Our call for speakers for 2025 is closed. 

The Association Conference Committee strives to deliver high quality education that meets animal welfare professionals' needs. Our conference audience is made up of leaders at animal shelters and government animal services agencies, including CEOs, directors, supervisors, and people who plan to be in leadership roles.

Tracks for our conference in 2026 are listed below and are subject to change.

• Fundraising (intermediate and advanced level fundraising topics, including event planning)
• Communications & Marketing (ex. crisis communications, internal & external interpersonnel skills, conflict management, accessible digital campaigns, inclusive marketing, innovative promotions on multimedia)
• Strategic Workforces/Human Resources (ex. recruitment and employee retention, culture shifts, engagement through professional development, supporting mental health, compensation & benefits)
• Strategic & Collaborative Leadership (ex. strategic planning, board development for CEOs, project management, creating public-private partnerships, DEI programming, building leadership and mentoring skills)

Who Should Submit a Proposal:

• Experts on a current 201+ level leadership or management topic fitting into one of the above track topics
• Animal welfare professionals with experience implementing leadership and management initiatives whose expertise fits into one of the above track topics

Speaker Expertise: We welcome speakers who have consulted with or work directly with animal shelters/animal care & control agencies who could jointly co-present a case study of their collaborations/projects. 

Please do NOT submit proposals for:

• Keynote or inspirational speeches
• 101-level topics for a general audience
• Animal welfare operations topics

Submit Workshop Proposal

Submission Deadlines for The Annual Conference 2026

2026: Chattanooga, TN, October 26-29: January 12, 2026

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