What is the secret ingredient for high performing teams? 

Research over the last few decades clearly indicates that teams with high levels of "psychological safety" consistently and dramatically outperform those that do not. Psychological safety refers to freedom from fear of being ridiculed or punished for speaking up about one's ideas, opinions, questions or mistakes. When individuals feel fully included and are able to speak honestly and without fear of social risk, teams are more innovative, make fewer errors, are more capable of complex problem solving, and are willing to give discretionary effort for the good of the group. This session will explore the key elements of psychological safety in teams. You will be equipped with tips and techniques for fostering psychological safety in your organization.

Presenter: Maria Morukian, Founder and President, MSM Global Consulting

This webinar has been pre-approved for:

• 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit
• 1 NACA CE
• 1 CE towards ACO CE requirements per Ch. 829 of the Texas Health and Safety Code by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)

Part of The DEI Dozen package.

This series offers yearlong learning that will support you in your journey as a leader and changemaker. All of these webinars are for anyone in animal welfare who is invested in changing their organization, regardless of their title.

Webinars will:

• Focus on everyday inclusive leadership skills and actions.
• Explore techniques to address specific DEI challenges and to practice allyship.

All of the webinars have been pre-approved for:

• 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit
• 1 NACA CE
• 1 CE towards ACO CE requirements per Ch. 829 of the Texas Health and Safety Code by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)

Webinars planned for 2023:

• 1-18 Breaking Down "Us vs. Them" Thinking to Build Stronger Connections
• 2-01 Responding to Subtle Acts of Exclusion and Microaggressions  
• 2-15 Building Psychological Safety for High Performing Teams
• Allyship in Action: Daily Practices to Support the Needs of Minoritized Groups
• The Power of Inquiry: Asking Better Questions to Make Better Decisions
• Recognizing and Navigating Bias
• Listening Skills for Leaders
• Be an Upstander, not a Bystander: Techniques to Interrupt Harmful Behaviors 
• Giving Effective Feedback 
• Aligning Intent with Impact: How to Respond When You Are Called Out For a Microaggression
• How to Receive Feedback as a Leader
• Creating Brave Spaces to Foster Inclusion

Have you ever heard the phrase, "death by a thousand paper cuts?" It's not only blatant acts of bias that exclude or discriminate against people from minoritized populations. It's often the more subtle acts of exclusion, also known as microinequities or microaggressions, that are equally if not more harmful. These behaviors  on the surface may seem insignificant, for example: 

• frequently interrupting the same people during conversations
• consistently forgetting or mispronouncing a person's name
• using coded or stereotypical language
• overlooking someone's work but praising another's 

Regardless of the intentions of the message sender, the impact of such actions are often deeply felt by the receiver, especially if they have been on the receiving end of exclusionary treatment many times before. This session will help you recognize some common microaggressions, understand the impact of such actions, and develop techniques to respond effectively when they occur.

Presenter: Jasmin Robinson, Director of DEI Initiatives, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement

This webinar has been pre-approved for:

• 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit
• 1 NACA CE
• 1 CE towards ACO CE requirements per Ch. 829 of the Texas Health and Safety Code by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)

Part of The DEI Dozen package.

The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement is committed to action on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in animal welfare and we want you with us on this journey. As part of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Commitment to Action, The Association will continue offering resources and learning opportunities designed to further the eradication of systemic discrimination and racism in animal welfare.

We thank The Life of Riley at Spring Point for their support of The Association's DEI initiatives.

The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Training Package includes free recordings of webinars, roundtables, and conference presentations. Click on the Training tab above to see what's currently included in the training package.  Learn our 2023 webinar series:

Statement and Definitions for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion

A Letter to our Members & Colleagues from The Association's President & CEO, Jim Tedford

FAQs from The Association's DEI Advisory Committee 2-2021

Click on the Blogs tab above to read our blogs about DEI issues: bookmark this page

Click on the DEI Survey Analysis Report tab to review the report on the profession's first DEI survey.

Click on the Podcasts tab above to listen to / watch our podcasts on diversity topics.

Check out The Association’s DEI Pride Store, where your purchase of tees and hoodies helps to support our Conference Scholarship Fund.

