Our first regional newsletter - Texas and Oklahoma
Dear Vegan Leader,
Welcome to our first Texas and Oklahoma regional newsletter from Vegan Leaders in Corporate Management (VLCM)! I'm Darina Janovova, based in Dallas and excited to bring this community of vegan corporate professionals a bit closer together.
🌱 Why this newsletter?
You may be a ‘lonely’ vegan at your company, or feel that your employer is slow to embrace the plant-based trend (especially under sustainability or health). At VLCM, we all share some form of that experience. The idea is to keep us inspired to keep gently pushing our companies in the right direction, and regularly share ideas on what works.
Did you know we had over 200 people in the VLCM network living in Texas or Oklahoma? Just a few examples of local vegans:
Executive Director Data & AI at IBM
Senior Account Manager at Thermo Fisher Scientific
Vice President Digital Product Management at Citi
Emergency Management Team Lead at FEMA
Director at PwC
Executive Business Partner at Airbnb
Market Leader at Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Displayed below is the geographic distribution. By clicking on this interactive map, you can zoom in and select a specific area of interest. (Special kudos to those who live in the remote counties of TX or OK with fewer vegan options!)
For member privacy, I am not sharing the list with names. However, if you’d like a few individual contacts for networking, you can enter your request here. At VLCM, we like to see these kinds of requests:
Names of other vegans working at the same company as you to start a plant-based employee group
Names of other vegan professionals in your city or metro area to make new friends
📣 Upcoming events
Mark your calendar for the Texas VegFest, held in Austin, TX on Saturday April 5, 2025. If you can, consider the trip! I am finally going to check it out this year. Please let me know if you are interested in meeting there.
If you are too far from Austin, google “vegan event 2025 [your city]” today to see if anything is coming up in your location. I did not see any major Oklahoma veg fests this year – but it’s worth checking on your end!
📍Local stories
Both the City of San Antonio, TX and EY (Ernst & Young) participated in this year’s Veganuary. Plus, their leaders spoke in the press about it! Read the testimonials and the article, and make note of good phrases you could use when pitching a similar plant-based idea at work.
EY
Amy Brachio, Global Vice Chair Sustainability
“We’re excited to be on board with Veganuary again. What a fantastic way to empower EY people to consider a plant-based diet and help in building a better, and more sustainable, working world. The transition to net zero is about big and small changes; considering meat and dairy free is one of the ways our individual choices can make a difference. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”
City of San Antonio, TX
Tamarra Callahan, Management Analyst, Office of Sustainability
“The City of San Antonio Office of Sustainability and partnering departments are celebrating Veganuary to share the environmental and health benefits of plant-based eating with our employees. We anticipate exceeding our 2024 Workplace Challenge participation and are excited about the amount of interest our staff has expressed thus far. We continue to share information about local, vegan-friendly restaurants and other Veganuary-hosted opportunities with our 13,000+ City employees. The ongoing produce market box program and various department-hosted potluck events will surely encourage plant-based eating all year long! The Veganuary Workplace Challenge is an engaging, insightful, thought-provoking experience suitable for anyone interested in emissions reduction, resource conservation, and personal wellness. I am excited about the City’s ongoing participation in the challenge.”
Until next time,
Darina Janovova
Founder & President of VLCM
