Film Judges
Miyoko Schinner
Miyoko Schinner is the fearless CEO/founder of Miyoko’s, a food brand combining culinary traditions with food technology to revolutionize dairy by making cheese and butter without cows.
Through an innovative proprietary process that merges food science with old-world creamery methods, Schinner has successfully scaled the production of fermented cheese and cultured butter made from plants. Under Schinner’s visionary leadership, Miyoko’s has replaced animal-dairy products on the shelves of more than 10,000 retailers nationwide including Target, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Safeway.
The pioneer of the plant-based cheese revolution, Schinner is a passionate culinarian, former restaurateur, best-selling cookbook author, co-host of the national PBS cooking show Vegan
Mashup, and a founding board member of the Plant Based Foods Association.
Schinner also co-founded Rancho Compasion, a farmed animal sanctuary in California that provides a home to over 70 farm animals. She lives with her husband and has 3 grown children, 2 dogs, and 2 cats.
Through an innovative proprietary process that merges food science with old-world creamery methods, Schinner has successfully scaled the production of fermented cheese and cultured butter made from plants. Under Schinner’s visionary leadership, Miyoko’s has replaced animal-dairy products on the shelves of more than 10,000 retailers nationwide including Target, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Safeway.
The pioneer of the plant-based cheese revolution, Schinner is a passionate culinarian, former restaurateur, best-selling cookbook author, co-host of the national PBS cooking show Vegan
Mashup, and a founding board member of the Plant Based Foods Association.
Schinner also co-founded Rancho Compasion, a farmed animal sanctuary in California that provides a home to over 70 farm animals. She lives with her husband and has 3 grown children, 2 dogs, and 2 cats.
Dale Vince
Dale Vince is a green entrepreneur based in the UK. He is the founder of the world’s first renewable energy company, Ecotricity and chairman of Forest Green Rovers football club – described recently by governing body FIFA as the “world’s greenest club.” Dale is also a climate champion for the United Nations.
Jim Amos
Jim is the COO of Scout 22, a full service marketing and PR agency which specializes in the plant-based, vegan and conscious capitalist spaces.
He previously served as President of Domestic Distribution at Sony Pictures and has written for many major news publications, including Forbes.
Jim is a vegan and lives in Los Angeles with his wife Lori and their 13 rescue animals.
He previously served as President of Domestic Distribution at Sony Pictures and has written for many major news publications, including Forbes.
Jim is a vegan and lives in Los Angeles with his wife Lori and their 13 rescue animals.
Photo Contest Judges
David Flynn
David and his twin brother Stephen started The Happy Pear in 2004 in Greystones, Co. Wicklow, Ireland, to create a happier, healthier world and build community, to make healthy food and living accessible to everybody, and to encourage people to eat more veg!
Today they are renowned wholefood and plant-based chefs, award-winning and international bestselling authors, YouTube stars, regular international, inspirational speakers and media contributors, and they have an impressive combined online and social media reach of around a million.
The Happy Pear business now employs over 120 people and it has grown into one of the most vibrant and renowned, award-winning businesses on the Irish food scene, with several award-winning products available through multiple retailers SuperValu in Ireland, and Waitrose in the UK.
The food phenomenon, and Irish business success story, now comprises: three wholefood cafés/food stores; a sprout farm producing wheatgrass and healthy living, organic sprouts and microgreens; a Happy Pear branded food manufacturing and distribution business producing award-winning products; a coffee roastery producing hand roasted Happy Pear coffee, using the best specialty coffee available; and a range of delicious fermented foods.
Today they are renowned wholefood and plant-based chefs, award-winning and international bestselling authors, YouTube stars, regular international, inspirational speakers and media contributors, and they have an impressive combined online and social media reach of around a million.
The Happy Pear business now employs over 120 people and it has grown into one of the most vibrant and renowned, award-winning businesses on the Irish food scene, with several award-winning products available through multiple retailers SuperValu in Ireland, and Waitrose in the UK.
