Leadership team
REV. WILLIAM MELTON
(he/him)
Co-founder, Compassion Consortium
Ordained Interfaith Minister
Ordained Animal Chaplain
Animal Reiki Master Certification
Shelter Animal Reiki Association Certified Practitioner
Fear Free Shelter Certified Practitioner
Canine Massage Studies
Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator Certification
Juris Doctor
William was, in his first career, an international business and technology lawyer living in seven countries and working in more than thirty others. This gave him exposure to myriad cultures and religions. In 2019, he decided to shift gears and pursue a ministry of compassion dedicated to healing the suffering of animals, the environment and the human heart.
WIlliam left his 30-year legal career, enrolled in and was ordained by One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in New York City, and co-founded the Compassion Consortium - all in his quest to extend to all living beings the same compassion that is a foundational element of all religions and faith traditions. William is as an Ordained Animal Chaplain, ordained by the Compassion Consortium pursuant to its Animal Chaplaincy Program. (www.compassionconsortium.org/act.)
William also is a Level-3 Animal Reiki Master, a Shelter Animal Reiki Association certified practitioner, and Fear Free Shelter certified practitioner. He offers animal chaplaincy and animal Reiki as part of his ministry, as described in the Our Interspecies Support Practices on the About Us page.
Youtube: Watch Rev. William's Journey to the Ministry
Youtube: Watch Rev. William's The Mad Vegan Prophet satire video
WILLIAM MELTON
REV. SARAH BOWEN
(she/they/we)
Co-founder, Compassion Consortium
Executive Director, Animal Chaplaincy Training Program
Ordained Interfaith/Interspiritual Minister
Animal Loss Bereavement Companion
Columnist, Spirituality & Health Magazine
Nautilus-Award-Winning Author
Faculty, One Spirit Interfaith Seminary
Reverend Sarah Bowen is an ordained interfaith/interspiritual minister, animal chaplain, and program director of Compassion Consortium's Animal Chaplaincy Training Program.
Especially interested in the intersection of spiritual values with animal welfare, Sarah is a fierce advocate for all creatures, teaching interspecies mindfulness practices, working with humans around the grief and loss of companion animals, loving up animals in shelters, and providing wildlife struck by cars a sacred sendoff.
Sarah has presented on animal death and interspecies spirituality in a wide range of venues, including United Nations World Interfaith Harmony Week, Parliament of the World’s Religions, Compassion Arts Festival, Pace E Bene’s Campaign Nonviolence Action Week, Spiritual Directors International, Best Friends National Convention, Humne Society Animal Care Expo, and on numerous spirituality, animal advocacy, and conservation podcasts.
An award-winning author, her forthcoming book is titled Sacred Sendoffs: An Animal Chaplain’s Advice for Surviving Animal Loss, Making Life Meaningful, and Trying to Heal the Planet. (April 2022, Monkfish Publishing). Sarah is a columnist for Spirituality & Health Magazine and her work has been featured in Parabola, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review, Light of Consciousness, Elephant Journal, mindbodygreen, Religious Dispatches, Religion News Service, and a wide range of spirituality media.
She holds a BA in Human Ecology from Michigan State University, a MA in Religious Studies from Chicago Theological Seminary, and an Alt M. Div from One Spirit Interfaith Seminary. A forever learner, she is completing post-graduate work in Anthrozoology at Canisius University & doctoral research in Animal Chaplaincy at Chicago Theological Seminary. Sarah is also a faculty member at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in New York City and the Omega Insitute for Holistic Studies and a member of Spiritual Directors International and the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement.
Website: sacredsendoffs.com
FB/IG: @modernreverend
VICTORIA MORAN, CHHC(AADP), RYT
(she/her)
Co-founder, Compassion Consortium
Intrigued by the spiritual since childhood and Vegan for thirty-six years, Victoria spent three years as a librarian and editorial assistant at the Theosophical Society in America; made two trips to India and Tibet to research the spirituality of daily life, and volunteer in Tibetan refugee communities in Nepal and Himachal Pradesh; and earned a BA degree, summa cum laude, from North Central College, Naperville, Illinois, in comparative religions.
An undergraduate fellowship enabled her to research vegans in the UK, leading to her first book, Compassion the Ultimate Ethic. Subsequent books include The Love-Powered Diet, Shelter for the Spirit, Creating a Charmed Life, The Good Karma Diet, and the iconic Main Street Vegan. Listed by VegNews Magazine among the "Top 10 Living Vegetarian Authors," Victoria has written books endorsed by Neal Barnard, MD, Larry Dossey, MD, Sharon Gannon, Milton Mills, MD, Moby, Michael Moore, Thomas Moore, Christiane Northrup, MD, Dean Ornish, MD, Marianne Williamson, and the late Louise Hay and Richard Carlson, Ph.D.
Featured on Oprah, Today, Good Morning America, and All Things Considered, she was lead producer of Thomas Jackson's 2019 documentary, A Prayer for Compassion, introducing the vegan lifestyle to people of faith. Victoria is also the founder and director of Main Street Vegan Academy, training and certifying vegan lifestyle coaches and educators since 2012.
She lives with her husband, our own Rev. William Melton, their rescue dog, Rupert, and visually challenged pigeon, Thunder, in a green condo in Upper Manhattan. Her daughter and Main Street Vegan coauthor, Adair Moran, is a lifelong vegan, stunt performer, and aerialist. Find Victoria at www.victoriamoran.com and www.mainstreetvegan.com.
