TRACYE MCQUIRTER, MPH, was named a national food hero changing the way America eats for the better by Vegetarian Times and her best-selling book, By Any Greens Necessary, established her as one of the most influential vegans in the country. As a writer, speaker, public health nutritionist, and thirty-year vegan, Tracye has been teaching people how and why to live a healthy vegan lifestyle for the past twenty-five years. She recently created the first-of-its-kind, free African American Vegan Starter Guide in partnership with Farm Sanctuary. Previously, she co-created one of the earliest vegan websites twenty years ago, which was also the first by and for African American vegans. Tracye directed the nation’s first federally funded vegan nutrition program and was a nutrition advisor for the Black Women’s Health Imperative. As an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia, Tracye designed and taught a plant-based nutrition curriculum for the District of Columbia Public Schools System to help prevent and reverse childhood obesity in Washington, DC. She is a cofounder of We Feed People and the Community Support Network, and advisory board member of Coalition for Healthy School Food, Black Vegans Rock, PlantPure Nation Foundation, and Hip Hop is Green. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Essence, Bon Appetit, Ebony, VegNews, The Huffington Post, Black Enterprise, and more. She is a graduate of Sidwell Friends School, Amherst College, and New York University, where she received a master’s degree in public health nutrition. You can find Tracye on social media at ByAnyGreensNecessary.com and @byanygreens.
MARY DAVIS MCQUIRTER is a thirty-year vegan who continues to be healthy, fit, and active into her eighties. She has been retired from Covington and Burling law firm for twenty years and has been an active volunteer for more than forty years, helping children, abused women, mentally ill adults, and families in need. Mary also co-founded the Community Support Network, a nonprofit organization that developed programs to serve the needs of her community for more than twenty years. Mary has also worked with her daughter, Tracye, to teach vegan nutrition classes for seniors in Washington, DC. As an avid quilter, Mary currently teaches quilting classes at her local senior wellness center, where she also takes exercise classes five days a week (at least twice a day).