The food phenomenon, and Irish business success story, now comprises: three wholefood cafés/food stores; a sprout farm producing wheatgrass and healthy living, organic sprouts and microgreens; a Happy Pear branded food manufacturing and distribution business producing award-winning products; a coffee roastery producing hand roasted Happy Pear coffee, using the best specialty coffee available; and a range of delicious fermented foods.
Dan Moskaluk
Dan Moskaluk, along with his wife Sheanne, are known on social media as Indian Rock Vegans. They have been Vegan Plant Based Lifestyle Health Advocates since 2013 and Animal Rights Activists since 2017.
They live at Indian Rock, Naramata, BC, and are also passionate Animal Rights Activists, participating in activism across Canada and in the United States.
As a veteran police officer for 33 years and media spokesperson with the RCMP, and former United Nations Peacekeeping Mission Spokesperson and now recently retired, Dan not only advocates for the animals, but for the rights and freedoms of Animal Rights Activists, by sharing a unique perspective about the current relationship between law enforcement, mainstream media and the Animal Rights Movement.
As Keynote Speakers at Health Conferences, VegFests and on podcasts, they speak on the cruel and exploitative nature and negative environmental impact of animal agriculture, they also share their life changing and lifesaving health recovery story from obesity and terminal kidney cancer via a Whole Food Plant Based Lifestyle.
Dan and Sheanne, are affectionately known as "The Canadian Content", in the critically acclaimed health doc film "Eating You Alive".
You can find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @indianrockvegans & Dan Sheanne Moskaluk
They live at Indian Rock, Naramata, BC, and are also passionate Animal Rights Activists, participating in activism across Canada and in the United States.
As a veteran police officer for 33 years and media spokesperson with the RCMP, and former United Nations Peacekeeping Mission Spokesperson and now recently retired, Dan not only advocates for the animals, but for the rights and freedoms of Animal Rights Activists, by sharing a unique perspective about the current relationship between law enforcement, mainstream media and the Animal Rights Movement.
As Keynote Speakers at Health Conferences, VegFests and on podcasts, they speak on the cruel and exploitative nature and negative environmental impact of animal agriculture, they also share their life changing and lifesaving health recovery story from obesity and terminal kidney cancer via a Whole Food Plant Based Lifestyle.
Dan and Sheanne, are affectionately known as "The Canadian Content", in the critically acclaimed health doc film "Eating You Alive".
You can find them on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @indianrockvegans & Dan Sheanne Moskaluk
Dr. Jennifer Purdy
Dr. Jennifer Purdy, CD, MD, CCFP, DipABLM, is a family physician practising Lifestyle Medicine at Ottawa Lifestyle Medicine.
Jen grew up in Kanata, Ontario, attended Queen’s University for two years in Nursing Science, and then joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at the Royal Military College of Canada. She worked as a Health Care Administration Officer in Quebec, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, for six years, before starting medical school at the University of Ottawa, where she subsequently completed her residency in Family Medicine. She worked as a family physician in CAF in Trenton, Petawawa, and Ottawa before retiring in 2018.
Jen represented the Green Party of Canada in the Kanata-Carleton riding in the 2019 election.
Jen grew up in Kanata, Ontario, attended Queen’s University for two years in Nursing Science, and then joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1994. She completed a Bachelor of Arts at the Royal Military College of Canada. She worked as a Health Care Administration Officer in Quebec, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, for six years, before starting medical school at the University of Ottawa, where she subsequently completed her residency in Family Medicine. She worked as a family physician in CAF in Trenton, Petawawa, and Ottawa before retiring in 2018.
Jen represented the Green Party of Canada in the Kanata-Carleton riding in the 2019 election.
