Hello all! My name is Alexis and I am an animal lover, nature gal, doggo mama, community member of a vegan co-op where I live in Boulder, responsible citizen/friend to the planet, sugarholic, art enthusiast, second hand store consumer, critical thinker, solutionary and the Education and Outreach Manager at Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary.
I am a week away from hitting my 4 year mark of working with Luvin Arms to help farmed animals at the sanctuary and everywhere else. Some of the work I am most passionate about is the direct education and outreach work with our Tour Program, which has reached a worldwide audience of all ages. Just this year, we have reached over 25,000 individuals in 28+ countries with our virtual tours. One positive that has come out of the pandemic has been interest and opportunity for virtual tours and visits, which has greatly expanded our education and outreach horizons. This direct education and outreach work with tours has also expanded into schools, which we call field trips and are unique to each age group. This work especially warms my heart to do, as I love young people and see the work that we do with and for them here at Luvin Arms as IMPERATIVE to their future on this planet.
Another youth program that brings me a lot of joy has been teaching art sessions to a group of young students in India. I like to call these sessions Art, Animals and Ahimsa (oooh my!) because those are the subjects we focus on during our time together, which is normally an hour every other week.
My formal educational background is in the arts as I attended art school at the Maryland Institute College of Art and received my Masters of Arts in Teaching there. Art can be a great vehicle for delivering information to inspire changing hearts and minds. The students I work with attend The Springs Continental Schools in Manjeri India, which are led by an incredibly wholesome and compassionate individual named Sayyid Duja. Duja and I connected through The Institute of Humane Education and Luvin Arms, and we both strive to encourage younger generations to become solutionaries of the world! During the past 6 months, Duja has been a wonderful partner to work with, as he has become the Luvin Arms Indian ambassador and has coordinated with 20 different schools and 600 individuals all around India who we have been able to spread our message to.
I am currently in school working toward a certification in humane education with the Institute of Human Animal Connection here in CO. My hope is that this learning will support me in bringing more humane education programs to the sanctuary.
I also manage our Visitor Center so that folks who visit the sanctuary have a supportive, positive experience at the sanctuary in addition to lots of helpful resources they can engage with and take home to help them on their animal loving journey. These resources include take home literature about the link between animal agriculture, health, all animals (humans and nonhumans), and the environment; animal rescue games; inspiration books to look through, including ones for children’s and cookbooks; merchandise to help folks remember their experience at the sanctuary; petitions to sign to show support for getting farmed animals legal protection; and of course delicious plant-based food folks can sample because the way to a heart is often through the stomach ;).
I also help manage the education and outreach programs and events that occur throughout the year such as the Luvin Arms Veganuary Challenge, which goes until the end of January 😉 ! This work takes the collaboration of a team, which I am grateful for. Speaking of teams, I am not only grateful for, but ADORE the education and outreach team that I work with for tours and the visitor center. They are not only great advocates for farmed animals, but bring me strength in my soul. Overall, I am especially grateful for the opportunity to do this important cultural changing work, as it is very close to my heart and, I believe, imperative to all of our futures.
Thank YOU (readers) for all of the kind choices you make for animals, humans and the planet! #OneHealth.
Luv and Gratitude,
Alexis Miller
