Sarah Swanty shares how a rescue that began with 17 homeless cats grew into Animal Friends Alliance, an organization helping 18,000 animals each year by focusing on prevention, innovation, and keeping pets with the families who love them.
Kim Sturla reflects on nearly five decades of animal advocacy, sharing how one rescued pig inspired the creation of Animal Place and why education, compassion, and action remain the keys to creating lasting change for farm animals.
Hanna Lentz shares how SPARC is helping animal welfare organizations rethink the stories they tell, replacing blame with understanding and creating messaging that strengthens the human-animal bond while driving lasting systemic change.
John Gerrard shares how a career in business and retail prepared him to challenge the status quo in animal welfare, introducing innovative ideas like Shopify-powered adoptions while encouraging shelters to embrace technology, bold thinking, and meaningful change.
Jon Gary reflects on a 27-year career in animal welfare, sharing how leadership, resilience, and investing in people have helped transform one of the nation’s largest municipal shelter systems.
Jane Tomsich shares how modern animal welfare is shifting from simply sheltering animals to empowering communities, preserving the human-animal bond, and creating innovative programs that keep pets where they belong.
Christy Schilling shares how Better Together Forever is helping families overcome housing, financial, and medical barriers so they can keep the pets they love and avoid unnecessary shelter surrenders.
Megan Winters shares how Harbor Humane Society transformed its approach to animal welfare by focusing on community support, reducing barriers to pet ownership, and helping people keep the pets they love.
Caryn Fugatt shares how a volunteer dog-walking opportunity evolved into a leadership career in animal welfare, and why preserving the human-animal bond is at the heart of everything Pope Memorial Humane Society does.
Dara Worthington shares how thoughtful leadership, community support, and a commitment to seeing the potential in every animal have helped Friends of Strays grow into one of Florida’s most impactful shelter organizations.
