7 minute read
Speaker Bios
Justin Barker Bear Boy Bio: Justin Barker is an American animal activist, producer, and author of Bear Boy: The True Story of a Boy, Two Bears, and the Fight to Be Free. He was 13-years-old when he launched Citizens Lobbying for Animals in Zoos. Known for his activism, Barker was named "One of Twenty Teens Who Will Change the World" in Teen People Magazine and featured in National Geographic, Animal Planet, NBC, and CBS standing up for Brutus and Ursula, two black bears living in horrific conditions in a California zoo.
Max Broad DC Voters for Animals Bio: As President of DC Voters for Animals, Max Broad leads efforts to drive animal policy in Washington, DC. Max is a long-time animal advocate who got started in the climate movement. In his work with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, he saw how influential a small group of passionate citizens can be in the policy process. With a masters in environmental science and management from UC Santa Barbara, Max has worked at the National Wildlife Federation, as a contractor at the US Department of Energy, and AmeriCorps NCCC. Max is also an avid Civil War history enthusiast. Join Max in taking political action for animals--acting collectively will magnify our voice for liberation.
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Tonia L. Carrier Hicks Your Vegan Friend Tonia Bio: Tonia L. Carrier Hicks is a vegan activist from Michigan. Recently married, she loves spending time with her husband, O'dell. She is a hairstylist, actress, and independent film maker. She is also a contributor with Jane Unchained, the vegan news channel and website. She has her own YouTube channel called Your Vegan Friend Tonia where she has videos of activism as well as many personal videos related to her vegan journey. She is grateful and always glad to share information on veganism with anyone at anytime.
Jim Corcoran Plant Peace Daily/Santa Fe Vegan Bio: Jim "JC" Corcoran and Rae Sikora founded Plant Peace Daily in 2007 as a platform for education, activism and inspiration. Both passionate long-term vegans, they are committed to energizing and supporting activists and educators in their outreach for non-violence, critical thinking, effective communication, peaceful living, and ethical consumerism. As part of their efforts to be co-creators of a compassionate community locally, they also co-founded Root 66, a vegan food truck & restaurant, and are now building a retreat center named The Dove. Together with their dogs, Rae and JC reside in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they practice living as lightly upon the Earth as possible and growing and learning in their commitment to all life.
Tammy Fiebelkorn Positive Links Bio: Tammy is the Founder and President of Positive Links, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about The Link between Animal Abuse and Human Violence and providing training to domestic violence workers, social workers, animal control officers, and others about this issue. She organizes the annual New Mexico Conference on The Link between Animal Abuse and Human Violence and provides training on The Link statewide. She’s provided training on The Link to City of Albuquerque Animal Care & Control officers, Albuquerque Police Officers, and volunteers with the City’s Senior Affairs Department. She dedicates time to legislative efforts to increase the protection of the environment and animal rights and was instrumental in the passage of ordinances in Boulder and Estes Park, CO that prohibit the exhibition of wild and exotic animals as well as legislation to create New Mexico’s Link Awareness Day.
Gabriel Gaarden, MPH, RDN, LD Bio: Gabriel Gaarden, MPH, RDN, LD, is a registered dietitian passionate about investigating and implementing the most effective evidence-based strategies for promoting improved human health, health equity, social justice, and environmental sustainability. One such game-changing strategy in the quest for Creating a New World is that of whole-food plant-based nutrition. This paradigm shifting nutritional approach has the capacity to simultaneously improve human health, while fixing the broken, exploitative, and unsustainable relationship that we have built with our environment and the countless but dwindling number of other animal species with whom we coexist on this beautiful planet.
Arturo Jose Garcia 50by40 Bio: Arturo Jose (AJ) has fifteen years of international experience and ten years in senior management, public awareness campaigns, public relations, and undercover investigations. He has been a leader in the non-profit realm for the last decade, working with animal protection organizations such as CARE (동물권단체케어), Mercy for Animals, and Animal Recovery Mission. Currently, he is 50by40’s Head of Operations and serves on several advisory boards. In addition to his efforts in the non-profit realm, Arturo was head chef and general manager of Huggers, a plant-based restaurant in Seoul, South Korea. He is also a podcast enthusiast, which led him to create and host the Woke Stutter Podcast to chat with leaders and change-makers about animal protection, social justice, food justice, and how we can do better internally, as a movement.
