IHE Welcomes New Office Manager & Program Coordinator, Megan Moon

We're delighted to welcome Megan Moon as IHE's new Office Manager and Program Coordinator. Megan has been working in nonprofit and alternative education settings since 2005 and has extensive experience in humane education, most recently as the Humane Education Manager with the San Francisco SPCA, where she where she managed the office, coordinated programs, and taught comprehensive and experiential humane education curricula to thousands of students.

Megan earned her Bachelor’s degree in Humane Leadership from Duquesne University in 2011 and received her Humane Education Specialist certification from Humane Society University in 2009. She currently lives in Maine with her husband, Shane. Outside of the office, Megan enjoys photography, yoga, organic gardening, reading, and hiking.

Megan said, "I am grateful for the opportunity to do such meaningful work alongside the dedicated staff and faculty at IHE, and I look forward to serving a community of passionate learners in our diverse and comprehensive programs."

We asked Megan to share a little about her experiences with humane education:

"I remember when I first discovered humane education. I was tutoring youth in an inner-city community center and had recently implemented a character education program. I quickly began to notice a lack of understanding among the students about many pressing challenges in our world today, including environmental destruction, human rights and injustice, consumerism, and animal protection. It wasn’t that the students didn’t care about these issues; it was that they hadn’t been given an opportunity to recognize them as societal problems and think critically about how to solve them. There was a disconnect in the education system, and it was clear that these vital topics had not been incorporated in standard classroom learning activities. I wanted to find a way to combine my love of teaching with a deep concentration on these critical issues. A Google search led me straight to the Institute for Humane Education, where my dream was realized.

I began to implement some humane-themed lesson plans into the community center’s after-school program. It didn’t take long to recognize the difference in many of the students’ attitudes, choices, and even in their treatment of each other. They became aware of problems and inspired to take action and make a difference for others. I have since observed this same incredible transformation in thousands of students across the United States. I believe true change begins with values-driven curricula and inclusive, experiential learning that connects students to the most imperative challenges of our time and gives them the knowledge and confidence necessary to identify solutions to those challenges.

In my lifetime, I hope to see all institutional education systems engaging students in thinking critically about the information they are learning, and for that information to be meaningful, empowering, and connected to their lives and the world. I imagine a world where all people are given the opportunity to learn about injustices and what they can do to make a difference in their own unique way, for other people, animals, and our planet. I believe we have the greatest opportunity to educate the next generation of creative thinkers, of values-driven leaders, of knowledgeable citizens, of compassionate activists, of solutionaries! With humane education, each and every person can become all of these things and more."

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