Renee King-Sonnen is the Founder and Executive Director of Rowdy Girl Sanctuary, a 501(c)(3) non-profit with pioneering initiatives: The Rancher Advocacy Program transitions cattle ranchers and animal farmers out of animal agribusiness and Families Choosing Compassion is a compassionate alternative to Future Farmers of America and 4-H.  Since going vegan on October 31, 2014 Renee has converted Rowdy Girl Sanctuary from a cattle ranch to a sanctuary for over 120 animals–the first documented beef cattle ranch vegan conversion in history. As a result her husband, a former cattle rancher is now vegan and together they are creating a strong vegan footprint in Texas.  Because of extreme flood events associated with climate change, Renee recently moved the entire organization from Angleton to Waelder, Texas near Austin and San Antonio. She is passionate about the future, and is laying the groundwork to build an educational center and knowledge base with a central theme of showcasing ranchers and animal farmers in RAP programming; and she is developing a facility and system of care designed to care for aging bovine and other large animals for the rest of their natural lives as beings instead of food.