Host

Linda Middlesworth, aka the VeganMentor, has been living as an ethical plant-based vegan for over 35 years. At age 79, among Linda’s many accomplishments are: creating the Sacramento Vegan Society in 2008 which boasts 5,200 members and obtaining her certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell and the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition in 2018.

Linda is incredibly passionate about physical activity and is an aerobics instructor for CA Family Fitness, where she has taught cardio and weight training classes for the last 20 years. She is a Certified Personal Trainer through AFFA and an event organizer for Get Healthy Sacramento.

Linda is the founder of Go Healthy Live!, a series of virtual summits designed to reach people around the globe with healthy, plant-exclusive teaching. The series, Go Healthy LIVE, Go Compassionate LIVE and Go Sustainable LIVE, features doctors and leaders in health, animal advocacy and climate change.

Linda is also the co-owner (with her son Darren Middlesworth) of v-dog.com, a vegan dog food business that she and her late husband, David, launched in 2005 so dogs could benefit from a healthy, cruelty-free and environmentally friendly dog food. V-dog recently garnered international recognition as one of the Top 3 Best Specialty Dog Food Companies. Linda remains an active animal rights activist for PETA, DXE, Sacramento Animal Rights, Sacramento Animal Save, and Sacramento Health Save.

Linda was appointed to the Medical Advisory Board as Community Liaison for CNS, T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies in 2023.

Join award-winning journalist and television personality, Jane Velez-Mitchell, for an eye-opening presentation on the power of independent media in breaking through the mainstream media blackout. In her talk titled "UnchainedTV: Breaking through the Mainstream Media Blackout," Jane will discuss her experience as a journalist and media personality and how she has used her platform to shed light on important social justice issues that are often ignored or downplayed by traditional media outlets.

As the founder and editor-in-chief of JaneUnChained News Network, Jane has been at the forefront of reporting on animal rights, environmental activism, and social justice issues. In this presentation, she will share her insights on how independent media can be a powerful tool for activists and change-makers to bypass the gatekeepers of traditional media and get their message heard by a wider audience.

Through compelling stories and real-world examples, Jane will highlight the importance of grassroots media in giving voice to underrepresented communities and holding those in power accountable. Attendees of this talk can expect to come away with a greater understanding of the role of independent media in creating social change and practical strategies for using media to advance their own causes.

Join Jane Velez-Mitchell for an inspiring and informative presentation on how independent media can help break through the mainstream media blackout and make a difference in the world.

About Jane Velez-Mitchell

Jane Velez-Mitchell is the founder and managing editor of UnChainedTV, a free, streaming television network available for download as an app on iPhone, Android phone, and via Roku, Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV device and on LG and Samsung Smart TVs. It's also viewable at UnChainedTv the network hub. 

UnChainedTV offers hundreds of free documentaries, cooking shows, news updates, talk shows and music videos, all with a focus on a compassionate plant-based lifestyle to combat the climate crisis, improve human health, reduce world hunger and animal suffering. 

She has won four Genesis Awards/commendations from the Humane Society of the United States for her reporting on animal issues. VegNews named Velez-Mitchell Media Maven of the Year in 2010. In 2013, Mercy for Animals awarded her their Compassionate Leadership Award. 

In 2014, she was honored for fighting animal abuse by the Animal Legal Defense Fund. In 2015, she received the Nanci Alexander Award at PETA's 35th anniversary.



For six years she hosted her own show on HLN/CNN Headline News. Previously, Velez-Mitchell reported for the nationally syndicated Warner Brothers/Telepictures show Celebrity Justice.



Previously, Velez-Mitchell was a news anchor/reporter at KCAL-TV in Los Angeles and WCBS-TV in New York. She is the winner of a Los Angeles Emmy and a New York Emmy for her reporting. Velez-Mitchell is a graduate of New York University and began her career with reporting stints in Ft Myers, Florida, Minneapolis and Philadelphia.



Velez-Mitchell is the author of four books. Her 2014 nonfiction New York Times bestseller, Exposed: The Secret Life of Jodi Arias offers a detailed psychological analysis of a salacious trial that gripped the American public. 

Her other New York Times bestseller is her memoir, iWant: My Journey from Addiction and Overconsumption to a Simpler, Honest Life. Secrets Can Be Murder delves into the secrecy and deceit embedded in tragic scenarios. 

Addict Nation: An Intervention for America with co-author Sandra Mohr focuses on our culture's addictive nature and our obsession with overconsumption.



Velez-Mitchell directed and produced the documentary Anita Velez: Dancing Through Life which won a Gracie Award in 2001. 

In 2019, she produced the award-winning documentary Countdown to Year Zero, now streaming on Amazon Prime and UnChainedTV. Through her non-profit, in conjunction with Inspired, she is the co-executive producer of New Day New Chef. This vegan cooking series has won two Taste Awards, considered the Oscars of food and streams on Amazon Prime, UnChainedTV and public television stations across the U.S. She lives with her 3 companion animals in Los Angeles.

You can download UnchainedTV for free on your phone, via the APP store and on your TV via your Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV device and Roku device.

https://watch.unchainedtv.com/browse

https://unchainedtv.com/donate/

Dr. Sailesh Rao, a world-renowned environmentalist, author, and speaker, is committed to teaching others How Compassion Heals the Climate.

In this talk, Dr. Rao will discuss the interconnectedness of human health and planetary health, and how our daily choices impact both.

Since the dawn of the agricultural revolution, humanity has been largely organized as a Climate HEATing civilization, which has prevented the earth from going back to another ice age. However, this has now put the planet in danger of overheating to a point of no return. Dr. Rao will delve into the impacts of this overheating on human health, food systems, and biodiversity, as well as the urgent need for systemic change at the societal and governmental levels.

