ABOUT MFE

ABOUT MFE
We care about elephants and their protection across the globe.
Founded in 2012, we are group of concerned citizens working to save elephants worldwide from poaching, kidnapping and forced slavery, abuse and neglect, habitat loss, and overall cruelty.

MFE evolved out of the Global March for Elephants and Rhinos. We created MFE to concentrate our advocacy here in Massachusetts, where elephant exploitation has existed on an unacceptable scale — whether through the flourishing illegal ivory trade or in the “elephant entertainment” industry.
MFE provides resources to help others take effective action by contacting government officials, signing petitions, and providing financial support to organizations aligned with saving elephants.
MFE believes in education through personal outreach and advocacy, such as sending monthly newsletters and distributing action/advocacy cards and other information-based materials.
MFE advocates for elephant species protection, habitat conservation, and the sustainable co-existence of humans and non-humans worldwide. This includes helping improve the wellbeing and future of elephants forced to entertain or perform for humans — and ending those practices wherever possible.
MFE collaborates with professional animal welfare orgizations, both in Massachusetts and around the world, to advocate for legislation benefitting elephants in captivity and in the wild.
Now more than ever, it’s time to work toward building better protection for elephants locally and globally. Action at the state level is critical.
Our Mission
Our mission is to raise awareness about the threats facing elephants and provide resources for people to take action at the local and global level.

Massachusetts for Elephants advocates for state, local, and national laws and regulations, coordinates fundraising efforts, and collaborates with like-minded organizations to protect elephants everywhere from exploitation and preserve the species worldwide.
MFE Board of Directors
GLENNA WATERMAN & SALLY WATERMAN OWEN
Glenna Waterman and Sally Waterman Owen are sisters who grew up in Iowa, attended college in New England, and settled in Massachusetts. They share a passion for the natural world and animals, especially elephants, and formed MFE in 2012.
Glenna is a graphic artist and lives in Brookline with her Australian Cattle dog, Delphi. She is a council member of the African Wildlife Foundation and has traveled to Tanzania and Kenya.
Sally has been an advocate for animals, wild and domestic, for many years. She was most fortunate to have been able to travel to Kenya in July of 2019, where she and her family witnessed breathtaking sights of elephants in their natural habitats. Sally lives in Newbury, MA, with her husband, Hugo, and her collie, Luke.
ERIC MCNULTY
Eric McNulty is a Harvard-affiliated author, speaker, and educator who specializes in purpose-driven and crisis leadership. McNulty is co-author of You’re It: Crisis, Change, and How to Lead When it Matters Most, as well as numerous articles and e-books. He is exploring leadership lessons of natural systems through his project, The Elephant Wisdom Project. Eric is a birder and longtime animal advocate and spends as much time as possible outdoors. He was fortunate to see elephants and many other species while traveling in South Africa. He lives in Brookline, MA.
ANN COX
Ann Cox is an elementary school Reading Specialist. She advocates for all animals, with a special love for elephants. As a volunteer, Ann spent time at The Elephant Nature Park in Thailand caring for elephants that have been rescued primarily from the entertainment industry.
SHERYL BECKER
Sheryl has been advocating for animals for the past 45 years and has seen so much progress made. She joined MFE in 2021 and has also been very active with her local advocacy group, Western Mass. Animal Rights Advocates (WMARA). Some of WMARA's successes include a recently passed ordinance in Springfield banning the retail sale of dogs, cats, and rabbits, which shut down a puppy mill store the group had been protesting for years. WMARA also put an end to pig torture at Baystate Medical Center's trauma courses and helped end the Shrine Circus in 2019, which had been using wild animals for many decades. Since 2021, Sheryl and WMARA have been working with PETA and UMass Students for Animal Liberation to shut down a horribly cruel monkey lab at UMass.

We care about elephants and their protection across the globe.

Our Mission

Our mission is to raise awareness about the threats facing elephants and provide resources for people to take action at the local and global level.

Massachusetts for Elephants advocates for state, local, and national laws and regulations, coordinates fundraising efforts, and collaborates with like-minded organizations to protect elephants everywhere from exploitation and preserve the species worldwide.

MFE Board of Directors

GLENNA WATERMAN & SALLY WATERMAN OWEN

ERIC MCNULTY

ANN COX

SHERYL BECKER