About Us
Flourish Coalition emerged in response to the pervasive patterns of harm in the U.S. food system that deprive our communities and exploit and commodify the labor of workers, the bodies of fellow animals, and the life support systems of our planet.
We recognize that the injustices of the U.S. food system have deep roots in colonization and interrelated systems of harm and oppression. We, therefore, build and engage with diverse, cross-movement coalitions to create change and foster more just alternatives that center the power and well-being of our communities.
The way we produce food in the United States harms humans, fellow animals, and the life-support systems of our planet.
Mission
Flourish Coalition is a multiracial plant-based organization building broad coalitions to promote food security and a just, climate resilient, and community-led food system.
Vision
We envision a just, climate resilient, and community-led food system where animals are free from harm and their agency and autonomy are respected; the well-being of communities, workers, farmers, and the planet are prioritized; and every person has the ability to make just, sustainable, culturally-affirming, and nourishing plant-based food choices.
“Those of us who stand outside the circle of this society’s definition of acceptable women; those of us who have been forged in the crucibles of difference - those of us who are poor, who are lesbians, who are Black, who are older - know that survival is not an academic skill. It is learning how to stand alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all flourish. It is learning how to take our differences and make them strengths.”
– Audre Lorde
The Team
Flourish Coalition was founded by an intergenerational and multiracial team with over six decades of combined experience in education, public policy, grassroots advocacy, and nonprofit leadership.
We are a plant-based organization advocating for food system transformation through an approach that centers the perspectives and leadership of those most impacted by the injustices of the U.S. food system and society. Our work recognizes the historical and interrelated roots of injustice and the possibilities for cross-movement solidarity and collaboration that promote social and ecological justice.
Predominantly led by people who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), our multiracial team brings a diversity of lived experiences, spanning class privilege to experiences of economic, food, and housing insecurity. These experiences shape the lens through which we approach our work and our unwavering commitment to racial, economic, and social justice.
As an organization, Flourish Coalition aspires to align with a vision and practice of collective governance that supports self-direction for each person in our team, equitably distributed decision-making power, just and equitable wages, and counter-oppressive values and practices. Through our collaborative and values-driven approach, we endeavor to transform the U.S. food system to one rooted in care, justice, and compassion for all.
Dana McPhall | she/her
Through her nonprofit project Beyond Humane Education, Dana collaborates with educators, scholars, advocates, and parents/caregivers to understand the intertwined roots of anti-Black racism and animal exploitation and to develop educational initiatives to dismantle systems of racial hierarchy that harm racialized communities and fellow animals. In recent years, Dana has also taught graduate level courses in comprehensive humane education, including a self-designed course on race, intersectionality, and veganism, and has led nonprofit educational programs to support educators and advocates in promoting interrelated issues of social justice within the U.S. food system. More generally, Dana has over 30 years of experience in the nonprofit, government, and legal sectors, and holds a Master’s Degree in Education through the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), as well as a Juris Doctorate and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy.
Jessica Due | she/they
Jessica has over 15 years expertise and experience providing specialized care to rescued and rehabilitated farm animals. For the past decade, Jessica has implemented sanctuary best practices, standard operating procedures, strategic planning, programmatic alignment and integration, and permaculture designs in partnership with sanctuaries across the country. Through her advocacy, Jessica believes in addressing the interrelated issues of oppression and approaches her work through a social justice lens, centering diversity, equity and inclusion within the food system transformation movement and raising the issue of access to food and land. Jessica supports farm worker’s rights and centering BIPOC perspectives and voices.
Miko Brown | Miko/Miko’s
Miko has a background in national service with AmeriCorps, farmed animal sanctuaries, social justice education, group-centered leadership and facilitation, and mental health and wellness work. Miko has experience developing and launching innovative collaborative learning and in-classroom humane education programs, as well as defining and implementing organizational strategy. Miko holds a master's degree in social change and is passionate about contemplative and liberatory practices for the benefit of all beings and the planet.
Namita Money | they/them
Namita, or Nam, is a program manager, facilitator, and movement organizer who cares deeply about dismantling systems of oppression through nurturing relationships, investing in community care, and celebrating authenticity. They identify as a South Asian-American person with caste privilege. Nam believes in the power of collective liberation, and their work is informed by their experiences facilitating social justice programs, co-creating food sovereignty for the Black community, and caring for nonhuman animals in animal sanctuary settings. They hold a B.S. in Ecology with a Sustainability Certificate, and are deeply invested in community learning and growth.
Our Theory of change
At Flourish Coalition, we collaborate with individuals, groups, organizations, and communities who are plant-based/vegan, as well as those who may not be but share our commitment to food system transformation and broader social and ecological justice. By building broad food system solidarity, promoting care and sanctuary for humans and fellow animals, and engaging in collaborative learning and grassroots action, we believe it is possible to envision, practice, and fully realize a food system and world where all can flourish. We believe we are all best served by uniting to build collective power, shared knowledge, and community accountability, and consider it our responsibility to engage in broad food system solidarity while grounded in our commitment to multi-species care and liberation.
Access the full PDF for more details about our theory of change!
