VEG Networking Canada

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VEG Networking Canada

Where plant-based and vegan companies connect and collaborate. VEG Networking Canada: Where plant-based and vegan companies connect and collaborate.

We are a private group of vegan professionals and business owners across Canada, founded in 2020 by Helen Siwak and Justin Manning, Vegan Financial Advisor. Co-hosts are Justin Manning and Sandra Nomoto, Vegan Hype woman. Membership is by application. All members are vegan and strive to make change through their actions and business. If you live in Canada (or are a Canadian resident working abroad

), apply to join: https://bit.ly/applyvegnetworkingcanada

You can also drop in on our open meetings on the 4th Thursday of the month at 1pm PT/4pm ET. Meetings are held via Zoom. Special guests are welcome to be interviewed, but must be Canadian or work for a vegan company in Canada. (See email at the link above.)

04/09/2026

Welcome to our newest member, Chelsea Travere! She is a nonprofit board governance concierge and founder of GovDesk. She is also the Vice President of Positively Vegan Society, helping deliver positive, community-focused vegan events like VegFest Nanaimo, VegFest Victoria, and VegFest Kelowna. She has been vegan since 2012.

Follow Positively Vegan here: https://positivelyvegan.ca

04/08/2026

Welcome to our newest member, Avery Zenker! Avery is a registered dietitian with Bachelor and Master’s degrees in nutrition. She's been enjoying a plant-based lifestyle for over 10 years while her passion for nutrition and health continues to grow. The way we eat has a profound impact on our lives. It’s interconnected with our energy, mindset, and the way we experience life. It’s one of her biggest passions to help empower your wellness journey in a way that feels balanced and harmonious.

She's passionate about gut health, plant-based nutrition, weight management, women’s health, fitness nutrition, intuitive eating, chronic conditions such as heart disease and metabolic disorders, and more. She helps people optimize nutrient intake, relieve chronic symptoms and prevent disease, learn how to plan meals, improve energy levels, and feel confident with food. She takes a holistic approach to nutrition that’s aligned with your personal needs and lifestyle.

Avery sees wellness as an evolving process with an abundance of opportunities for growth, which is about aligning your choices with the life you want to create. One of her favourite mantras is “where focus goes, energy flows,” which expresses that where we direct our attention and efforts, is what comes to life.

Follow her on LinkedIn: https://www.instagram.com/averyzenkernutrition
Or Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/averyzenkernutrition

03/17/2026

Welcome to our newest member! In 2015, Dianna Yale, AKA Dee, went vegan. She found all the plant-based cheeses options available in the store were full of questionable ingredients and also did not meet the texture requirements (in her opinion!).

She started learning about plant-based cheeses crafting by reading all of Miyoko Schinner's books and began creating her own recipes based on what she had learned. Nine years later, after keeping the cheese crafting as a small, hobby business, she officially started Dee's Nutty Cheese and rented a commercial kitchen space.

The business has been alive since early 2025 and the products are now making it into retail stores. Dee is at expos and markets, constantly growing her brand awareness and sharing her beloved, melty fermented cashew cheese throughout the Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley areas. Learn more: https://deesnuttycheese.ca

02/25/2026

Welcome to our newest member! Raymond Kowalchuk was raised in Northern Manitoba and studied mass communications in Minnesota. He earned a BFA in film and television production from York University in Toronto, where he still lives with his vegan family.

His wife, , led him into advocating for animals over 10 years ago, becoming organizers of the Climate Save and the Animal Save Movement. Ray has been mentored by Dr. Sailesh Rao, founder of Climate Healers, and continues to contribute to the Vegan Convergence of the People (V-COP) for over 24 conferences. Becoming the Executive Director of the International Vegan Film Festival in March 2025, Ray has grown the eight-year-old festival to nine programs and over 80 selections.

He is building an IVFF Festival Committee in the early months of 2026 and welcomes fans and stakeholders of the vegan cinematic genre to participate. Learn more: https://theivff.com

12/24/2025

Welcome to our newest member! Ruhee Dhillon is the founder of Rubies Bras, a luxury bespoke bra company and online mentorship school and an independent fractional CMO. Born and raised in Edmonton, Ruhee graduated from the University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Commerce degree in marketing in 2004 and worked in the corporate and consulting sector for over 20 years. After moving to Toronto in 2015, Ruhee began the leap and started her passion project, a custom bra business, which has now evolved to high-end couture commissions and an online sewing school.
Learn more at her websites: https://rubiesbras.com/en-ca
https://www.vivamarketing.co/

11/06/2025

Sometimes, we DO meet in person!

