“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead
Our Team
Dr Leila Dehghan-Zaklaki (she/they)
Founding Director
Leila is a doctor turned nutritionist and personal trainer. Her debilitating migraines compelled her to quit her medical career.
Although Leila’s journey to veganism started as an animal rescuer, she later discovered the power of a whole food plant-based diet and healed her migraines through diet. This experience shifted her professional interests. She pursued a Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate at eCornell, part of Cornell University, and obtained a Master’s of Science degree in Clinical and Public Health Nutrition from the University College of London.
Leila is passionate about justice: human justice including food justice and health equity and animal justice.
Nancy Siy (she/her/hers)
Team Member in the Philippines
Nancy Siy is a yoga teacher, and an animal rights and human rights activist.
She became vegan in 2009 and started the Facebook group Manila Vegans in 2014, which now has over 50,000 members. The group provides information and tips on how to live a vegan lifestyle.
She advocates for veganism in the context of total liberation, with the understanding that all oppressions are interconnected.
Nancy lives with her vegan husband Karlo and their four rescue cats: Tony, Scarlet, Little One, and Mighty.
website: www.manilajiva.com
Elena Holmes
Team Member in the UK
Elena Holmes, holding a BSc (Hons.) in Psychology, MA, and MSc in Nutritional Therapy, is a dedicated professional with affiliations such as mBANT and mRSM.
She engages with clients on an individual basis, offering tailored guidance, conducts informative talks and workshops, and contributes insightful articles and blogs.
Elena is also an independent researcher and proudly serves as a member of The Vegan Society’s Research Network. Her collaborations extend to impactful projects with organizations like Veganuary and Viva!Health.
website: www.elenahealthfood.com
Vision Council, aka Board Members
Jacque Salomon (she/her)
Seeds To Inspire Foundation is a Trauma-Informed, Grassroots, Social Justice, educational organization operating on the ancestral land of the Akimel O’odham and Piipaash people. Their mission is to dismantle health inequity through the Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine and a trauma lens. Through their Community Lifestyle Wellness Initiative, they collaborate with local grassroots organizations and anchor institutions to bring nutrition literacy, culinary medicine, indigenous ancestral farming and trauma healing education and support to our historically marginalized communities mostly composed of the peoples of the diaspora and those victimized by European colonialism past and present.
Laura Schleifer
Laura Schleifer is the Institute for Critical Animal Studies Director of Regions and Total Liberation, a Promoting Enduring Peace Program Director, and co-founder of Plant the Land, a Gaza-based vegan food justice/community projects team.
A lifelong “artivist” and NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate, she’s performed throughout the Middle East with a circus troupe, taught in China, Nicaragua, and at Wesleyan University’s Green Street Arts Center, performed off-Broadway, and arts-mentored homeless youth. Her screenplay, The Feral Child, was a Sundance Screenwriters’ Lab finalist. Her essays appear in New Politics Magazine, The Leftist Review, Project Intersect, Forca Vegan, The New Engagement, Kropotkin Now! Life and more. Currently, she’s writing a book, Liberating Veganism, for Vegan Publishers.
Elly Nakajima (she/her)
Born and raised in Japan, Elly is dedicated to building a more inclusive and effective animal justice movement across Asia. She is one of the first Japanese language educational content providers for vegan advocates in Japan. She studied BSc Psychology and MA Filmmaking in the UK, and worked in media for 10 years prior to founding Animal Alliance Asia in 2019.