Kelly Nix, M.A., Ed.D. (c), M.S.L. (Candidate)

Kelly Nix, MA, EdD(c), MSL (Candidate) is Executive Director of Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, a farmed animal sanctuary in Erie, Colorado, United States. Her work examines how classification systems decide who counts as someone rather than something, and what sanctuary makes possible as a site of education and justice across species lines.

Nix came to sanctuary leadership through nearly two decades in public education. She began as a special education teacher, holding an MA in Special Education and Teaching Licensure from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (2009), and moved into school leadership with an MA in Educational Leadership and Principal Licensure from the University of Northern Colorado (2015). She served as Dean of Upper Elementary and Assistant Principal at Foundations Academy and later as a K-12 principal before joining Luvin Arms in 2022. Her earlier training in sociology at Adams State College continues to shape how she reads institutions and the categories they enforce.

She earned a Graduate Certificate in Humane Education from the Institute for Humane Education in 2023 and completes an EdD in Educational and Professional Practice with a concentration in Humane Education at Antioch University in 2026. Her dissertation, The Web of Liberation, develops a framework organized around the concepts of Interliberation, Omniliberation, and Synergistic Justice Praxis. She is also completing a Master of Studies in Animal Law at Lewis & Clark Law School’s Center for Animal Law Studies, with coursework in industrial animal agriculture law, food law, animal legal philosophy, and the law and ethics of animal testing.

At Luvin Arms, she leads lifelong care for rescued farmed animals and directs education programming, including free curriculum resources for teachers on animal sentience and sanctuary practice. She serves on the boards of the Institute for Critical Animal Studies, the Brave New Life Project, and Community Fruit Rescue. Her work is grounded in her identity as a vegan and farmed animal advocate.