Alex Fernandes
IVU Webmaster (2013 - )
IVU Counselor (2013 - )
Alex Fernandes - Brazil - IVU Webmaster. Alex has been a vegetarian since 1995 and a vegan since 2004, he is the founder of Guia Vegano, one of the oldest web sites on veganism in Brazil and also a On-line Vegan Shop. He has attended many IVU events since 2008, making presentations on the Vegfests of Jakarta, San Francisco, Taiwan, Berlin among others. Together with the help of John Davis (from UK), George Jacobs (USA) and Jayachandran (from Singapore) they launched our new website for ivu.org in 2013. Alex was also the webmaster (2005-2008) and counselor (2013-2018) for the Brazilian Vegetarian Society - SVB.
Asa Kaur
IVU VFA Regional Organizer Europe and India (2021 - )
IVU Counselor (2022 - 2026)
Asa Kaur has been a staunch vegetarian since birth, her devotion to the vegan movement and altruistic pursuits stem from her spirituality and heritage. She founded the Veg-N Society, a spiritually inclined non-profit organisation based on Namdhari cultural assets and ideologies.
Embracing the importance of utilising food as a crucial tool for effective animal activism, Asa provided a basis for action through her contributions as a plant-based recipe developer. Focusing on enabling a systemic change, her work within philanthropy is centred around demolishing factory farming and accelerating alternative protein innovation.
Bob Ratnarajah
IVU Counselor (2015-2026)
Bob was introduced to the IVU in 2012 at the World Veg Festival. He presented on the 5 reasons people are moving to the Veg*n direction. In Nov 2012, SEAVC, he presented about wellness in the Veg*n communities. In 2013, at the World Veg Fest in KL, Malaysia, Bob presented on how to build vibrant communities, with plant-based businesses.
In 2015, Bob & V Star members helped host the World Veg Festival in Australia, collaborating with existing festivals in Sydney and Melbourne.
Coinciding with the World Veg Festival, V Stars created the Vegpledge.org.au in Australia.
Cynthia Schuck, D.Phil. Zoology/Evolution
Head of the IVU Department of Global Health (2021 - )
Cynthia has a PhD from Oxford University (Zoology/Evolutionary Biology) and two post-docs, one at Oxford (where she integrated experimental economics with evolutionary biology), and another (Brazil) on the evolution of advanced cognition and the conditions for its emergence. She also holds an MSc in Ecology and a BSc in Life Sciences.
Cynthia is the scientific director of Origem Scientifica, a consulting company in global health and data analysis in the life sciences, with projects developed for several institutions (e.g., the National Institutes of Health USA, the WHO, among others). She also has a solid background in scientific capacity building, with workshops on data analysis and scientific method taught to researchers in the health and life sciences in several countries.
Dr.C.V.Jayanthy
IVU Counselor (2020-2026)
Dr. C. V. Jayanthy is an internationally recognized Yoga Faculty, Popular public speaker, giving lectures across the country.
Founder : Manushi Yogic Research Foundation in coordination with Yoga Alliance USA for Yoga Teacher Training Course (TTC) -200 hrs & 300 hrs has been with the vision of training Yoga Teachers.
Secretary : International Tamil Veg Union (ITVU)
Pioneers : Dr.C.V.Jayanthy is one of the earliest pioneers of prenatal stimulation, and teaches parents how to stimulate their unborn babies through music, education and other Practices.
David Pye
IVU Counselor (1999 - 2026)
IVU Treasurer (1999 - )
David Pye – United Kingdom – nominated by the Vegetarian Society UK Limited - IVU Treasurer he joined the council of the International Vegetarian Union in 1999 and have had the honour of serving as treasurer. He committed to the work of IVU and I was also responsible for registering IVU as a 'not for profit' UK company. he have been vegetarian for over 40 years. I am also a trustee and fellow of the UK Vegetarian Society and was chair of the charity for three years. I have spoken at international congresses on the environmental aspect of vegetarianism.
Dilip Barman
IVU REPRESENTATIVE North America
IVU Counselor (2012 - )
Dilip Barman, an IVU Counsilor since 2006 and NA representative since 2007. He is a certified Food for Life instructor (fflclasses.org), teaching healthful Whole Food Plant-Based (WFPB) vegan eating through nutrition lectures and food demonstrations. He has presented on WFPB eating internationally (including as an invited speaker in Brazil,
Scotland, Germany, Japan, and India), as well as at onferences and festivals in the U.S., such as VegFests (in Richmond, VA, Charlotte, NC, Raleigh, NC, and others), the Animal Rights Conference, corporate wellness events, and others.
Dr. Eric Slywitch, PhD. Nutrition
Head of the IVU Department of Medicine and Nutrition (2021 - )
Dr Eric Slywitch is a Medical Doctor, with a Master's and Doctorate in the area of nutrition, with the theme of metabolic evaluation of vegetarians and omnivores. He specializes in Nutrology, Enteral and Parenteral Nutrition. He has a postgraduate degree in Endocrinology, Clinical Nutrition and Psychoanalysis. He is the author of 3 books on vegetarianism in Brazil and has published several chapters on vegetarianism in the main technical books of nutrition in Brazil. He teaches in 3 postgraduate courses addressing the theme of vegetarianism and has his own teaching center for metabolic and nutritional evaluation with emphasis on interpreting laboratory tests for physicians and nutritionists.
