Vandhana's Bio

Vandhana Bala is an attorney with twenty-five years’ experience. For more than a decade, Vandhana has advocated for a sustainable and ethical food supply. 

Vandhana began her legal career at Sidley Austin, a global law firm, and later started her own practice where she handled a broad spectrum of commercial matters, companion animal issues, and criminal cases. 

As a social justice advocate, Vandhana served as General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Mercy for Animals, where she achieved several precedent-setting legal victories in the enforcement of criminal laws to protect farmed animals, including the first-ever felony conviction for cruelty to factory-farmed turkeys and charges of criminal animal abuse brought against multiple factory farm owners. She is also a co-founder and board member of the Good Food Institute. 

Currently, Vandhana serves as General Counsel & Chief of Staff for Global Food Partners and also consults with activists and organizations on administrative, legal, and strategic matters. Vandhana has lectured extensively at law schools and bar associations across the country and has been interviewed by dozens of media outlets on her work. 

An honors graduate of the Indiana University School of Law, Vandhana obtained her undergraduate degree from Wesleyan University and currently resides in Durham, North Carolina with her rescue dogs, Petra and Kobe, and King Arthur the cat.