Spiritual Support team
ELAINE HUTCHISON
(she/her)
Compassion in Action host and
Website Editor
Elaine is a writer, ghostwriter, historian, an advocate of compassion for all beings, as well as a masters level graduate of the Main Street Vegan Academy, MVLCE. Along with acting as host for the Compassion Consortium’s Sunday service Compassion in Action segment, she’s also creating a website featuring sources for the history of Veganism, vegetarianism, and animal advocacy, as well as a podcast on Vegan history, both to be launched on May 30, 2024. She lives on a small farm in the foothills of the Cascade mountains in Washington state, where she serves as staff to her animal family.
Website: https://www.unicornghostwriting.com
Email: elaine@unicornghostwriting.com
PHIL DEJEAN
(he/him)
Technical Host
Phil DeJean, Zoom tech for both the Compassion Consortium and Main Street Vegan Academy, is a Vegan activist and cofounder of Plant Powered Disruptors, an NYC-based group that challenges the status quo to create a more compassionate world through creative social events and arts-imbued activism. An artist himself and a high school art teacher, Phil has been vegan for eleven years, maintains a 100-pound weight loss, and he has hosted the Checkerboard Kids TV show on Manhattan Neighborhood Network since 1992..
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlantPoweredDisruptors
Instagram: instagram.com/plantpowereddisruptors
JENNIFER BAKER
(she/her)
Special Events Coordinator
Jennifer has always had a deep love and passion for animals, which she has proudly instilled in her two sons, and takes great joy in seeing them continue the rescue and care of forgotten animals. Professionally, Jennifer has a diverse background, starting at an advertising firm in California and she is now a charter school director. However, the most unique and rewarding aspect of Jennifer's journey is her newfound role as an ordained Animal Chaplain through Compassion Consortium. She currently resides in Prescott, Arizona with her husband Lucas, and their two faithful and bonded beagles. In addition to her other roles, Jennifer has also started her own animal chaplain business, Paws for Compassion. She is excited to utilize her extensive background and calling to support Compassion Consortium's outreach as their Special Events Coordinator.
Website: www.paws4compassion.net
Email: jenleighaz@paws4compassion.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Paws4compassion
REV. MARSHALL HAMMER
(she/her and they/them)
Program Coordinator, Animal Chaplaincy Training program
Rev. Marshall Hammer assists the ACT program director by facilitating program components and student technology as well as leading "listening room" experiences. She is an Interfaith/Interspiritual Minister & Reiki Practitioner who specializes in working with animals and their humans, remotely and in person. She facilitates a monthly peer-support group for folks experiencing grief after suicide loss and she's served on the NC Chapter Board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. Her ministry is sprouting through a contract with Crest View Addiction Recovery Center, facilitating weekly Spirituality topic groups with participants in the program. Marshall feels most alive in spaces where grief is present. (Where is it not?) She believes everyone benefits from feeling seen and accepted exactly where they are and knowing they're not alone. Marshall lives in the East Cherokee (Tsalaguwetiyi) Territory also known as Asheville, North Carolina.
Website: https://www.reikifortoday.com/
REV. GINNY MIKITA
(she/her)
Program Co-Director, Advanced Certificate in Animal Chaplaincy Training
Rev. Ginny K. Mikita, JD is a certified Animal-Friendly Attorney and ordained interfaith minister/animal chaplain. She has provided compassionate legal assistance to those whose voices have been silenced—animals, children, LGBTQ+ individuals, and incapacitated adults—for 30+ years. For her animal protection work specifically, she has been recognized as one of Michigan’s Top Ten Lawyers and was recently awarded the State Bar of Michigan Animal Law Section’s Brandi Award. Ginny is the founder of Animal Blessings, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring the sacred worth of all animals – animals with whom we share our lives, captive animals exploited by humans for food, clothing and entertainment and wild animals who are hunted or at risk of extinction. Ginny writes a monthly column for Cats and Dogs Magazine, officiates blessings and memorial services for animal companions throughout the year–outside and in, secular and religious and facilitates a monthly animal companion loss grief support group.
Website: https://www.animalblessings.love/
And thanks to
MARIE DORÉ
(she/her)
Social Media Manager
Marie Doré, VLCE, is a Vegan Virtual Assistant with a passion for travel. She believes that anything is possible if you have the right attitude and is always looking for ways to empower her clients to reach their highest potential.
Marie travelled the world solo in 2016-17, exploring New Zealand, Australia, Asia and Europe. After meeting her partner on this life-changing trip, she moved to Germany in 2019 and experienced many shifts that led her to start her own virtual assistance business. Vegan since 2020 and living between Canada and Germany, she’s creating a life of freedom for herself while helping the vegan movement the best she can.
Instagram: @YourveganVA & @marie.lunea
REVEREND ERIKA ALLISON
(she/her)
Co-founder Emerita
Erika Allison is an interfaith minister and inspirational speaker who helps the queer community—and also really cool straight people--find spiritual liberation and live joyful, authentic lives. She is the author of Gay the Pray Away: Healing your Life, Love, and Relationships from the Harms of LGBT Conversion Therapy which hit Amazon best-seller status in four categories on its release.
Erika is a committed vegan in her quest to advocate for kindness and inclusive awareness for all beings, as well as reducing their suffering. She also offers workshops, programs, coaching and retreats to strengthen one's inner compass through awareness and alignment.
Website: http://reverikaallison.com