Manuel Alfredo Martí
IVU Representative Latin America (2016 - )
Manuel Alfredo Martí is an activist, journalist, writer, and editor who is passionate about veganism and its benefits. He is the founder and director of UVA Union Vegana Argentina and Union Vegetarian Argentina, as well as the founder and director of Vegfest Argentina. He also coordinates the Youtube Channel of the UVA, where there are hundreds of talks with videos, conferences, workshops, artistic expressions, and activities on veganism in Spanish.
Marly Wincler
IVU Chair (2018- )
IVU Counselor (1998 - 2026)
Marly Winckler is a sociologist and translator. Vegetarian since 1983 she created “Sitio Vegetariano”– the first webpage on vegetarianism in Portuguese–and the first discussion lists on vegetarianism in Portuguese and Spanish: veg-brasil and veg-latina (now ivu-latina). Latin American and Caribbean Coordinator of the International Vegetarian Union from 2000 to 2013. President and founder of the Brazilian Vegetarian Society 2003-2015 (now Honorary President). IVU chair 2012-2014. She lives in Florianopolis, the beautiful Island which hosted the 36th IVU World Vegetarian Congress in 2004, organized by her.
Ignacia Uribe
IVU Counselor (2020-2026)
Ignacia Uribe is a Chilean journalist and animal rights activist, who has a master degree in Animal Law and Society by the Autonomous University of Barcelona. She has been vegetarian for more than 15 years, and in 2012 founded Vegetarianos Chile, the largest network of vegetarians and vegans in that country, which today is an ONG called Vegetarianos Hoy that focus on expanding vegetarianism in Latin America. In 2015 she led #NoSonMuebles, the biggest animal rights campaign developed in Chile, that until now has more than 100,000 signatures to get animals recognized as "sentient beings" by the Constitution. She has given international talks in Brazil and Argentina, and attended many vegetarian events in the US and Europe.
Koichi Hashimoto
IVU Counselor (2022-2026)
Koichi Hashimoto became a vegan in 2008 after realizing some issues about the food he had been eating. He joined the Japan Vegetarian Society in 2013. The International Vegetarian Union, the British Vegetarian Society, and the British Vegan Society in 2015. In 2016, he became the Secretary-General of the Japan Vegetarian Society and is also the Secretary-General of the project team for JAS, the national standard for Japanese vegetarian and vegan foods. Currently, Mr. Hashimoto is a doctoral student at a graduate school, conducting research on human-animal welfare and presenting his research at the Japanese Society for Vegetarian Research (JSVR) every year.
Rubem da Costa Gomes
IVU Representative Africa (2022 - )
Born in Luanda, capital of Angola, Mr. Gomes worked as a civil servant in the area that has to do with licensing of commercial activities. Currently working as a business consultant, he has a bachelor's degree in Commercial Management and Marketing. Founder of Angolan Vegetarian Association (AVA), founder of Animal Save Movement Angola. Strict vegetarian since 2019, he has maintained this philosophy of life in a natural and honest way. Reducing animal suffering as much as possible is part of his philosophy of life. As an activist he feels it's his duty to defend animal life and to help clarify to people how important these animals are to us. Anti-speciesism, he is in favor of equality for all beings.
Rune-Christoffer Dragsdahl
IVU Representative Europe (2019 - )
Rune-Christoffer is a Danish anthropologist and an expert on the relationship between sustainability, climate change, agriculture and food. He has worked as Assistant Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen and as External Lecturer in Sustainable Food Systems at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad. He has also conducted field research on agricultural development in Eastern Africa. Being a vegetarian since his birth, Rune-Christoffer became a volunteer for the Vegetarian Society of Denmark in 2011. In 2016 he was appointed Secretary-General of the organization., which subsequently evolved to become a professional organization with eight employees, focusing on structural change through political advocacy, awareness creation through the media and collaboration with other organizations and the corporate sector.
Saurabh Dalal
IVU Counselor (2000 - 2022)
IVU Deputy Chair 2004 - 2008)
IVU Secretary (2000 - 2004)
IVU Regional Secretary for North America (1994 - 2000)
Saurabh - born in India, lives in the Washington DC area, and works in New York City - is an engineering consultant and physicist who is passionate in promoting a vegan lifestyle and Ahinsa (non-violence) as compelling solutions to many global issues. He is a lifelong vegetarian and ethical vegan since 1991. Saurabh volunteers for numerous groups, is a board member or board advisor for numerous like-minded organizations, has been active in the Jain community internationally, interacts with activists globally, and has dabbled in ethical investing for decades.
Shara Ng
IVU Counselor (2019 - 2026)
IVU Regional Representative Asia Pacific (2019 - )
Shara is the Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Vegan Union, the founder of the Hong Kong Vegan Association, and the founder of Meat Free Hong Kong. She has been a vegan activist since 2006, and a lacto vegetarian since 1991. Shara is also the founder and organizer of Hong Kong VegFest, which has been running since 2013. As one of the education programs for the Hong Kong Vegan Association, Shara publishes GOVEG magazine, promoting a plant-based diet in Hong Kong and China, since 2014.
Thao le
IVU Counselor (2022-2026)
VFA Regional Organizer – Vietnam
Thao Le, appointed as the IVU Representative for Vietnam on April 28, 2023, has been a valuable asset to the IVU Vegan Food Academy since its beginning. With more than ten years of experience in digital marketing and e-commerce, he has been a vegetarian since 2017 and founded the Vietnamese Vegetarian Community, ANCHAY.VN [ACVN], in 2020. ACVN is a leading knowledge-sharing platform about vegetarianism and veganism in Vietnam, connected with numerous vegetarian restaurants and vegan chefs. Thao Le's expertise and commitment have also been instrumental in developing the IVU Vegan Certification for various establishments, making him a key Council Member in this significant endeavor.