Cocinando Pa’ La Revolución!

Veggie Mijas is a collective of people of color passionate about spreading awareness of the lack of resources we have to healthier options in the hood, animal liberation, and environmental justice.

Our mission is to create sacred spaces for folks where they can share their experiences with food or having a plant-based lifestyle through an intersectional lens. Our main focus is sharing space, relearning ancestral practices through foods, sharing our plant-based recipes, and providing access to information our community needs. This is done through organizing events such as potlucks, vegan panels, farm sanctuary trips, learning how to plant herbs, and much more. Lastly, our goal is to show folks that decolonizing your lifestyle is possible.
Our passionate writing team delves deep into climate-related subjects, crafting insightful articles and thought leadership pieces that illuminate the urgency and significance of environmental issues. Additionally, we organize an average of 30 impactful events annually, including interactive workshops, panel discussions, and guest speakers, all aimed at fostering learning, collaboration, and empowerment within our communities. Furthermore, our commitment extends to practical initiatives such as establishing a community fridge in Chicago, ensuring access to fresh, nutritious food for local residents facing food insecurity. Similarly, in Philadelphia, we empower less fortunate groups through free educational cooking workshops, teaching them how to prepare simple yet delicious plant-based dishes while nurturing a sense of community through shared meals.

Our Chapters

DC
Philly
New York
Chicago
Orlando
Bay Area
Los Angeles
Richmond

Leadership Team

Estefania Orozco | Executive Director

She/Her
Estefania is a proud Colombiana and Philly resident. She is passionate about community building, gardening, film photography and all things sustainability. Her plant-based journey started in 2013 in response to the environmental impact and animal abuse crisis caused by the food industry and has been slowly transitioning to veganism over the last few months. Estefania has been a chapter organizer and coordinator as well as Operations Director. She now serves as the Executive Director for Veggie Mijas.
On her time off you can find her sipping herbal teas with a book in hand, or at the community garden tending to the plantitas.

@down.for.earth

Reach out
Christian Galindo | Managing Director

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.

Reach out
Xian | Finance Manager

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.

Reach out
Simone Hassan-Bey | Recruitment & Retention Director

She/Her
Simone 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, and convening historically excluded communities for healing and transformative impact.
Simone leads people strategy at Veggie Mijas centering food justice from Los Angeles to India.

Reach out
Marcy Arroyo | Creative Director

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.

Reach out
Rebeca Cintrón-Loáisiga | Education Director

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.

Reach out
Dani Medrano | Coordinator

She/Her/Ella/Ela
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.

Reach out
Amy Quichiz | Founder & CEO

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.

Reach out

CREATIVE TEAM

Solena Aguilar

ART DIRECTOR
They/Them
Solena Aguilar (they/them) is a artist, designer and illustrator from San Francisco, CA and is now in Harlem, NY. They create designs and artworks meant to educate and inform the public about stories, events, and injustices that affect our communities. They hope to speak to diverse groups in ways that evoke passion and action.
Destiny DeJesús

SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR & CONTENT CREATOR
She/Her
Destiny is our Social Media Coordinator and Creator based in Dallas, Texas and is a passionate plant-based activist. Through her brand, Eat Yo Destiny, she is committed to educating people on budget-friendly veganism. With a focus on food accessibility, Destiny utilizes her platform to guide individuals in finding vegan options in their community, making use of local resources like pantries and community fridges. Additionally, she shares valuable tips on creating nutritious meals with limited pantry ingredients.