March 17, 2025
Compassionate Action for Animals (CAA) is lucky to have many dedicated volunteers, and Ronan Magnus is no exception. Ronan has been an active part of the CAA Chapter at the University of Minnesota since April 2024. His commitment to animal advocacy and community building has made a meaningful impact on the organization.
Finding a Vegan Community at UMN
A lifelong vegan, Ronan was eager to find a supportive vegan community when he started at the University of Minnesota in 2022. When he discovered the CAA student group in 2024, he immediately knew he wanted to get involved. “As a lifelong vegan, as soon as I learned about the CAA student group last spring, I wanted to join. I felt really inspired by the mission to help animals, and I had been looking for a vegan community on campus.”
Stepping into Leadership at CAA UMN
Since joining, Ronan has taken on several leadership roles. He first served as Vice President and is now the President of the CAA Chapter at UMN. In these roles, he has participated in outreach, and organized events. Working alongside others passionate about the cause has been one of the most rewarding parts of his experience. “CAA’s mission impresses me the most. I absolutely love the friendliness and camaraderie of every CAA member I’ve had the privilege of working with,” he said. “The passion of the other CAA UMN officers and the parent org members inspires me to keep giving the CAA UMN chapter my all!”
Organizing Events and Strengthening the CAA Community
Ronan enjoys stepping into leadership roles to help make events successful and enjoyable. He has helped plan events like Twin Cities Veg Fest and the Vegan Chili Cook-Off. In both, he worked closely with the student group and the parent organization. For him, the people he works with — both fellow volunteers and event attendees — are what make his experience with CAA so special.
Beyond Volunteering: Ronan’s Passions and Plant-Based Lifestyle
Outside of his volunteer work, Ronan is studying computer science and graphic design. In his free time, he enjoys going on walks, playing guitar, practicing martial arts, and spending time with his parents’ cats.
Growing up in a vegan household, he has always been committed to a plant-based lifestyle. His dedication to veganism stems from his love for animals, as well as environmental and health reasons. One of his favorite dishes to make is a hearty vegan enchilada packed with broccoli and leafy greens. When dining out, he loves visiting India House in Saint Paul.
Recognizing Ronan’s Impact at CAA
Ronan’s enthusiasm and leadership continue to strengthen the CAA Chapter at UMN. He helps bring people together to support animals and plant-based living. CAA is grateful for his dedication and looks forward to seeing all that he accomplishes in the future!
Inspired by Ronan? Get Involved With CAA!
If Ronan’s story inspires you, consider volunteering with CAA, donating, or exploring creative ways to support the organization, like securing a matching grant through your employer. Together, we can create a more compassionate world for animals, people, and the planet.
Past Volunteer Spotlights
If you would like to get to know some other volunteers, check out other recent volunteer profiles:
Volunteer Spotlight on Kedar Deshpande
Volunteer Spotlight on Anna Larsson
Volunteer Spotlight on Alysia Nelson
Volunteer Spotlight on Tom Hoch
Volunteer Spotlight on Lexy Race
Volunteer Spotlight on Faustine Micheyls
Volunteer Spotlight on Grace Prins
Volunteer Spotlight on Kim Milligan
Volunteer Spotlight on Allison Gamble
The mutual benefits of volunteering for CAA
Volunteers are key to everything we do. They help us to accomplish far more than we can do with our small staff and amplify our impact for animals. In 2023, our staff engaged over 260 volunteers, contributing more than 740 hours, across 96 different activities — a savings of over $12,000 if we had hired them. Learn more about volunteer impact every year in our annual reports.
Equally important is that the volunteers themself benefit from enhanced skills in advocacy and leadership as well as a sense of community. This fits with our theory of change which includes the following cyclical steps: increasing awareness, building community, empowering advocates, and creating change. Volunteering touches on each of these areas.
See all volunteer opportunities here.
CAA’s Theory of Change
Our theory of change emphasizes a welcoming approach, which is recognized as most effective at creating change and models the empathy we want to promote.
The theory explains how we achieve our mission to encourage people to embrace their empathy for animals and move toward a plant-based diet. It also supports our vision of a world where all animals, human and nonhuman, can thrive.
This change theory reflects how we grow our movement. Through our CAA programs, events, and activities, we facilitate a cyclical process of increasing awareness, building community, empowering advocates, and creating change. This process focuses on both individual and institutional change.
What kind of change do we create? Our programs reduce consumption of animal products and improve the lives of farmed animals. In addition, they benefit the well-being of all Minnesotans.
Compassionate Action for Animals’ theory of change was initially developed in 2017 with an online survey sent to key stakeholders, two town hall meetings open to the community members, and a strategic planning meeting attended by staff, core volunteers, and board members.
Get Involved and Volunteer With CAA
If you believe in our mission and our theory of change, we encourage you to get involved too. Sign up for one of our upcoming volunteer opportunities. There are so many fun events and options to choose from. Whatever your talents may be, you can find a volunteer opportunity that’s right for you — from photography to cooking and serving food, helping with setup and cleanup at events, greeting guests, and so much more.
We thank you for all the ways that you speak up for animals and help our community!