Call for Nominations for the DEI Committee

The Association is looking for individuals to nominate themselves or a colleague to lead the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion journey for animal welfare

Our Commitment to DEI

Since 2019, the Association has been on a journey to lead and support DEI efforts across the animal welfare profession. To achieve an equitable profession, diversity must be respected and embraced. The road to a just and fair animal welfare field is an ongoing process that requires sustained effort and continuous learning.
The Association launched its first ever DEI Committee with a group of diverse leaders across animal welfare to assess the current animal welfare landscape, develop a DEI strategy for The Association, and serve as a collective voice calling for action to foster DEI for animal welfare professionals, as well as the communities we can and should serve.

In doing this work we acknowledge animal welfare has historically and predominantly been created and carried out by white people. We commit to lead intentionally by naming and calling out racism in the structures, systems, and culture of animal welfare. Successful DEI work in animal welfare requires internal organizational development, as well as external-facing strategies that impact society at-large. Both shifts are important, and one cannot occur genuinely and effectively without the other.

Call for Nominations 

Over the last two years, the DEI Committee has been instrumental in establishing a foundation for this work. Now we are looking for animal welfare professionals to help take this work to the next level. We’re seeking folks from across the profession who are able and willing to commit their time and energy to help implement the Association’s DEI strategic plan and to serve as advocates for DEI in their animal welfare organizations and with the profession as a whole.

Nomination Considerations

If you are interested in volunteering yourself (self-nomination) or nominating someone to the DEI Committee, consider the following.  DEI Committee members:

• Show commitment and personal or professional activity to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Are invested in assisting The Association and its membership in pursuing the objective of achieving a just and fair animal welfare field.
• Are able to dedicate a minimum of 5 hours per month to DEI Committee activities, including monthly Committee meetings, DEI goal subcommittee meetings and activities, and personal learning/skill building.

Requirements

• The committee is for members or those who wish to become members. Financial assistance for membership dues is available. It is our priority to ensure that all those committed to this work have the opportunity to join the DEI committee.
• There are no requirements in terms of job function, tenure, or role in an organization.
• Nominations can be submitted here.Our consulting partner, MSM Global Consulting, will consolidate the nominations from this survey link and reach out to potential candidates.

Timeline

• Nominations Open – Jan 25
• Nominations Close – Feb 24
• Applications due – March 24
• New members announced – May 5
• First DEI meeting with new members – May 31

SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATION

READ WHAT COMMITTEE MEMBERS SAY

Meet Our DEI Committee
• Amanda Arrington, HSUS, Sr. Director, Pets for Life
• Jennifer Brehler, CAWA, Humane Society of Sedona, Executive Director
• Allison Cardona, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, Koret Shelter Medicine Program, CA State Director
• Shafonda Davis, CAWA, Animal Protection Society of Durham, Executive Director
• Sterling Davis, TrapKing, Founder
• Mamadou Diakhate, City of Chicago Animal Care and Control, Executive Director
• Gloria Dorsey, DVM, MPH, Atlanta Humane Society, Vice President of Community Education & Advocacy
• Tracy Elliott, The Anti-Cruelty Society, President and CEO
• Rachel Finney, CAWA, Columbus Humane, CEO
• Jace Huggins, Front Street Animal Shelter - City of Sacramento, Chief Animal Control Officer
• Johnny Jenkins, Jyoba-Project, Founder
• Joel Lopez, The ASPCA, Vice President of the ASPCA Adoption Center & Kitten Nursery
• Kate Meghji, Humane Society of Vero Beach, Executive Director
• Maria Morukian, MSM Global Consulting, Consultant
• Dr. Sandra Newbury, University of Wisconsin, Program Director
• Michael Robbins, Atlanta Humane Society, Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
• Wade Sadler, Multnomah County Animal Services, Executive Director
• Jose Sandoval, Latino Alliance for Animal Care Foundation, Founder
• Brad Shear, CAWA, Board Chair, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement
• Katherine Shenar, CAWA, Executive Vice President, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement
• Jim Tedford, CAWA, CEO & President
• Dr. Jena Valdez, San Francisco SPCA, Director of Community Medicine
• Aurora Velazquez, CAWA, Cuddly, Director of Pet Pantry
• Ana Zorrilla, CAWA, Louisiana SPCA, CEO

This past June, The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee launched an historic, first-of-its-kind survey in order to understand the state of DEI in animal welfare. More than 2,600 individuals in the animal welfare sector completed the survey and as promised, we are sharing the results with you in this just-published report:

Download The Association's DEI Survey analysis report.