Cindy Lou Negron-Matos Veganizalo Bio: Cindy Lou Negrón-Matos, VLCE, is the creator of Veganizalo a platform where she shares veganized recipes through her website and YouTube Channel. She's also the host of La Descarga Vegana a Spanish podcast where she talks about veganism, and interviews local and Hispanic or Latinx Vegan to share their stories on veganism and their contribution to this community. As a vegan educator, she gives workshops, demos, and attends festivals. She also has published recipes on the Main Street Vegan Cookbook by Victiria Moran and JL Fields. You can find Cindy as Veganizalo on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Tony Quintana Plant-Based Eating New Mexico Bio: Tony Quintana is the Plant-Based Eating Program Manager for Animal Protection NM and cohost of the Teach Me How To Vegan podcast. He has worked in Health Education for over nine years and has managed health promotion programs on a wide variety of topics including nutrition, diabetes, obesity, and HIV. Tony earned his master’s degree in Health Education from UNM and holds three fitness certifications from the American Council on Exercise. Tony has followed a plant-based diet for many years and enjoys sharing information on the numerous benefits of plant-based eating.
Paul Roybal Bio: Paul Roybal is a native New Mexican born and raised in Northern New Mexico currently residing in Albuquerque. He is a celebrated local vegan chef having won several awards and a past presenter at RGVF. His specialty is in demonstrating that it is not difficult or costly to prepare delicious vegan recopies quickly and easily.
Rae Sikora Plant Peace Daily/Santa Fe Vegan Bio: Rae Sikora and Jim "JC" Corcoran founded Plant Peace Daily in 2007 as a platform for education, activism and inspiration. Both passionate long-term vegans, they are committed to energizing and supporting activists and educators in their outreach for non-violence, critical thinking, effective communication, peaceful living, and ethical consumerism. As part of their efforts to be co-creators of a compassionate community locally, they also co-founded Root 66, a vegan food truck & restaurant, and are now building a retreat center named The Dove. Together with their dogs, Rae and JC reside in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where they practice living as lightly upon the Earth as possible and growing and learning in their commitment to all life.
Dr. Akil Taher Bio: Dr. Taher is a practicing physician in Gadsden, Alabama and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2010, at the age of sixty-one, he dramatically altered the conventional script adopted by most bypass surgery patients by climbing Mount Kailash in Tibet at 19,000 feet. This was a year after his open-heart surgery. In October 2011, he ran his first full marathon, the Chicago Marathon; and in September 2012, he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest free-standing mountain in the world. He then expanded the canvas of his age-defying adventures by pursuing physically challenging activities on land, sea, and air, including triathlon, scuba diving, white water rafting, hang gliding, skydiving, and a century bike ride (a 100-mile cycling event) at age 70. Dr. Akil Taher is the author of the new book, OPEN HEART: The Transformational Journey of a Doctor Who, After Bypass Surgery at 61, Ran Marathons and Climbed Mountains.
Jane Velez-Mitchell Jane Unchained Bio: Jane Velez-Mitchell is nationally known TV journalist and best-selling author. Winner of four Genesis awards from the Humane Society of the United States, Jane Velez-Mitchell covers crimes against people, animals, and the environment. She is known for speaking up for the voiceless!
Will Tuttle World Peace Diet Dr. Will Tuttle’s writings, presentations, and music focus on compassion, creativity, intuition, and the intersection of social justice, animal liberation, and environmental, health, spiritual, and peace issues. A visionary speaker, educator, author, and musician, he’s a former Zen monk with a Ph.D. from U.C., Berkeley, and a vegan since 1980. He is the editor of Circles of Compassion and Buddhism and Veganism, author of Your Inner Islands, and other books, and recipient of the Courage of Conscience Award and the Empty Cages Prize. He has appeared in many radio, television, print, and online interviews, as well as documentary films, including Cowspiracy; Prayer for Compassion; HOPE: What You Eat Matters; Vegan: Everyday Stories; and Animals and the Buddha.
Schedule Subject To Change
