Tobias Leenaert (born 1973) is the founder and CEO of the Belgian non-profit organization EVA, which informs people about the benefits of vegetarian/vegan eating. He studied English and Dutch language and literature and anthropology at the University of Ghent, and after graduation founded EVA, which in 2005 was probably the first vegetarian organization in the world to receive structural support from its national government.
Together with his team, Tobias developed a campaign for the adoption of a weekly veggie day, which got officially accepted in the city of Ghent (Belgium), where EVA operates, in May 2009. Since then, journalists from all over the world have reported on this unique event, and other cities in Belgium and other parts of the world have followed Ghent`s example. EVA has thus helped in mainstreaming meat reduction, showing it to be a crucial step towards a new diet that is beneficial for our health, and the health of our planet and all its inhabitants. In 2010, Tobias was elected as a Fellow of Ashoka, an international organisation supporting 2500 high impact social entrepreneurs.
presentation:
Making compassion easier
