Our Team

Our Board of Directors

Anne Osborne

Anne became a vegan in 1986 and she has been on a fruit based vegan diet since 1991. She is vegan for ethical reasons.

Owen Gunden

Owen is an investor and philanthropist aiming to make the world a kinder place for non-humans and humans alike.

Yuliya Yakhontova

Fruit Festival Director

Yuliya's strongest passion is personal growth and self-development in all areas of life and constantly pushing and questioning our perceived limits.

Our Mission Statement

Our aim is to help bring forth a healthier, more harmonious and compassionate world by:

  • Promoting a fruit-based raw vegan diet and lifestyle and connecting those who are interested in raw veganism so that we can support, educate, and inspire each other.

  • Raising awareness of fruit as health food and encouraging a greater percentage of fruit and raw vegan foods in all diets.

  • Raising awareness of the health, environmental and spiritual potential of adopting a vegan lifestyle.

We are an inclusive and non-discriminatory organization: we welcome attendees of all abilities, ages, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, races, national origins, faiths, and dietary philosophies.

We strive to be environmentally conscious and leave a light footprint in all our events and endeavors.

Our core ethics are kindness, love, and respect to all humans and non-human animals.

Our Team

Gabby Maes

Registration Manager

Gabby is a bubbly, health conscious, nature seeking gal. She enjoys the little things in life and can be found diving for shells in the ocean any given day. She found the plant based way of living back in 2017 and has enjoyed this lifestyle ever since. 

Nanette Duarte

Registration Manager

Nanette has a love for travel, new experiences, learning, herbalism, iridology, nature, hiking, mindfulness & meditation, and health and rejuvenation. She has been high raw vegan and fruit based since 2019 and can attest to the amazing transformations that happen to one on this conscious lifestyle.

Linsey Minnella

Head of Logistics

Linsey is the co-founder and CEO of Vegvisits, the 'airbnb' for vegans, vegetarians, and the veg-curious. Beyond her passion for transforming the way we travel, Linsey is a committed fruitarian since 2012.

Jeannette Donofrio

Work Exchange & Social Media Manager

Jeannette Donofrio has been a Plant-Exclusive Food and Beverage Business Consultant for over 10 years and is the Founder of Fruit Is Life, an exotic tropical fruit company in South Florida.

Jillian Stenzel

Schedule Manager & Content Writer

Jillian is a globe-trotting, salsa-dancing, mountain-climbing, fruit and veggie fiend. She discovered her passion for fruit while traveling around Asia in 2015, taking the plunge to go 100% raw in 2018 after moving to Iraqi Kurdistan.

Our Vision

Imagine a World

Where it is common knowledge that a fruit based diet provides wondrous health and vitality.

Where 'fast food fruit stands' and fresh fruit markets are on every city block.

Where fitness centers, dance & yoga schools, salt water swimming pools, and creative art centers are thriving and full of healthy athletic people.

Where fruit trees are everywhere: in backyards, on city streets, anywhere where land is suitable, fruit is free for the picking.

Where cold climate cities create greenhouses to grow local fruit and vegetables no matter the weather.

Where the word 'organic' isn't used much because everything is organic and natural.

Where modern science and technology work together to create a sustainable world.

Where children are born for a future of joy and health.

Imagine people living lighter, happier, compassionately, creatively, authentically, in harmony.

"When we dream alone it is only a dream, but when many dream together it is the beginning of a new reality"

Friedensreich Hundertwasser