This roundtable discussion explores the realities of helping animal welfare organizations make progress toward their equity and inclusion goals, despite roadblocks and resistance.

This interactive session will highlight how attempts to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion, including the recent executive orders, can affect animal welfare professionals.

Participants will examine the mental roadblocks that hinder progress and explore the tools needed to champion organizational transformation.

Leaders from the DEI Committee of The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement will share results from the second animal welfare sector survey conducted regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion in our profession.

Hear different perspectives on what to consider to keep professionals from diverse backgrounds engaged and committed to their teams and organizations.

Learn how panelists across different animal welfare sectors manage wellness and boundaries when staff and morale are constantly shifting. This roundtable is ideal for staff interested in adding coping strategies to their wellness toolkit.

Explore strategies for building an endurance mindset to DEI and try out tools to develop the stamina to continue progressing—even when you feel like you’ve hit the wall.

Join us for a discussion with industry leaders about recruiting and onboarding talent through a lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

We will explore some of the nuances between safe spaces and brave spaces, and identify skills and actions for leaders to create thriving environments that are both safe and brave.

We define microaggressions, share examples of how they show up in the workplace, and discuss a framework for leaders to use when they deliver a microaggression to their colleague.

This session will explore bystander and upstander behaviors and help leaders identify strategies to reduce harmful behaviors when they occur.

Explore the nature of bias, learn about different types that influence the work environment, and identify strategies to address bias effectively in the workplace.

Explore the key elements of psychological safety in teams and equip yourself with tips and techniques for fostering psychological safety in your organization.

Learn how to recognize common microaggressions, understand the impact of such actions, and develop techniques to respond effectively when they occur.

We will explore 3 practices to broaden and diversify our social networks to make better decisions for our organizations.