OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kristen Tessone
Co-Founder/ President
Kristen has been committed to animal care and compassion her entire life and has been vegan for over 18 years. Her studies began with field school in Costa Rica, studying Primate Behavior and Conservation, followed by several years of bird and animal care for the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, as well as hands-on animal rescues, transport, and post-rehab releases, as well as search-and-recovery of migratory birds for Flint Creek Wildlife, where she earned a certification in Raptor Handling. Upon having children, Kristen repositioned her work to bringing her experience, dedication, and passion for care to the underserved animals of rural Illinois by developing and co-founding Mystery Meadows.
Joe Tessone
Co-Founder/Secretary-Treasurer
Joe is the owner of Mystery Meadow’s namesake, Mystery Street Recording Company, a solar-powered recording studio in Chicago. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia College Chicago, as well as a consultant for various audio companies and musical artists. Joe has been vegan for over 20 years and an animal rights advocate for just as long. Through his various experiences he has witnessed the correlation between culture, labor rights, animal rights, and environmental preservation and has dedicated his life to advocating for these causes.
Ephran Ramirez Jr
Board Member
Ephran is a middle school teacher from Chicago. He has been vegan for almost 20 years and is passionate about animal liberation. Aside from animal rights activism, he works on social justice projects, including youth empowerment, Puerto Rican community building and decolonization work, LGBTQ liberation work, and prisoner literacy/support. He has done extensive community organizing, as well as event planning and promotion.
Jacquie Silvestri
Board Member
Jacquie lives in Gurnee, IL with her husband and three rescue cats. With her deep love for animals, she became a vegetarian in 2005, and switched to veganism in 2020. As a child, she wanted to be a marine biologist, but instead went into accounting. She recently decided to follow her dreams a little more closely and iis currently back in school for Wildlife Conservation. Jacquie is looking forward to helping Mystery Meadows grow into an expansive, beautiful sanctuary. Her hobbies include photography, traveling, and swimming.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Mystery Meadows was founded on the principles of environmentalism, animal liberation, and direct action. We are dedicated to building solidarity with nature and non-human lives through refuge, compassion, and outreach. We aim to create safe and enriching homes for marginalized and farmed animals while preserving and restoring native habitats.