Marc Goldgrub came to Vancouver so we got together to meet in person and celebrate Vancouver’s beloved MILA Plant-Based one last time. With Laura Simonson, Sandra Nomoto, Emma Smith (Zimt Chocolates) and Nick Karliychuk

10/05/2025

Welcome our newest member, Nicholas Kenneth Carefoot, a multidisciplinary creative and entrepreneur, holistic health advocate, and technology & ancient history enthusiast. He’s a versatile professional with expertise spanning entertainment, business, and wellness. Also an experienced comedian, actor, and recording artist with a passion for holistic health practices and technology innovation, Nicholas specializes in numerology and astrology, bringing ancient wisdom into modern contexts. He has a deep interest in ancient civilizations and their relevance to contemporary life. Follow him at http://instagram.com/TuuyatticWorldTour.

09/18/2025

Welcome new member Anne Laurie! She is the President and co-founder of . Through her proprietary language assessment for Developmental Language Disorder risk and her children’s books, she shares her love of storytelling while ensuring that all children’s language needs are met at the right time. Passionate about helping every child reach their full potential, she combines her expertise with creativity to create tools and stories that engage, inspire, and empower young learners. Whether through assessment, books, or resources for speech-language pathologists, educators or families, Anne is dedicated to supporting children in finding their voices and expressing themselves confidently in the world around them.
Learn more: https://tricoasteducation.com

09/15/2025

Welcome to our newest member, Mr. Nick Karliychuk, Vice President & Portfolio Manager with Pathfinder Asset Management Limited. He is a member of the leadership team contributing to overall business strategy and is responsible for the firm’s operations. Nick is passionate about helping families, professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs grow and preserve their wealth. He also gives back by volunteering, being involved with several nonprofits, including CFA Society Vancouver, formerly chairing the Society’s Programs Committee and serving as Director, Vice President, and President.

Learn more here: https://www.paml.ca/

08/30/2025

Welcome our newest member, Alixandra "Alix" Brown! Alix is the founder of Artzy Health Nut Wellness, where she helps women peri to post menopause feel strong, confident, and energized through plant-based nutrition, enjoyable movement, and creative self-care. A certified personal trainer, nutritionist, art therapy practitioner, and menopause coaching specialist, she draws on her background in psychology, fitness, nutrition, and art—as well as her lived experience with menopause and ADHD—to bring both expertise and relatability to her work.

With a neurodivergent-friendly approach, Alix blends evidence-based strategies with creativity to make healthy living doable—and even fun. Her mission is to end the stigma around menopause and empower women to embrace it as a time of opportunity, strength, and renewed confidence. Check out her website: https://artzyhealthnut.com/mbprogram

08/25/2025

This week at VEG Networking Canada, we're meeting Paulina Pino-Rubio. From her volcano-surrounded and art-rich Puebla, Mexico, Paulina grew up as a q***r anti-colonial artist, educator, and ecofeminist, combining her life experience and sensitivity with her groundedness and versatility.

Coming from a right-wing city and very patriarchal environment, she went against the current when—armed with a background in language teaching and a bachelor’s degree in business and international trade—she took a leap to follow her true dreams of acting. While at it, she noticed that most of the stories being told in media about women and q***r community were very stereotypical and even harmful. That’s when she moved to Vancouver, Canada in late 2021 to expand her career and be involved in a safer place that tells stories about women and q***r people of color through a more real and decolonial lens.

She's performed and produced stage and film productions across North America, and while doing so, has contributed to her community by teaching languages as a tool for empathy and empowerment.

Meeting time: Thursday, August 28, 1pm PT/4pm ET

If you identify as vegan and:
- are a Canadian resident, or
- work for a Canadian company

And you'd like to join us, email [email protected] for the login details. Please, only email if you can attend.

07/21/2025

This week at VEG Networking Canada, we're meeting Megan Swan, who helps high performance women integrate wellness as a way of life using a holistic approach to health, mindfulness, and movement. She is a certified IIN health coach, plant-based chef, detox expert, alcohol-free life coach, mindset coach, hypnosis practitioner, and yoga teacher with over 14 years of integrative wellness experience. She recently launched a new company, Tourism, to change the conversation around proactive and preventative health and wellbeing.

Megan holds bachelor's degrees in psychology & international relations from the University of Calgary as well as a Masters of Arts in integrated studies with a focus on global change. She has published dozens of articles in multiple publications including ThriveGlobal, Medium, Authority Magazine, Tatler Asia, She Does the City, and Massage Magazine. Her first book, 10 Day Detox: A Guide for Moms to Feel More Energized & Find Their Balance, Naturally was an instant success.

She hosts the weekly podcast Wellness As A Way of Life and currently lives in Calgary, AB with her two boys and husband. Megan still runs occasionally and loves to take dance breaks and micro yoga sessions. She loves plant-based eating and the joys of sober living.

Meeting time: Thursday, July 24 1pm PT/4pm ET

If you identify as vegan and:
- are a Canadian resident, or
- work for a Canadian company

And you'd like to join us, email [email protected] for the login details. Please, only email if you can attend.

Address

185 Keefer Street
Vancouver, BC
V6A 1X3

Website

https://www.youtube.com/@vegnetworkingcanada

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