening to this reality (and her role in having perpetuated it), she began searching for how to have an impact for farmed animals. She met Josh through this activism, who introduced her to the Refuge.
The Refuge became a place of hope as she continued to organize and be active for animals. When she was invited to join the Board in 2025 she was honored to have the opportunity to support such a place of compassion, hope, and community for all sentient beings.
Interested in joining the Board?
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