Here are 3 vegan activist leaders in the Midwest who have used the Power of One to put their passions into play to make a difference and grow the vegan movement in their communities. They show that veganism is easy to champion. The only thing you need is the passion to effect change.
Hillary Rettig, photo provided
1. Hillary Rettig, Vegan Kalamazoo
Empowerment author and everyday vegan activist leader Hillary Rettig started Vegan Kalamazoo in a city that had no organized vegan community.
She grew the Michigan group from zero followers to 4,500 and expanded the range of vegan options available in Kalamazoo and surrounding towns. She also contributed to the growth of several other local vegan activist groups. She built a thriving Facebook group for vegans that has a well-established culture of kind and respectful behavior.
Prior to COVID, Vegan Kalamazoo held potlucks, coffee hours, discussion groups, and other live events each month. They stopped the events during COVID, but will be resuming them soon.
Education is not enough to help people understand veganism
Hillary’s core belief is that educating and informing people about veganism isn’t enough. She says, “You can share mountains of compelling information, but no animals will be saved unless you also inspire tangible changes in behavior.”
She believes success as an activist hinges primarily on the number, variety, and quality of the requests you make. These asks, she says, can take every possible form, such as
- suggesting a friend try Meatless Mondays
- asking your local pizzeria to offer vegan cheese
- asking your college or workplace cafeteria to provide more vegan options
“These are just a few of the countless possibilities. Activism is like life: if you don’t ask, you don’t get,” Hillary said.
Vegan activist leader and author
Hillary is the author of several books, including The Lifelong Activist: How to Change the World Without Losing Your Way.
In the introduction of her book, she states, “I believe that progressive activists are the world’s most precious resource. We tackle the most difficult and important problems— including hunger, war, disease, poverty, violence, cruelty and exploitation— and work to further humanity’s evolution in the direction of compassion and kindness.”
Hillary has taught productivity and time-management classes at top writing, business, educational, arts, and community organizations throughout the United States.
She is a thought-leader whose professional body of work has appeared in numerous publications. Her actions as a vegan activist leader are shaping attitudes and behavior in Kalamazoo and further advancing the vegan movement in the Midwest region.
You can share mountains of compelling information, but no animals will be saved unless you also inspire tangible changes in behavior.
From right: Kyle Luzynski, Project Animal Freedom; Jake Conroy, The Cranky Vegan; Shriya Swaminathan, Animal Activism Mentorship; photo Jeanette McDermott, Vegan Storyteller
2. Kyle Luzynski, Project Animal Freedom
Vegan activist leader Kyle Luzynski founded Project Animal Freedom (PAF) with a bold mission of building a fully vegan Midwest by 2056. He set out immediately to find like-minded people to grow the St. Louis-based vegan activist group.
People responded to his mission with such enthusiasm that staff and volunteers are currently working to open two more chapters of PAF in Missouri by the end of 2021. It currently has chapters in St. Louis and Springfield. An activist in Nebraska volunteered in late June to begin a chapter of Project Animal Freedom in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“We will continue adding three to seven chapters to our activist portfolio across the Midwest each year,” Kyle said.
Vegan activist leader relies on innovative outreach
Project Animal Freedom relies on innovative outreach initiatives and large-scale generosity to meet its goal. Kyle believes Project Animal Freedom is on track to become the fourth major chapter-building animal rights organization in the animal liberation movement, side-by-side with the Animal Save Movement, Direct Action Everywhere, and Anonymous for the Voiceless.
“We have exceeded 8,000 followers, which is one of the indications that, as audacious as it might sound, we are on track to become one of the major players in the animal activist movement within just 5-10 years,” Kyle said.
Among the organization’s creative outreach efforts are online vegan speed friending, meditation for activists, film screenings of animal liberation documentaries with post-film discussions, and a growing number of innovative, high-impact activist campaigns to bring about revolutionary social and political change for animals.
Vegan actions to attend in St. Louis
PAF held its first Vegan Climate Summit on Earth Day 2021. You can watch the recorded summit on the Project Animal Freedom website.
Planning is underway for Project Animal Freedom to host an extravaganza Midwest vegan festival in 2022.
PAF is currently collaborating with Vegan Storyteller and local vegan restaurant Terror Tacos to host the St. Louis Edition of the Worldwide Vegan Chalking Night on September 3, 2021.
We have exceeded 8,000 followers, which is one of the indications that, as audacious as it might sound, we are on track to become one of the major players in the animal rights movement within just 5-10 years.
Ivory Levert; photo Ohio State University
3. Ivory Levert, Plant the Power
Vegan activist leader Ivory Levert received a grant from VegFund to create a safe space for the Black vegan community in Columbus, Ohio.
“Before my transition, I believed veganism was a White thing,” Ivory said. “When I went plant-based in 2017, I struggled to find a community in Columbus, Ohio, that could help me navigate this way of living from a perspective that was culturally rooted,” Ivory said.
“I wanted a space where I could be my authentic self and still eat flavorful foods representative of Black culture while remaining conscious of how these foods affect my body, other animals, and our world,” she said.
Vegan activist leader creates Plant The Power 614 in Columbus, Ohio
These challenges gave birth to Plant The Power 614 and its three-pronged social and educational approach to helping Black people explore the benefits of transitioning to plant-based living:
- Collaboration between subject-matter experts and community members to help people make informed decisions about their food choices
- Collective Care to create a safe space to “meet people where they are” in their knowledge of veganism, recognizing the interconnected oppressions among speciesism, racism, classism, sexism, and others that can create barriers to going vegan
- Compassion for the interconnected oppressions the Black community shares with nonhuman animals.
“We seek to cultivate a caring plant-based community for people of African descent that demonstrates unconditional love for ourselves, other animals, and our world,” Ivory said.
Finding funding for vegan activist actions
VegFund also funded a community screening of the film The Invisible Vegan, which vegan activists Ivory Levert, Tony Malloy-McCoy, and Chef Clayton Freeman organized at a Columbus movie theater. The 90-minute independent documentary explores the unhealthy dietary patterns in African–American communities and the health and wellness benefits of a plant-based vegan diet. The event included free vegan food and a Q&A session.
Representation matters, according to Ivory. During a Q&A following the film screening, she said, “If you want people to consider a vegan life seriously, it’s important that they be able to see themselves reflected in films and other media about the subject. The vegan movement can and should be intersectional. So, choose your films accordingly.”
Black vegans co-found Black Women in Nature
Ivory Levert, along with fellow Black vegans Nicole Jackson and Angela Mitchell, co-founded Black Women in Nature, an initiative to connect Black women with nature through meditation, hiking, and reflection in Columbus, Ohio.
In her professional role, Ivory serves as Program Manager at the Student Wellness Center at Ohio State University, where she provides a space for students to gain support and learn about campus resources.
We seek to cultivate a caring plant-based community for people of African descent that demonstrates unconditional love for ourselves, other animals, and our world.
These 3 vegan activist leaders model the change we can all create
There is more than enough room in the vegan movement and animal liberation movement for vegan activist leaders to step up and stand out by initiating vegan programs in local communities.
The 3 vegan activist leaders showcased in this blog give us ideas of how we can each be a powerful force for change in growing the vegan movement in the Midwest and beyond.
Keep in mind that there are grant donors eager and ready to read your grant proposals to see how they can help you manifest your vision for vegan activism.
We are only limited by our imaginations when it comes to carrying out vegan activism and advocacy actions. Our individual worldview, expectations, and values determine how we will show up as vegan activists to help grow the vegan movement in the Midwest and beyond.
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