Hanh Nguyen holds a BA in Sociology from Yale University. Her journey in rethinking human–other animal relationships began when she was an undergraduate, and has since taken her to dozens of colleges and universities across North America, helping thousands of students examine their own perceptions of other-than-human animals.
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Ingrid E. Newkirk is president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the largest animal rights organization in the world, and founder of all PETA entities in Europe, Asia, the UK and the U.S. Her campaigns to save animals have been featured in The Washington Post and other top newspapers internationally. She has appeared on The Today Show, HBO’s Real Time with Bill Maher, Oprah Winfrey Show, Tucker Carlson, and countless others, and has spoken on animal protection from the steps of the Canadian Parliament to the streets of New Delhi, India. She is the author, among other books, of Animalkind: Remarkable Discoveries about Animals and Revolutionary New Ways to Show Them Compassion, Making Kind Choices, One Can Make a Difference, and 250 Vital Things Your Cat Wants You to Know. She was the subject of the HBO documentary I Am an Animal: The Story of Ingrid Newkirk and PETA. Her website is www.peta.org.
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Victoria Moran has been a Main Street Vegan for almost 30 years and is an obesity survivor, maintaining a 60+-pound weight loss into the double-digit decades. She’s the bestselling author of eleven books, including Creating a Charmed Life (in 30 languages around the world) and the plant-based weight loss classic, The Love-Powered Diet. Her college thesis became Compassion the Ultimate Ethic: An Exploration of Veganism, originally published in 1985 and the first work on vegan philosophy and practice to come from a major publisher. Victoria is also an inspirational speaker, corporate spokesperson, certified holistic health counselor (HHC, AADP), graduate of the T. Colin Campbell Foundation/eCornell program in plant-based nutrition, a certified life coach, a vegan lifestyle coach in private practice, and founder and director of Main Street Vegan Academy, training and certifying vegan lifestyle coaches. Cited by VegNews among the Top 10 Contemporary Vegetarian Authors, Victoria appeared twice on The Oprah Winfrey Show and she’s one of the celebrity coaches for PCRM’s 21-Day Vegan Kickstart.
Her articles have appeared in Yoga Journal, Mothering, Natural Health, Woman’s Day, Martha Stewart’s Whole Living, VegNews, and Vegetarian Times. Her work has been noted in USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Post, Self, Elle, Glamour, Allure, and O, the Oprah Magazine. She was named Vegan of the Year 2012, sharing that honor with male counterpart Michael Greger, MD, and she speaks extensively for vegetarian/vegan festivals, health events, women’s conferences, associations, corporations, and religious groups. A native of Kansas City, Missouri, and an enthusiastic immigrant to New York City, Moran lives with her husband, writer and musician, William Melton, and their rescue-dog, Forbes, in a “green” condo in Harlem. Her website is mainstreetvegan.net.
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Netanel Miles-Yépez is a Mexican-American artist, comparative religion scholar and teacher of contemporary spirituality. After learning that he was descended from a Mexican family of crypto-Jews, Netanel decided to study History of Religions at Michigan State University and Contemplative Religion at the Naropa Institute, specializing in comparative religion, mystical spirituality, and non-dual philosophies. In 1998, he moved to Boulder, Colorado, to study with the innovative Hasidic master and leader in ecumenical dialogue, Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, founder of the Jewish Renewal movement. In addition to Schachter-Shalomi, he also studied with various Sufi masters and teachers of Buddhism, and counts Father Thomas Keating, Trappist monk and founder of the Centering Prayer movement, as an important influence. After years of working as a professional editor, and as the director of a non-profit, Netanel started Albion-Andalus Books to publish serious, though less obviously marketable works often overlooked by larger publishers.
Today, Netanel teaches in the Department of Religious Studies at Naropa University, and spends the rest of his time writing, painting and working on publishing projects. His paintings have been shown in a number of solo and group exhibits in Colorado, and as a writer, he is known for his critically acclaimed commentaries on Hasidic spirituality, A Heart Afire: Stories and Teachings of the Early Hasidic Masters (2009) and A Hidden Light: Stories and Teachings of Early HaBaD and Bratzlav Hasidism (2011), as well the edited volumes, The Common Heart: An Experience of Interreligious Dialogue (2006) and the award winning Living Fully, Dying Well: Reflecting on Death to Find Your Life’s Meaning (2009).
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Virginia Messina, MPH, RD, is coauthor of Vegan for Life and Vegan for Her and of the first textbook on vegetarian nutrition for medical professionals. She writes and speaks on vegan nutrition for both consumers and health professionals. Ginny serves on the board of directors of Vegfund and on advisory boards of One Step for Animals, Veg Youth, and the Vegetarian Resource Group. She lives in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with her husband and an ever-changing population of rescued cats. Her website is theveganrd.com.
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Rob Merritt graduated from the University of Iowa School of Journalism in 1998 and currently lives in Iowa, where he is a marketing strategist and an actor.
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Nan C. Merrill was the author of the classic Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness (2001); Meditations and Mandalas: Simple Songs for the Spiritual Life (2001); and Journey into Love: From Grace to Gratitude (2008). She died in January 2010.
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Fr. William Meninger, OCSO, entered St. Joseph’s Abbey in Spencer, Massachusetts, in 1963. While there, he developed a contemplative prayer method based on the fourteenth-century classic The Cloud of Unknowing, leading to a prayer method called Centering Prayer. Fr. William moved from St. Joseph’s Abbey to St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, in 1979, where he has served as prior and novice director. His books include The Loving Search for God: Contemplative Prayer and the Cloud of Unknowing and Bringing “The Imitation of Christ” into the Twenty-First Century. He contributed to Sundays at the Magic Monastery: Homilies from the Trappists of St. Benedict’s Monastery and to St. Benedict’s Monastery.
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John A. McKinnon, M.D., was educated at Harvard, Cambridge University, Case Western Reserve University, Yale, and Norwich University. He taught at the University of California, San Francisco, and directed psychiatry hospital programs in Texas and Montana. Disgusted with the mediocrity of “managed” care, he left traditional medical centers to co-found Montana Academy, a therapeutic school for troubled teenagers on a remote ranch near Glacier Park. His co-founder and wife, Rosemary, is also a therapist, and they have three daughters.
He is or has been Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Associate Director of Resident Training, University of California (UCSF); Chief, Outpatient Psychiatric Services, San Francisco VA Medical Center; Clinical Director, Adolescent Psychiatry & Substance Abuse, Charter Hospital of Fort Worth, TX; Medical Director, Pathways Treatment Center (Psychiatry Service, Kalispell Regional Medical Center); Private Practice, Adult and Adolescent Psychiatry; and Co-Founder, Montana Academy and Founder, Montana Academy Foundation.
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Chef Brian P. McCarthy has been a professional cook/chef since 1982. In 1995 he turned to a vegan diet for its health benefits, and began to explore the world of vegan cooking as a chef for Bon Appétit. Cooking in Oregon, he ran the Intel vegetarian/vegan international station and prepared dishes for catered events attended by CEOs, mayors, house representatives, senators, and the newly elected Barack Obama. He also spent time leading various cooking classes and presentations for Northwest Veg and Bob’s Red Mill. In 2012 Brian moved to Massachusetts to be a chef at MIT, and became an instructor for The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts.
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