To learn more about the survey results and how to apply them in your organization, watch the recording of this session from our 2021 our virtual conference Looking Forward: The Future of Animal Welfare: 

Assessing the State of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in Animal Welfare: Where Do We Go from Here?

US Dept. of Housing and Urban Development Rent Relief resources and Housing Equality & Advocacy Resource Team (HEART) LA

Project Implicit: Social Attitudes - Find out your implicit associations about race, gender, and sexual orientation.

Eviction Response Toolkit - Housing insecurity, although not new, has been exacerbated by the pandemic. The economic hardship faced by so many people will severely impact families and evictions are a present and looming obstacle in the national crisis. 

Extraordinary Outcomes Toolkit - Animal shelters across the nation are once again dealing with an overwhelming number of homeless pets in their care. The content in these success stories addresses shelter and service capacity challenges head-on.

The Groundwater Approach: building  a practical understanding of structural racism (Racial Equity Institute)

The Asian American Racial Justice Toolkit

Marquis Miller's Reading List (Chief Diversity Officer, City of Chicago, Office of the Mayor) - bonus resource from his Spring Conference 2022 session

Juneteenth Resources

From History.com: Slavery in America 
The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth 

Creating Safe LGBTQ+ Workplaces  

Do you know if your LGBTQ+ staff feel safe at work? Creating a safe, inclusive environment in your workplace increases employee performance and satisfaction. Please help your LGBTQ+ staff feel seen and celebrated every month with these resources:  

SHRM: LGBTQ+ Inclusion resources and tools (for SHRM members)
Library of Congress: About Pride Month
Human Rights Campaign: Resources for improving and promoting fairness in the workplace

The Association's Blogs Related to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Topics:

• Tip of the Week: Get it in Writing
• Research: What’s the Impact of Community Veterinary Medicine Programs?
• Tip of the Week: What’s Your Fairness Factor?
• 2 Resources to Help You Advocate for Flex-Time & Remote Training Tools
• Tip of the Week: Which Communities Most Need Resources? There’s a Map for That
• 3 Aha! Moments with Dr. Michael Blackwell
• DEI Update: 75+ Orgs Have Taken the Pledge. Will You Join Them?
  
• East Bay SPCA’s 4 Easy Ways to Start an Integrated Care Program
• New Resources for Fighting Breed Discrimination in the Homeowners Insurance Industry
• Hurting Someone You Love: My Ignorance Cut Deep When A Friend Told Me They Are Transgender
• 3 Ways to Help Elevate BIPOC Voices
• Are You Expecting Your BIPOC Employees To Educate You?
• If Your Adoption Policies Put Up Barriers, You’re Part Of The Problem
• DEI Roundtable: 4 Top Takeaways
• DEI: 4 Quick Tips to Get Your Org Started
• 5 Tips & Tools for Interacting with Increasingly Diverse Communities
• Workplace Culture Agreements: 4 Quick Q&As

Other Blogs of Interest

• Organizational Change in Memory of the Transgender Family We Lost
• The Good Work of Rescue

Podcasts:

• What You Should Know If You Rent With A Pet
• Will your pet have access to veterinary care in 10 years?
• Are You Making Space for BIPOC Voices?
  

Does your organization make staff development a Number 1 priority?  Three leaders will discuss why professional development is a vital part of their organizational culture and strategy. They will talk about:

• How a well-structured development program helps recruit and retain staff
• How to get both staff and board buy-in on making training a priority, if not an imperative
• How to create a program that develops skills needed at their organization now and in the future

Join this roundtable to learn why and how your organization should develop your staff’s skills and put them on a trajectory for success.

Moderated by Katherine Shenar, CAWA, Executive Vice & President, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement

The Roundtable Panel:

• Steven Hansen, DVM, CAWA, President & CEO, Arizona Humane Society
• Cristie Kamiya, DVM, CAWA, Chief of Shelter Medicine, Humane Society Silicon Valley
• Jerrica Owen, CAWA, Executive Director, National Animal Care & Control Association (NACA)

This roundtable has been pre-approved for 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit.

Whether we realize it or not, the polarization and uncertainty happening in society impacts every aspect of our lives, including the workplace. When we feel that a core part of our values or our identity is threatened, our instinct is often to contract, to seek what feels comfortable, predictable, and safe. Yet it is precisely in these times when we need to expand, to venture beyond the assumed safety of our comfort zones and echo chambers. We will explore 3 practices for expansion and how to broaden and diversify our social networks to make better decisions for our organizations.

