Meet the 2022 Veguary Presenters

Afro-Vegan Society is back for the 2nd year, hosting Veguary - a vegan program highlighting the contributions, richness, and diversity of Black culture. We're providing resources, support, and community to everyone who participates in Veguary. Each day will be filled with new ways to engage, including: vegan recipes, daily informative emails, virtual happy hours, exclusive prizes, and interactive check-ins through our Veguary Facebook group. If you haven't already signed up, you can still register today!

Veguary 2022

February 1, 2022, 8:00 AM – February 28, 2022, 11:00 PM | Online Event

The highlight of Veguary is certainly the weekly live sessions, including cooking demos, interviews and presentations, highlighting Black vegans with expertise across disciplines including food, nutrition, activism, and medicine. Continue reading to learn more about our presenters and how you can tune in!

Lisa A. Smith is a serial entrepreneur, health and wellness subject matter expert, nutritionist and professional speaker. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a masters in business administration. She is certified in plant based nutrition, the author of The Plant Based Foodie and creator of the signature plant-based coaching program P.H.A.R.M. TO TABLE and the plant based & coaching certification, The Other 23. Lisa is a highly sought after speaker and presenter on plant-based nutrition, wholistic health and entrepreneurship who epitomizes what it means to be a passionate community leader. Lisa began her own weight loss journey in 2012 at 190lbs. She fell in love with fitness, nutrition and self-development, lost over 60lbs and gained a bottomless amount of confidence. It wasn't until she gained confidence in her physical health that she was able to gain confidence in her career. With her new found confidence she launched Professionally Fit in July of 2015. After launching Professionally Fit Lisa quickly realized there was a segment of the population for whom wholistic plant-based health and wellness coaching was not fully accessible. She launched The Black Health Academy in October of 2017. The Black Health Academy pairs an E-learning platform with signature coaching programs and educational experiences to ensure participants are empowered with the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to successfully state their case for fair and honest healthcare, chronic disease prevention and mental health. Learn more about her work at: www.theblackhealthacademy.com

Watch the replay of Lisa's session, Pea is for Protein! Dispelling the myth of protein deficiency on a whole food plant based diet, here:

Charlene Forde, Owner of Melanated Vegan is a vegan chef who creates mouth watering vegan food with a hint of Caribbean flavour. Charlene's culinary experience spans over 20 years and she has been cooking since the age of 12. With her passion for food, she loves to take traditional recipes passed down from her grandmother and veganize them.

You can pre-order a copy of her cookbook here: https://www.melanatedvegan.org/cookbook

Tune into Charlene's cooking demo, Trini Curried Lion's Mane Stuffed Dumplings with Callaloo, Tuesday, February 15th at 6:00 pm ET, or watch the replay on-demand.

Brenda Sanders is a vegan food justice activist who Co-Founded Thrive Baltimore, a community resource center that offers free classes, workshops, cooking demos and other programming that supports people in living a healthier, more sustainable lifestyle. She’s also Executive Director of Afro-Vegan Society, a nonprofit organization that provides resources to people in marginalized communities to assist them in transitioning to veganism, Co-Creator of Vegan SoulFest, an annual festival that celebrates culture and all aspects of vegan living and Co-Owner of The Greener Kitchen, a vegan deli and food distributor that produces plant-based foods that are both affordable and accessible.

Connect with Brenda

Website: www.brendasanders.info

Instagram: @veganfoodjustice

Twitter: @veganqueenbee

Christopher "Soul" Eubanks is a human and animal rights activist that was raised in Atlanta, Ga and has dedicated himself to doing advocacy work that combats all forms of oppression. After close to a decade of working in corporate America Christopher decided to leave his job and pursue a path of personal growth and self-discovery. During this time he began using his creativity to create film, photography and art as ways to bring awareness to social issues. After learning the horrors of animal exploitation Christopher became vegan, began doing community organizing and has helped co-organize Atlanta's first ever animal rights march in 2019. Christopher plans to use education, public speaking and creativity as tools to advocate for a vegan diet and lifestyle.

Soul is the Founder of APEX Advocacy, a Black lead animal rights organization that creates bold digital content and organizes activism to raise awareness of the impact animal oppression has on marginalized communities.

Connect with Soul: www.apexadvocacy.org

Iye Bako is originally from Nigeria. She immigrated to the US where she lives now. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University where she studied International Business and Spanish. She is a vegan of over 4 years. She’s passionate about social justice and the intersection of human and animal rights. She advocates against all forms of oppression.

Connect with Iye: https://www.instagram.com/iyeloveslife

Tune in on Thursday, February 17th at 6:00 pm ET, to watch Brenda, Soul and Iye's panel, How Black Activsts are Transforming the Vegan Movement, or watch the replay on-demand.

Dr. Qadira Ali Huff, MD, MPH, FAAP, DipABLM is a board-certified pediatrician, certified lifestyle medicine physician, plant-based advocate and mom. Dr. Huff practices as a primary care pediatrician in Washington, DC. She graduated from the University of Maryland School of Medicine (M.D.) and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (M.P.H.) with a focus on food systems, equity, and health disparities. Dr. Huff completed pediatrics residency at Children’s National Hospital with a training focus on underserved populations and health disparities. She is certified in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell and the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Passionate about the power of lifestyle habits to transform health, Dr. Huff founded Sprouting Wellness to coach families from information to implementation of healthful lifestyle habits, including plant-based nutrition, movement and mindfulness. Dr. Huff loves helping children and communities learn how to get and stay healthy! She is an active member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, a chapter leader of Walk With A Doc, and a member of the Prince George's County Food Equity Council in Maryland. Dr. Huff lives in Maryland with her husband and two daughters. In her free time, Dr. Huff loves finding new delicious plant-based foods while traveling, cooking new healthy recipes, and riding the Peloton. Work with Dr. Huff: https://www.sproutingwellness.com/

Tune in on Saturday, February 19th at 3:00 pm ET, to watch Dr. Qadira's presentation, Teaching Black Kids the Blueprint for Health: The Role of Parents and Plants in Growing Thriving Children, or watch the replay on-demand.

Afro-Vegan Society's efforts to provide resources and support to help people in marginalized communities transition to vegan living are made possible by your generosity Please donate today!