Organizers

The second ChicagoVeg – Chicagoland Vegetarian and Vegan Community , and a number of local Vegan advocates who are inspired to support their local community and promote a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle to the general public.

Please join our Meetup group (Meetup.com/ChicagoVeggiePride) to be informed about upcoming CVPP organizational meetings and for an opportunity to participate in them (to be a part of the CVPP Core Team).

CVPP 2015 EXECUTIVE PROFILES

	Vadim Moskalin, CVPP Executive Committee Lead Vadim has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Northeastern Illinois University and a Master's in Business Administration from Roosevelt University. Vadim is the founder of ChicagoVeg - the largest (3,200+ members strong) Chicagoland Community for Vegetarians, Vegans, and Raw Foodists. In the past two years the group offered over 100 events to supports local vegans/vegetarians and promote veganism/vegetarianism in the Chicago area. While assuring success of the Chicago Veggie Pride Parade, Vadim is also involved with an initiative to spread the Veggie Pride movement throughout North America (www.VeggiePride.com).
	Donna Proctor, CVPP Finance Committee Lead Donna has a Liberal Art degree from High Point College. She is actively involved with both: CVPP Leadership Team as well as ChicagoVeg Leadership Team. Donna is an accountant by trade, but her true passion is in the wellness field. Public speaking, cleanse coaching, and cooking classes are just a few of the services offered at Common Space Productions, a company created by Donna. A flexitarian, turned vegetarian, turned vegan, Donna is on a mission to make each year healthier than the previous! Donna has tirelessly invested her time and energy to do everything possible to assure the success of the 4nd Annual Chicago Veggie Pride Parade.
	Prashanthi (Prash) Gandham, CVPP Outreach Committee Lead Prash has a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and she is managing projects for an insurance firm in Chicago. A vegan for the past 5 years Prash taught herself to cook after a few too many years subsisting on frozen veggie burgers, boxed rice mixes, and Oreos. When she is not stirring sizzling sweetness in a cast iron skillet, she’ll likely be found around shopping for new ingredients to cook with. Prash is passionate about raising awareness about benefits of a plant-based diet so she chose to dedicate her time and energy to make the 4rd Annual Chicago Veggie Pride Parade bigger, better, and more fun!
	Arul Janakiraman, CVPP Operations Committee Lead Arul has a Master's degree in Computer Networking and managing IT for a manufacturing firm. He decided to become vegan over a year ago crediting it to watching way too many documentaries on Netflix. Later, after discovering a wonderful group of like-minded people through ChicagoVeg, he has had a rewarding experience in giving and receiving support in the journey through vegan lifestyle. Arul joined the 4th annual Chicago Veggie Pride Parade (CVPP) Leadership Team as he strongly believes in empowering the idea of eating healthy without harming other sentient beings. While serving as Operations Committee Lead Arul has helped in many other ways to make the CVPP a success.
	Marisa Simpson, CVPP Technology Committee Lead Marisa Simpson has a B.S. in Psychology and Biology from Northern Illinois University. Professionally, she is a Project Manager for a non-profit social service agency and she provides behavior therapy services to children with Autism. She has been a plant based vegan since 2013, and her vegan journey began when she was introduced to a raw food detox plan. She completed the raw food vegan detox for 30 days, and since then, has primarily been a high carb, low fat, “low protein”, raw vegan. She is very passionate about the ethical, health and environmental reasons for being vegan. She enjoys spending her time volunteering to causes she cares about and influencing others to adopt a vegan lifestyle.
	Lisa Van Eaton, CVPP Media/Press Coordinator Lisa has been vegetarian for 15 years and vegan for 3 years. She started working with animals when she was a young girl and has been concerned for their welfare ever since. Her goal is to help spread awareness of how to live a healthier and happier lifestyle by living her life accordingly. While she joined the Leadership Team later than others, Lisa puts a lot of effort to make the 4nd Annual Chicago Veggie Pride Parade a big success.
	Carrie Nutter, CVPP Volunteer Coordinator Carrie received a B.A. in Psychology and M.S. in Management of Public Services from DePaul University and a M.S. in Occupational Therapy from Rush University. She became a vegetarian in 1993 and a vegan in 2008. She currently works as an occupational therapist at Chicago Public Schools with students in pre-school through high school and promotes the human-animal bond at Freedom Woods Equestrian Center with equines as her “co-therapists”. Carrie helps many animal rights and environmental groups while doing an excellent job contributing her talents to Chicago Veggie Pride Parade as an outstanding event organizer.