Community Spotlight

The Community I Have Been Building for 30 Years, Vegans Explore Passport

On January 11, Sean A. Russell launched the Vegans Explore Passport, a membership community he describes as the missing piece behind everything Vegans Explore has done since 2016.

Vegans Explore Podcast

Episode 72 · Jan 11, 2026 · 15 min

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Five groups, one bridge

The Passport is built around five member groups: pre-vegans just starting out and looking for a lower-pressure entry point, seasoned vegans looking to reengage and mentor, entrepreneurs and business owners who need marketing and grant guidance, nonprofits who need help getting their fundraising and message in front of more people, and content creators looking for sponsorships, collaborations, and a bigger network. Russell frames the whole project as an information brokerage, connecting people who are looking for support with people and resources who can provide it.

Why now, and why $11 a month

Russell has intentionally kept Vegans Explore a team of one while he builds out the resources and systems behind the community, rather than repeating a past pattern of building a team before the revenue existed to support it. Membership runs $11 a month or $111 a year, funding the global tour, city directories, and the eventual hiring of local community managers so support does not depend on Russell physically showing up.

The Passport community runs on the Circle platform, reachable at vegansexplore.com slash passport.
Russell's word for 2026 is integration: turning years of relationships, lessons, and false starts into something tangible.
The long-term vision is an interconnected network of vegan communities worldwide, explicitly framed as amplifying existing efforts rather than competing with them.