In this year’s International Women’s Day post, we’ve chosen to highlight these champions of compassion, who have centred their life’s work around fiercely advocating for those most vulnerable beings with whom we share our planet. We all know of the centuries (and in some cases, millennia) long misogyny that has kept women from fully realizing their potential. These women not only have achieved greatness in their professional careers, but have done so while prioritizing caring for those society also systemically treats terribly- non human animals.
Now, we are focusing on women who are not exclusively nor primarily content creators, but those who have taken a significantly less social media centred approach to changing society on a policy level or commercial level. The reason for this approach is two fold: one, there are nearly countless content creators to choose from! And two, we want to showcase the individuals who go beyond telling and showing us what to do- they’ve taken on enormous issues and change them in the real world. Both are valuable, but one receives far less recognition- time to change that.
Up first is Dr. Charu Chandrasekera- she is a biomedical researcher who, despite having tested on animals in her previous life, founded the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods (CCAAM) at the University of Windsor. Dr. Chandrasekera has harnessed exceptional brilliance and paired it with humility to evolve compassionate, effective research models. We'll have a follow up blog post about how you can support the move to a kinder world for animals used in toxicity testing.
Dr. Charu Chandrasekera
Next is everybody’s favourite, fully unhinged, goddess of cheese- Miyoko Schinner. Miyoko has had numerous food based businesses over the decades, starting with Madam Miyoko in Japan in the 1980s, where she sold vegan poundcake made of Okara (soy milk pulp) from her backpack. Spirit animal! She later went on to found the vegan-and-proud Goliath, Miyoko’s Creamery- if you’ve come out from under that rock, you’ve tried and love her stuff. Now, she is helping to run Rancho Compasión- an animal sanctuary she founded in 2015, and is a Lecturer at the U of C Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, where she teaches the course Sustainable & Impact Finance. What a legend.
Miyoko & Friend
Leanne Maily Is the founder of the ‘World’s First Vegan Fashion House’ Vaute Couture- she came from a modelling background and knew that the fashion world needed a real shake up, hence launching her ethical brand. Leanne has recently launched a new brand, called Animal People. I think we can all agree, if we are being honest with ourselves, that our favourite person is... a non human animal. Leanne has embraced that truth and ran with it- each Animal People collection supports a different animal rescue, and is built with intention around supporting plant-based, zero waste, and recycled textile production whenever possible (always 100% vegan), as well as farmers and artisans with meaningful work at living wages. WOW.
Also- as someone who has a few pieces from Leanne’s former company, Vaute, I can highly recommend her incredible work, on a personal level.
Often we are asked the question- how do you expect people to survive when their jobs are taken away with veganism?! Well, that’s an insane question on so many levels, but also one that Sara Heiligtag has tackled head on with her concept of ‘Transfarmation’. Founded in Switzerland in 2013, Sara was instrumental in founding Hof Naar - an animal sanctuary she and her husband created. In 2017, she received a call from a distressed farmer who could no longer ignore the role he was playing in causing animals to suffer- he asked her to help him transform his farm into a vegan operation. As of May 2023, Sara has helped more than 125 farms in Austria, Switzerland and Germany transform into vegan farms, and her work continues. She is the living embodiment of a welcoming movement for change, compassion, and a significantly better world for our animal friends.
Unfortunately, it seems that we must use a more 'stick' and less 'carrot' approach to creating societal change. That's where Camille Labchuck comes in. Camille is an attorney and the executive director of Animal Justice, Canada’s leading animal law advocacy group. When she was first exposed to violent animal cruelty at the age of 12 in witnessing the seal hunt, Camille vowed to stop eating meat. Most recently, Camille has brought attention to the live horse transport from Canada to Japan, pressuring the government to ban this brutal practice. She has also worked with Dr. Charu in bringing Bill S-5 to life, in helping to phase out animal toxicity testing in Canada.
Well, there you have it- some real trailblazers. I can literally feel their exhaustion as I embody it personally. It is so difficult- read, excruciating- to try and navigate capitalism while prioritizing one's ethics.
Thank you for helping me, and them, do that- cheers to another day,
Emma