SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (July 25, 2025) — In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition will launch the first Homo Ahimsa Awareness Week on Sunday, July 27, by honoring spiritual leaders Victoria Moran and William Melton with the 2025 Homo Ahimsa Award. Homo Ahimsa means “nonviolent human” and envisions an evolved species living in harmony with all beings.

The week begins with the first-ever Homo Ahimsa Day, a new annual event celebrating a nonviolent, compassionate worldview. Moran and Melton, co-founders of the Compassion Consortium, will be recognized during a virtual award ceremony for their dedication to interfaith vegan advocacy and spiritual support for animal activists worldwide.

“‘Ahimsa’ is the Sanskrit word for nonviolence and our Homo Ahimsa Award honors those who live in nonviolent, respectful, and ahimsa partnership with all life,” said Judy Carman, co-founder of the Interfaith Vegan Coalition and author of Peace to All Beings and Homo Ahimsa. “This inaugural Homo Ahimsa Day calls on each of us to practice compassion for all beings through seven days of specific, powerful actions to create peace for all beings.”

To commemorate the new awareness week, the Interfaith Vegan Coalition has curated seven daily practices for living with ahimsa:

• Sunday, July 27: Join the Homo Ahimsa Award Ceremony on Homo Ahimsa Day
• Monday, July 28: Download and share In Defense of Animals’ Vegan Starter Guide
• Tuesday, July 29: Eat a vegan meal (make a Vegan Starter Guide recipe or find local vegan food using Happy Cow)
• Wednesday, July 30: Watch A Prayer for Compassion
• Thursday, July 31: Read from Homo Ahimsa, Sacred Sendoffs, Mainstreet Vegan, or Age Like a Yogi 
• Friday, August 1: Participate in Respect for Fish Day
• Saturday, August 2: Teach a child how a mother cow’s milk is created for her baby (watch this 5 min. explainer video first)

“In today’s world, every act of nonviolence is heroic,” said Lisa Levinson, an animal chaplain and co-founder of In Defense of Animals’ Interfaith Vegan Coalition. “Victoria Moran and William Melton are leading us toward a more compassionate society where all animals are treated with care by providing spiritual care and community for animal advocates worldwide through their Compassion Consortium.”

The Homo Ahimsa Award was created in 2021 to recognize individuals who exemplify the vision of Homo ahimsa.ending violence and domination. The award is named after a book by Carman’s book, Homo Ahimsa: Who We Really Are and How We’re Going to Save the World, which inspired the movement.

Carman added, “We can stop violence to animals, people, and the Earth caused by Homo sapiens by choosing nonviolence in every action. Together, we can evolve into a kind and just species: Homo ahimsa.”

Victoria Moran and William Melton shared their delight at being selected to receive the Homo Ahimsa Award.

“Receiving the Homo Ahimsa Award is special because it affirms what I believe with my whole being: that a compassionate world isn’t a dream, it’s a decision,” said Age Like a Yogi author and Compassion Consortium co-founder Victoria Moran. “And I’ll keep choosing it.” 

“This honor touches me deeply. I may not always find the words, but my heart is clear: compassion is the true calling of our time,” said Compassion Consortium co-founder William Melton. 

Register to attend the Homo Ahimsa Award Ceremony on Sunday, July 27, at 11 a.m. PT, during the V-COP 22: Vegan Convergence of the Peoples event: https://climatehealers.ticketspice.com/v-cop22-vegan-convergence-of-the-peoples-22#ticketBlock 

To attend the ceremony, select the “let me attend for free” through Friday, July 25 at 8 p.m. PT or “let me attend for less” option after this time when registering. Registrants will receive the Zoom link by email on Friday, July 25 at 8 p.m. or upon registration after this time, for security reasons.

To watch the live ceremony on Facebook, visit In Defense of Animals Facebook page.

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Contacts:

Lisa Levinson, In Defense of Animals/Interfaith Vegan Coalition, lisa@idausa.org, 215-620-2130

Judy Carman, Interfaith Vegan Coalition judycarman@ymail.com, 785-760-2446

Victoria Moran, Compassion Consortium, victoria@mainstreetvegan.com, 646-734-6167

Images: https://bit.ly/HomoAhimsa25

About the Honorees:

Victoria Moran

Victoria Moran is a pioneering vegan author and spiritual leader whose 14 books include Main Street Vegan, Age Like a Yogi, and Compassion the Ultimate Ethic — one of the first traditionally published books on veganism. A two-time guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show, she is also the producer of the documentary A Prayer for Compassion, and founder of Main Street Vegan Academy, which has trained and certified vegan lifestyle coaches since 2012. Moran has spoken at the Parliament of the World's Religions, Omega Institute, Unity Village, and other major venues. She co-founded the Compassion Consortium and hosts the award-winning Main Street Vegan Podcast. In 2024, she was inducted into the Vegan Hall of Fame.

William Melton, MS, JD, OM, VLCE

William Melton left a career as a global international business and technology lawyer to pursue a ministry of compassion. He is an ordained interfaith minister, animal chaplain, vegan lifestyle coach, and animal Reiki master. As board president of the Compassion Consortium, he brings spiritual guidance and support to the vegan community. Melton is also a screenwriter and author, currently developing a film about a slaughterhouse escapee titled Miss Liberty.

​Youtube: Watch Rev. William's Journey to the Ministry

Organizations:

In Defense of Animals is an international animal protection organization with over 250,000 supporters and a 40-year history of fighting for animals, people, and the environment through education and campaigns as well as hands-on rescue facilities in India, South Korea, central California, and rural Mississippi. www.idausa.org

The Interfaith Vegan Coalition (IVC) was founded by In Defense of Animals provides faith-based tools for spiritual and ethical communities to embrace nonviolence and compassion toward animals. The coalition comprises more than 60 member organizations and partners around the world. www.interfaithvegancoalition.org

Compassion Consortium is a non-sectarian center. We offer well-being resources, spiritual guidance, support, and community fellowship to Vegans, Vegetarians, animal rights activists, animal lovers, and all humans who care about and advocate for animals and the planet. www.compassionconsortium.org 

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