Through compelling data and personal anecdotes, Dr. Rao will outline a systems engineering approach to transform humanity into a Climate Healing civilization. This transformation involves moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy, transitioning from animal agriculture to plant-based food systems, and rewilding the planet to promote biodiversity and carbon sequestration.

Attendees can expect to come away from Dr. Rao's talk with a deeper understanding of the links between human health and planetary health, as well as practical tools and insights for making positive changes in their own lives and advocating for systemic change at the societal level. They will also be inspired to take action towards a more sustainable, just, and healthy future for all. Join us for an enlightening presentation and learn how to "Heal the Planet - Heal Yourself."

About Dr. Sailesh Rao

Dr. Sailesh Rao is the Founder and Executive Director of Climate Healers, a non-profit dedicated towards healing the Earth’s climate. He is a systems engineer, Human, Earth, and Animal Liberation (HEAL) activist, husband, dad and since 2010, a star-struck grandfather. He promised his granddaughter, Kimaya, that the world will be largely Vegan before she turns 16 in 2026, so that people will stop eating her relatives, the animals.

He has faith that humanity will transform to keep his pinky promise to Kimaya, not just for ethical reasons, but also out of sheer ecological necessity. He has created a Climate Bathtub model to help humanity understand the solution space for reversing climate change and enabling a thriving planet.

Dr. Rao is one of the brains behind the high-speed internet and high-def communication we enjoy today. But, in 2006, after hearing Al Gore speak of our climate crisis, he switched careers and became deeply immersed, full-time, in solving the environmental crises affecting humanity.

Through his organization, Climate Healers, he invites us all to become V.E.G.A.N. – that is, Vitally Engaged Guardians of Animals and Nature.

Dr. Rao is the author of two books, Carbon Dharma: The Occupation of Butterflies and Carbon Yoga: The Vegan Metamorphosis, and an Executive Producer of several documentaries, The Human Experiment (2013), Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret (2014), What The Health (2017), A Prayer for Compassion (2019), They’re Trying to Kill Us (2021), The End of Medicine (est. 2022), The Land of Ahimsa (est. 2022), Animals – A Parallel History (est. 2022) and Milked (2022)

His work is featured in the award-winning film, Countdown to Year Zero produced by Jane Velez-Mitchell and Unchained TV.

https://climatehealers.org 

Dr. John McDougall is a renowned physician and nutrition expert who has spent his career advocating for a plant-based diet as a means of preventing and treating a wide range of health issues. In his presentation on "Diet: The Common Denominator in Common Diseases, Climate Change, and COVID," Dr. McDougall will discuss the ways in which our dietary choices impact not only our own health, but also the health of the planet.

Dr. McDougall will draw on his extensive experience in clinical practice, as well as his research on the links between diet and chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, to highlight the importance of a plant-based diet for overall health and wellbeing. He will also explore the connections between our food choices and the ongoing climate crisis, discussing the environmental impacts of animal agriculture and the potential for a shift towards plant-based diets to mitigate these impacts.

Finally, Dr. McDougall will address the role of diet in the current COVID pandemic, highlighting the ways in which chronic disease and poor nutrition have contributed to the severity of the virus for many individuals. He will offer practical advice for individuals and policymakers alike on how to improve public health through dietary interventions.

Attendees of Dr. McDougall's presentation can expect to come away with a deeper understanding of the critical role that diet plays in our personal health, the health of the planet, and the ongoing global health crisis. They will also be equipped with practical tools and insights for making positive dietary changes in their own lives and in their communities.

About Dr. McDougall

Dr. John McDougall is a board-certified internist and nutrition expert who has spent his career advocating for a plant-based diet as a means of preventing and treating chronic diseases. 

He is the founder and director of the McDougall Program, a highly successful 12-day Day Telemedicine, TeleEducation that helps individuals to improve their health through a low-fat, plant-based diet.

Dr. McDougall is the author of the international on-line McDougall Newsletter. 

He has authored numerous national bestselling books, including:

The McDougall Plan

• McDougall's Medicine: A Challenging Second Opinion

• The McDougall Health Supporting Cookbook, Volume 1

• The McDougall Health Supporting Cookbook, Volume 2

• The McDougall Plan: 12 Days to Dynamic Health

• The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss

• The New McDougall Cookbook

• The McDougall Program for Women

• The McDougall Program for a Healthy Heart

• The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook

• Dr. McDougall’s Digestive Tune-up

• The Starch Solution

• The Healthiest Diet on the Planet

Dr. McDougall has authored many research papers including: Data for 10 Years on 1615 participants at the Residential Santa Rosa Program:
(Nutrition Journal) http://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-13-99

Independent Research from OHSU (Medial School in Portland) on One Year: (Diet/MS study
MS and Related Disorders) http://www.msard-journal.com/article/S2211-0348(16)30100-6/pdf

Independent Research, One Year, Community-based Study, from New Zealand: (Nutrition & Diabetes) https://www.nature.com/articles/nutd20173

Dr. McDougall has appeared on numerous television programs, including The Dr. Oz Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. 

Dr. McDougall has also been featured in several documentaries related to plant-based eating and health, such as Forks Over Knives and PlantPure Nation.

Throughout his career, Dr. McDougall has been a vocal advocate for a plant-based diet as a means of preventing and treating chronic diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. 

He has also spoken out on the environmental and ethical implications of animal agriculture and the need for dietary changes to address these issues.

Learn more about the McDougall Program at www.drmcdougall.com.