For me, education is about the world I am building . . . and that world is a place of liberation for everyone, including non-human animals.
Dana McPhall has over 30 years of experience in the nonprofit, government, and legal sectors, and holds a Master’s Degree in Education through the Institute for Humane Education (IHE), as well as a Juris Doctorate and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy. Since earning her M.Ed. degree, Dana has dedicated herself to exploring the intersection of humane education and racial justice, particularly the link between race and animality, and to teaching educators, advocates, and parents about the intertwined systemic roots of anti-Black racism and animal exploitation. As part of that work, Dana has chaired a working group of IHE staff and alumni dedicated to integrating racial justice issues more deeply into the field of humane education.
Five years ago, Dana joined IHE’s faculty at Antioch University to facilitate a self-designed course called Race, Intersectionality and Veganism. Dana is also the author of “What I’ve Learned by Applying an Antiracist Framework to My Animal Advocacy,” which was published in 2020 by Sentient Media and included in the influential book “Antiracism in Animal Advocacy: Igniting Cultural Transformation.” More recently, Dana has led nonprofit educational programs designed to support educators and advocates in promoting interrelated issues of social justice within the U.S. food system. In 2023, Dana started her own educational project called Liberate In Mind, whose purpose is to deepen understanding, shift movement narratives, and direct social action toward justice and liberation for Black people and nonhuman animals as one common undertaking through education.
