She/Her

As the founder of Veggie Mijas, Amy Quichiz believes that her role is to show our communities ways to have accessible healthier food options, talk about food and environmental rights, as well as animal liberation and environmental justice.

Amy serves as the leader and responsible for setting the vision for the organization, ensuring our mission and goals are effectively pursued, and overlooks the long-term projects within the organization.

She/Her

Originally from Colombia and currently residing in Philadelphia, she is a passionate advocate for a plant-based lifestyle. For the past 7 years, she has embraced vegetarianism not only for personal health reasons but also in response to the environmental impact and animal abuse crisis caused by the food industry.

As the Operations Director, Estefania takes charge of overseeing the daily operations and ensuring smooth coordination of the organization as a whole. Additionally, she leads a team of organizers who actively support and organize community events, including clothing swaps, cooking classes, information sessions, and more.

They/Them

Xian has been working in nonprofits throughout California since their first internship in high-school. Currently Xian works to keep our finances in order and helps the collective work through contracts, project budgets, and anything to do with numbers or legal docs. They grew up in south-east LA and wrote their college entrance essay about Tamale making, and continue to work on documenting their families recipes and customs. In their free time they make electronic music, play in jazz ensembles, and hike around the East Bay.

She/They

Suzy is a Xicanx artist, writer, self-publisher, curator, and organizer based in Yanaguana, aka San Antonio, TX. Since becoming vegan in 2013, the world of plants has expanded her cooking/baking, gardening, herbalism and artistic practices. She strives for a lifestyle that embraces culture while practicing non-violence and (re)connecting with animals, the earth, and each other.

Suzy is the Editorial Content Manager and Writing Team Lead on Veggie Mijas’ Creative Team. She manages the research and articles that the Writing Team creates based on intersecting themes of food and environmental justice issues.

She/Her

Marcy is passionate about sustainability, eco-consciousness, and overall striving to live a mindfulness lifestyle. Marcy started her vegan journey as an experiment during the pandemic lockdown to see how far it would go with reducing meat consumption and has been vegan ever since. She strives to spread awareness of a lifestyle that is not only centered on a vegan diet but benefits your own mind-body-soul and does little to no harm to our earth.

As the Creative Director, Marcy takes charge in all things creativity, amplifying our work and delivering it in a fun and engaging way.

She/Her

Chris is a first-generation Mexican & Guatemalan, vegan queer femme with a passion for plant-based food and dance. Through her work in the culinary and natural food sales/operations spaces, she witnessed a lack of environmental consciousness throughout the industry. Embracing veganism in 2016, she now shares her knowledge and appreciation for food by recreating traditional Latine cuisine through a vegan lens.

As the Lead Program Coordinator for Veggie Mijas, she consults and supports Organizers as they aim to build community awareness, facilitate space for QTPOC individuals, and make veganism and a plant-based lifestyle accessible for all.

She/Her

Simone Hassan-Bey is driven by amplifying authentic social good. She launched a scholarship to date awarded to 15+ undergraduates who demonstrate resilience and service to BIPOC communities. She leads a social + environmental justice collective, releases creativity as an art archivist, and deepens purpose by championing international clean water projects. Simone is grounded by the spirit of Ubuntu, “I Am Because We Are,” her love of languages (proficient Korean speaker), and convening historically excluded communities for healing and transformative impact.

Simone serves as the Recruitment Director building intersectional spaces for food policy and plant-based conversations.

She/Her/Ella

Rebeca, a proud Indigenous Boricua hailing from Camden, New Jersey, is an educator focused on anti-colonial culture and history. Her deep passion lies in empowering Latine communities through collective decolonization. Since embracing a plant-based lifestyle in 2011, Rebeca's journey has prompted a profound reevaluation of her well-being as an Indigenous Latina, prompting her to confront institutionalized inequalities and continuously evolve her understanding, determined to address these issues directly.

As the Education Director & Community Organizer for Veggie Mijas, she builds a community where BIPOC folks can come together, connect, and unify for a common cause...feeding our souls.

She/They

Dani Medrano is a proud Chicago native with a background in social work and education. She went vegetarian for the animals at the age of 12 and transitioned to veganism after studying philosophy in college. While she remains obsessed with animals, she continues to be vegan for her health and her community. Dani has been an organizer for the Chicago chapter for over 2 years and is passionate about making fresh whole foods accessible to all.