Presenters: Maria Morukian, MSM Global Consulting & Jasmin Robinson, The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement

This webinar has been pre-approved for:

• 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit
• 1 NACA CE
• 1 CE towards ACO CE requirements per Ch. 829 of the Texas Health and Safety Code by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS)

Part of The DEI Dozen package.

Our partner, MindEdge, offers this 12-hour course which has been pre-approved for CAWA CEs. 

Change Management Professional is intended to prepare learners to be change management practitioners in the real world. The course includes the Change Management Toolkit, an Excel spreadsheet loaded with helpful resources to guide learners through the process of Change Management.

*** For full details and to register, see The Association's MindEdge Catalog here. MindEdge courses are available to all of your staff and volunteers, so share this link to all!

Also see the 4-hour course Change Management Foundations which has been pre-approved for CAWA CEs.

Change Management is a framework to methodically implement organizational change and prepare stakeholders for such change. Change Management Foundations introduces learners to this framework so that they can better understand and take part in changes within their own organizations.

Our partner, MindEdge, offers this 24-hour certificate, made of 10 courses. These courses have been pre-approved for CAWA CEs, SHRM PDCs, and HRCIs. 

Frontline managers sit at the very first level of management across a company's business operations and functions, and are utilized in just about every industry and market. They make up 60% of a company's management ranks, and directly supervise as much as 80% of the workforce. They are the representation of a brand - interacting with customers, speaking to vendors, negotiating contracts, and managing employees. They are, in essence, a company's strategy in motion and the key to its success. The Frontline Manager™ certificate and courses were developed to offer vital training in core managerial skills to first-level managers. With a focus on topics such as supervision, coaching, leadership styles, navigating organizational culture, and time management, the courses are designed to help frontline managers develop into true leaders within an organization. The certificate consists of 9 courses and a simulation that are online and self-paced, offering flexibility in the delivery and timeframe. No prerequisites are required to begin the courses. A course will be considered complete when the participant has done all assignments, exercises, review checkpoints, and has received at least a 70% on the course final exam. Students will have 12 months to complete all the courses in the certificate.

*** For full details and to register, see The Association's MindEdge Catalog here. MindEdge courses are available to all of your staff and volunteers, so share this link to all!

The 10 courses in this certificate:

Frontline Manager™: Introduction to Supervision

Frontline Manager™: Coaching

Frontline Manager™: Progressive Discipline

Frontline Manager™: Time Management

Frontline Manager™: Work-Life Balance

Frontline Manager™: Better Communication

Frontline Manager™: Leadership Styles

Frontline Manager™: Teams and Groups

Frontline Manager™ Simulation: Leading a Team at Dragonfly

Frontline Manager™: Navigating Your Organizational Culture

You may enroll in individual courses or try the whole certificate.

The Strength in Numbers Series presented by Shelter Animals Count will increase your capacity to use your organization's data efficiently and effectively.

All three sessions will be presented by Stephanie Filer, Executive Director of Shelter Animals Count.

Register for all three webinars or register for individual sessions:

- 10/12/22 Quality Time: Standards for Entering & Using Data

- 11/02/22 Decisions, Decisions: Using Data to Evaluate Programs & Identify Opportunities

- 12/07 What's the Story with your Data?

These live and recorded programs are each approved for 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit and NACA CE.

Blogs about the series:

• Tip of the Week: Leveling Up
• Apples, FUCs, & Percentage Change

Looking to create media interest, debunk myths, shout about your successes, and get more funding? Let data do it for you. Learn how to:

• Tell your story effectively using data through visualization development
• Simplify the message for reporters and various stakeholders
• Use individual stories about pets and their people to illustrate the faces behind the numbers

Presented by Stephanie Filer and Samantha Hill of Shelter Animals Count

This live and recorded program is approved for 1 Certified Animal Welfare Administrator continuing education credit and 1 NACA CE.

This session is the third in a 2022 Strength in Numbers Series – presented by Shelter Animals Count. Register for the other sessions:

10/12/22 Quality Time: Standards for Entering & Using Data

11/02/22 Decisions, Decisions: Using Data to Evaluate Programs & Identify Opportunities

Blogs about the series:

• Tip of the Week: Leveling Up
• Apples, FUCs, & Percentage Change
  
• Tip of the Week: What's Your Type?

Technical Issues During a Live Webinar?