Voice for Asian Elephants Society

Our mission is to protect endangered Asian elephants of India by preserving corridors for wild elephants and restoring their habitats, while providing basic knowledge and tools to the people living near the forest fringes to alleviate human elephant conflict, thereby fostering peaceful coexistence between people and wild elephants.

In realizing our vision and mission:
1) Create elephant corridors and restore their lost habitat to protect Asian elephants in collaboration with the state forest departments
2) Alleviate HEC through capacity building and training programs for the local communities living on the forest fringes, and creating sustainable communities
3) Provide the native people near the forest fringes basic necessities and survival tools like flashlights, the first line of defense to protect themselves and elephants
4) Organize youth empowerment programs to cultivate empathy and compassion for elephants, and empower them to pursue ecological studies and elephant conservation
5) Conduct sensitization workshops for bureaucrats, law enforcement authorities, religious institutions, and decision makers, to advocate for legislative changes in tackling wildlife crime and ending elephant capture
6) Provide capacity building and hands-on training for elephant handlers (mahouts) to foster compassionate treatment of captive elephants, in collaboration with forest departments across states that house captive elephants

1) Build broad public awareness through film, education, nature immersion, and multi-media campaigns, to foster thoughtful shifts in ethical and cultural attitudes
2) Provide basic necessities, starting with flashlights, to people living on the forest fringes in order to help mitigate human-elephant conflict
3) Install elephant friendly fencing in villages to prevent electrocution deaths of elephants
4) Install large road signage to prevent elephant deaths as they cross major highways to reach the adjacent forest patches
5) Purchase a one-acre plot of land to create a permanent nursery and grow elephant friendly saplings, which will then be transplated in forests
6) Collaborate with Forest Departments to create corridors, and promote biodiversity, so elephants have enough land to sustain themselves
7) Gentle Giant Summit Project helps foster collaboration and communication between various governmental agencies to build consensus and work together in protecting wild elephants, while enhancing the living conditions of captive elephants
8) Conduct town-hall meetings with communities near the forest fringes to build awareness of the rescue program and engage them as partners in mitigating human/elephant conflict
9) Project Asian Elephants 101, a 7-day nature immersion program for the youth has been launched to help the younger generation reconnect with the natural world

We have a robust team of highly qualified Board of Directors and an Advisory Committee from versatile backgrounds. Our board was formed in November 2017.

VFAES has recently recruited a digital strategist to harness the power of social media, especially during the COVID lock down. We also depend on talented and dedicated volunteers, who are assisting with social media, graphics, and other fundraising tools

The VFAES board holds quarterly “virtual" meetings, and is working to establish a governance structure and put financial and other controls in place and to create and implement a fundraising plan. The VFAES Board of Directors currently stands at five, and the five Advisory Board members are world-renowned elephant and animal welfare experts, and we will continue to seek qualified candidates until we have at least ten Board of Directors. VFAES is staffed by a small but passionate, highly educated and efficient Board of Directors from various walks of life.

Sangita Iyer, Founding Executive Director of Voice for Asian Elephants Society, based in the United States is a highly experienced award-winning nature and wildlife journalist, an independent documentary filmmaker, and a biologist. Sangita is holds a Masters' degree in Environmental Education and Communication, a B. Sc. in Biology, and a post-graduate Diploma in Broadcast Journalism (Dean's Honorary Role).

Ganesh is a vegan and passionate animal rights activist, involved in various outreach and awareness events. Having been aware of the acute issues & plight of elephants in India for some time now, Ganesh is committed to provide a meaningful contribution and support, to end the practise of capturing elephants and their use in religious festivities and human entertainment. Ganesh is a business and IT strategy professional with over 20 years of experience. His talents, energy and passion is invaluable to VFAES.

Nancy Lee Ma, CPA is the CEO and Founder of Crystal Clear Profits, Inc. She comes to VFAES with over 30 years of experience as a CPA and working with non-profit organizations, including small local non-profits and a national wildlife animal sanctuary with $3M in revenue. She has served in various financial capacities for the non-profit organizations as a board member and volunteer. Her passion is to raise human consciousness of the planet, and to educate the public on caring for our environmental resources and preservation of all endangered species.

Growing up in Hawaii, Alex was immersed in and developed an appreciation for wildlife and the environment from an early age. This passion developed into a lifetime of volunteering and advocacy and inspired her to work with wildlife organizations in Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Sumatra, and in Los Angeles, where she currently lives. Alex brings with her a background of marketing, community development, and project management which, along with on the ground experience, allows for a broad perspective on issues pertaining to elephants.

1) We have delivered 1000 flashlights thus far, despite the COVID restrictions. Our goal is to deliver 4000 additional flashlights so tea plantation workers and elephants become alert of each other's presence (in West Bengal)
2) The first phase of elephant friendly fencing is underway in three villages. Solar electric fencing, glavanised wires (not electrical) fencing, an eco friendly concoction that emanate potent odour to deter elephants are the specific methodologies we are using (in West Bengal)
3) For the first time ever reflective signage alerting drivers to slow down will be installed in elephant crossing areas along major roads that connect to the highways
4) One Gentle Giant Summit has been conducted so far with more than 200 stakeholders participating from various faculties, including forest, power supplier, works & engineering, railway authorities and conservationists
5) Project Asian Elephants 101 for youth involved 100 participants who graduated after a 7-day nature immersion program as Elephant Ambassadors
6) $50,000 has been earmarked to purchase land in Kerala and to create corridors. Our efforts have been thwarted because of COVID lockdowns across India
7) Sangita Iyer's 26-part short film series on Asian elephants was recently released on Nat Geo with almost 100,000 views in some of the films in a matter of two weeks.
8) Additional workshops at Kerala's police headquarters resulted in the creation of a Wildlife Crime Unit by the state police chief.

Founding Executive Director, Sangita Iyer is constantly on the ground, providing numerous workshops to the forest department, alerting the authorities of the abysmal conditions that captive elephants suffer. Among numerous awards, Sangita received the 2017 Nari Shakti Puraskaar (Woman Power Award) - the highest award for women - from India's President, for her courage to expose the plight of Asian elephants.

Since 2009, Sangita Iyer has been tirelessly exposing atrocities against Temple Elephants in the southern Indian state of Kerala. In 2016, she produced a United Nations-nominated and multiple award-winning documentary, Gods in Shackles, to heighten awareness of the plight of Indian elephants exploited in glamorous cultural festivals.

As a biologist, journalist and filmmaker, it has been natural for Sangita to integrate science in her documentaries. She is the Executive Director and Producer of Gods in Shackles documentary that exposes the truth behind the glamorous cultural festivals, where temple elephants are exploited for profit behind the veil of culture and religion. The film, has won 13 Awards, and was nominated at the United Nations General Assembly by the prestigious International Elephant Film Festival and Convention on the International Trade for Endangered Species (CITES).