Seth Tibbott
In 1980, Seth Tibbott founded Turtle Island Foods, now "the Tofurky Company", on $2500 savings from his 8-year career as a teacher/naturalist. The company’s first product was a tasty fermented Indonesian soy product called Tempeh. Many people, including his midwestern Aunt and fellow elementary school teachers, thought selling moldy soybeans to the meat centric American public was a very bad idea. For 15 years it appeared the naysayers were right as Seth pursued his dream while losing his shirt as a pioneer of the early plant-based foods movement. With an income of only $300/month, Seth built a 3-story treehouse that he called home for 7 years. In 1995, also against the advice of his partners, Seth introduced the first nationally marketed vegan holiday roast named "Tofurky". The Tofurky brand now includes 43 different vegan products which are sold in 27,000 stores worldwide. Seth has chronicled his “40-year overnight success story” in a new book, In Search of the Wild Tofurky-How a Business Misfit Pioneered Plant-Based Foods Before They Were Cool.
Elysabeth Alfano
Elysabeth Alfano is an award-winning media personality, successful businesswoman and keen investor. A graduate of Northwestern University and the American Graduate School of International Business, Elysabeth began her career working with Fortune 500 companies (IBM-Europe and The Kellogg Company) before running her own international business. Elysabeth currently speaks across the nation on the economic, physical, mental and environmental benefits of a plant-based food system and diet. She is the Managing Director, North America of vegconomist-the vegan business magazine.
Elysabeth produces and hosts the weekly series The Plantbased Business Hour. On PBH, Elysabeth features the venture capitalists, CEOs, analysts, innovators and entrepreneurial start-ups from around the globe who are shaping the plant-based market. PBH is the only video/audio program focusing on the exploding plant-based business arena and has been received with tremendous success. Elysabeth also hosts the Awesome Vegans Influencer Series and her weekly radio show on WCGO.
Connected to almost everyone in the Who’s Who of the vegan world, Elysabeth enjoys helping vegan businesses succeed by connecting them with her vast network and by consulting on media strategy and marketing. She also assists traditional meat and dairy companies in understanding and entering the plant-based market with product lines and marketing strategies that makes sense and are poised to succeed.
As a Sicilian-American splitting her time between Chicago and Los Angeles, food is always the center of life for Elysabeth. A Licensed Food For Life Instructor with the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine and with a Certificate in Plant-based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at E-Cornell University, Elysabeth works with corporate wellness programs to educate employees on nutrition and cooking techniques to ensure healthy employees and a higher quality of life. She also works with restaurants to veganize their offerings and/or create a separate vegan menu and marketing strategy for same.
Elysabeth is one of the Executive Producers and Chefs on the Amazon Prime hit vegan cooking show, New Day New Chef.
Elysabeth produces and hosts the weekly series The Plantbased Business Hour. On PBH, Elysabeth features the venture capitalists, CEOs, analysts, innovators and entrepreneurial start-ups from around the globe who are shaping the plant-based market. PBH is the only video/audio program focusing on the exploding plant-based business arena and has been received with tremendous success. Elysabeth also hosts the Awesome Vegans Influencer Series and her weekly radio show on WCGO.
Connected to almost everyone in the Who’s Who of the vegan world, Elysabeth enjoys helping vegan businesses succeed by connecting them with her vast network and by consulting on media strategy and marketing. She also assists traditional meat and dairy companies in understanding and entering the plant-based market with product lines and marketing strategies that makes sense and are poised to succeed.
As a Sicilian-American splitting her time between Chicago and Los Angeles, food is always the center of life for Elysabeth. A Licensed Food For Life Instructor with the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine and with a Certificate in Plant-based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies at E-Cornell University, Elysabeth works with corporate wellness programs to educate employees on nutrition and cooking techniques to ensure healthy employees and a higher quality of life. She also works with restaurants to veganize their offerings and/or create a separate vegan menu and marketing strategy for same.
Elysabeth is one of the Executive Producers and Chefs on the Amazon Prime hit vegan cooking show, New Day New Chef.