Shafonda Davis Allen, CAWA, is a nationally sought-after animal welfare leader, governance strategist, and equity-driven leadership developer with more than twenty-seven years of experience strengthening boards, building leadership pipelines, and advancing inclusive organizational cultures. She is the Founder and Principal Consultant of Back to Basics Animal Welfare Leadership Consulting, a former member of The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement's Board of Directors, and current DEI Ambassador and DEI Council member for the Association. She also serves as an educational consultant and former board member with CARE (Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity), where she mentors traditionally marginalized and underrepresented leaders. Shafonda previously served as Executive Director of the Animal Protection Society of Durham and is featured in Humane Perspectives: Leadership in Animal Welfare as one of the field's trusted voices. Across her career, she has championed board diversity as a strategic imperative, helping organizations recruit and retain representative leaders and build governance structures that reflect the communities they serve.

Johnny is an animal welfare consultant who has managed multi-million-dollar grant portfolios to advance racial and economic justice, LGBT equality, and animal welfare. His skills have been used to advance the missions of reputable private foundations such as the Arcus Foundation, and PetSmart Charities. He has provided leadership to multiple racial equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives in animal welfare, including PetSmart Charities’ Racial Equity Advisory Committee, The Association's DEI Committee, and the HASS Project DEI Advisory Committee.

Shannon Martin-Roebuck is chair of The Association’s DEI Survey Committee. She was previously the Executive Director of Capital Humane Society in Lincoln, NE. Before that, Shannon served as Research Faculty at Colorado School of Mines, focusing on DEI and college access. She was also Director of Operations for Higher Education Resource Services, a nonprofit dedicated to creating and sustaining a diverse network of women leaders in higher education at the University of Denver. 

Wade Sadler is the Director of Multnomah County Animal Services, which serves the Portland, Oregon metro area.  Wade has over 20 years of management experience and entered the animal welfare industry 5 years ago.  He's passionate about providing equitable services and access in his agency and as an ally of BIPOC communities, he is committed to leveraging his privilege as a white man to combat social injustice.