Katherine M. Shenar brings 26 years of experience to her role as executive vice president for The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement. She has served as CEO for two animal welfare organizations and held leadership roles with four others. She frequently speaks on topics including leadership development, organization culture, coalition building, marketing communications, fundraising, and emerging trends in animal welfare. She is the author of the book Coalition Building for Animal Care Organizations, a how-to guide for animal advocates to work collaboratively in communities.
Lately we’ve been hearing chatter and concern from shelters struggling to move their animal populations as quickly as possible, resulting in increased length of stay. This is a red flag: We know that the longer an animal stays in your shelter, the more likely stress will impact their health and behavior, and the larger your overall population becomes.
By Katherine M. Shenar (She/Her), CAWA Around six years ago I went to dinner with a friend who I hadn’t seen in months.
An article in the Winter 2021 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review—“Business Disruption from the Inside Out: A playbook for Employee Activists and advice for leaders”—is causing a stir with our colleagues in the field. Shelly Thompson from Maddie’s Fund originally shared this article with me, and I immediately recognized this as an extremely timely issue for many leaders in the animal welfare sector.
Don’t worry, this one’s easy and fun! If you’re a conference attendee, exhibitor, sponsor, or speaker, Katherine M. Shenar, MA, CAWA, Executive Vice President, is urging you to grab your digital badge and let everyone know where you’ll be these next few days.
An open letter to white leadership in animal welfare As national uprising against racial inequity continues, employers across the United States are urgently looking to find ways to create cultures of inclusion. Oftentimes this begins with the implementation of a task force or working committee dedicated to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).
Your organization likely has a mission statement, vision statement and core values. And as a leader (or aspiring leader), you may have been involved in their creation, revision and/or implementation.
This three-part blog is the result of a conversation between The Association’s Katherine Shenar, Ed Jamison of Dallas Animal Services, and PetHealth’s Steve Zeidman. Each offers a unique view on a complex topic that’s more relevant than ever—adoption policies, and how they can reflect biases against underserved and marginalized communities.
“To see what is right and not to do it is want of courage.” – Confucius Collaboration is a choice in my opinion.
With communities rallying to help their local organizations, animal shelters are expanding their impact far beyond brick-and-mortar. The Association’s Katherine Shenar and HSUS’ Kim Alboum ponder what this might mean for disaster response.
“Our new normal should be collaboration and sharing of expertise.” Wise words from the one and only Katherine Shenar, who shares an incredible story of what can happen when you forget to mute yourself in a Zoom call with leadership from animal welfare organizations all across the country.
