Meet Our Committee -

Meet Our Committee

Post Views: 13,019

Here’s a little bit about our current commitee members, who along with the rest of our big team of volunteers, work together to run our educational charity organisation!

Kym Staton – President
Kym has had a lifelong huge fascination and affinity with animals and nature from a young age. He went vegetarian at the age of 18, and became vegan in January 2012 after deciding he no longer felt comfortable with enslaving other sentient beings, and learnt that its totally possible and healthy to subsist on a diet of plants.

Since 2012 he’s been hugely involved in the vegan community of Sydney, hosting many educational events, workshops, classes and social events and meetups, writing articles and giving radio interviews.

Kym runs Australia’s leading documentary film event enterprise Films For Change which is an events business that supports the diverse voices and free expression of independent storytellers and celebrates the power of documentary to improve our understanding of the world. Films For Change has events every week in Sydney and Melbourne, with films about animal treatment, the impact of plastic, sustainability, human rights, human health and other important and interesting topics.

Kym is a bit of a work-a-holic and is hugely motivated to educate and inspire positive change in Sydney, but occasionally likes to have a breather and enjoys camping and surfing. He’s also a part-time solo singer/songwriter and is writing an album of rock/roots/folky music, and loves performing in cafes, bars and pubs.

Ralph Graham – Secretary

Ralph became vegan in 2008 and loves being involved in the Sydney vegan community, socially and with activism. “I stopped eating animal products for a year to maintain my health then realised what was needlessly happening to the animals. I went vegan and never looked back.”

Ralph is a talented life-long musician and performs as a solo singer songwriter and in bands. He also authors articles, is a trauma counseller, and does some marketing and web work. He likes being involved with vegan education, inviting people to embrace veganism, supporting other vegans and assisting newcomers.

Ralph said that Sydney has a very active vegan scene with a growing awareness and that there is a hunger out there for knowledge about a better life for people and for the animals. He feels the association is a good vehicle with which to facilitate the support of vegans and the spread of veganism in Sydney.

Ralph has been hugely active and dedicated to VEA since our genesis, attending most of our events and volunteering on countless occasions, and has made a massive contribution to its growth and development.

Yao Xu – Treasurer

Yao is a project manager in tech and soon to be a data scientist. She describes herself as a ‘nerd’. Apart from science and technology, she’s also a big fan of drawing and music. She also likes food, wine, and espresso martinis.

Like most of us, Yao wasn’t born a vegan, but she decided to make a change in 2012. Health was the initial motivation for her to go vegan. She claims that she falls sick 10 times less now than in the past, got rid of her dependency on flu shots every year, and feels the fittest she’s ever been!

Over the years, Yao gained more knowledge about health, industrialised animal farming, and the environment. She learned that deforestation, global warming, starvation, obesity, sickness – that somehow they’re all related to industrialised animal farming and over consumption of animal products. She said: ”By going vegan, I save myself and some animals from being consumed, but by spreading the message to more people, I’m saving the world – like wonder woman!”

Yao has been a long term and dedicated member of the event hosting team of our free vegan educational events, volunteering her time to dozens of events and doing a fantastic job chatting with guests and answering their questions about veganism.

VEA is 100% volunteer run and is a registered charity 16 773 529 032