About
Justify
Justify was born from a rare vantage point. Our founder, Lindsay Oliver, spent years as an animal cruelty investigator inside some of the most hidden industries, including animal research labs.
While working undercover as a laboratory animal technician inside a primate research facility she documented immense suffering of the primates, but what she didn’t expect was to also find human suffering. She assumed the people who worked in animal research supported this field and everything that went on in it.
Yet she was shocked to find employees feeling sad and traumatized by what was happening in the lab.
Many entered the field with good intentions, wanting to help cure diseases, contribute to science, or care for animals.
Some studied neuroscience, medicine, or veterinary science, unaware of how entangled animal research was in their training. Others had family members who’d battled illness and were motivated to change things. And some had applied for animal caretaker roles not fully realizing what those jobs involved.
Even those who entered the field knowingly didn’t understand the emotional toll or the deeper harm being done on animals, humans, and science itself.
Being asked to carry out or witness that harm left them feeling morally and ethically conflicted. They struggled with guilt, confusion, and had nowhere to turn. If they told the lab, they jeopardized their jobs by looking too weak or like they cared too much. And reaching out to animal groups felt equally risky as they’re often portrayed as the enemy.
They felt trapped in a system that harmed animals and them in the process.
It was in that complicated space that Lindsay realized lab workers and activists were often walking parallel paths, just on opposite sides of a broken system. And if we ever want to change this system, we can’t just push from the outside. We need to create a space for the people in it.
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That’s where the idea for Justify came from.
A bridge to better science.
One that could understand lab workers without judgement and offer them emotional and professional paths forward.
A place where people could leave the system and still belong.
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Years later, she connected with two former lab workers, Madeline Krasno and Mallory Cormier, whose experiences echoed what she had witnessed undercover. Their stories were raw, painful, and powerful. They described the same isolation, the same internal conflict, the same lack of support. And they also described a desire for something better.
Recognizing the strength and necessity of these perspectives, Lindsay invited them to co-found what would eventually become Justify. Read more about the team here.
In early brainstorming sessions, Madeline mentioned how often the word “justify” is used to rationalize harm in the research industry—a term meant to make people feel okay with doing what they know isn't. Something we all felt and experienced, so the word stuck.
Because trying to justify what isn’t just leads to trauma, moral injury, and a failed system built on harm.
From the beginning, Justify has been grounded in the belief that change requires listening, not judging. Understanding, not assuming. And creating space for lab workers to speak openly about realities the public rarely sees.
​​​We work to transform the system by centering the voices, experiences, and needs of the people who have lived inside it.
To build the bridge that has always been missing between lab workers, advocates, and innovative science.
Our model is rooted in partnership. The people who have carried the emotional and ethical weight of this work are also the people who can help redesign it. Their insight shows where the system is failing, where it can evolve, and how progress can take shape.
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Justify exists because the current system is failing everyone. It harms animals, traumatizes people, and holds innovative, human-relevant science back.
We all deserve better and transformation is only possible when those who lived inside the system are part of building what’s next.
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This is how Justify began. This is the foundation of our work. And this is the vision we are committed to advancing together. For animals. For people. For science.
Core Values
CARE
We prioritize self-care and self-forgiveness on the path to healing.
Community
We are committed to cultivating an inclusive community built on trust and respect.​
COMPASSION
We approach individuals with compassion and without judgment.
COURAGE
We empower former and current animal lab workers to share their stories, and we boldly challenge harmful and societal norms.
Curiosity
Individual and societal change requires curiosity, collaboration, and continuous learning.