July 17, 2015 by Barbara Brown, Francis Battista and Arlyn Bradshaw

Audience: Executive Leadership

Video Length: 84 minutes

Creating change through coalition-based action can be challenging but it’s an effective way to move forward. Come learn how to leverage allied and rival organizations toward a common goal. Barbara Brown of Pima Alliance for Animal Welfare will discuss her organization’s launch and work. Francis Battista and Arlyn Bradshaw of Best Friends will share the steps that went into creating the NKLA and NKUT coalitions, dedicated to achieving no-kill in Los Angeles and Utah, respectively. Come learn the strategies that bring disparate people and organizations together and keep them together. You can accomplish great things with the strength of active, united coalitions. This is a presentation from the 2015 Best Friends National Conference.

About Barbara Brown

After graduating from Humboldt State University, Barbara Brown was drawn to nonprofit work. She was the first children’s librarian at the Aldrich Public Library in Vermont, program and development director for the Vermont Girl Scout Council, and executive director of Girl Inc. in Carpinteria, California, where she raised $2.4 million to build a new facility. Barbara was a program officer at the Santa Barbara Foundation in California and subsequently the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona in Tucson. After a five-year stint as the development director at Habitat for Humanity Tucson, she returned to the foundation in 2013, where she currently manages FosterEd, scholarship/awards programs and the competitive grant rounds. She also serves as chair of the Pima Alliance for Animal Welfare. She shares her home with her husband, six dogs, two cats and several tortoises. Currently enrolled in the master’s program in library science at the University of Arizona, she will graduate in December 2015.

About Francis Battista

Francis Battista is one of the founders of Best Friends Animal Society. He has served as director of animal care, outreach programs and Los Angeles programs. Francis managed the Best Friends rescue shelter in Tylertown, Mississippi, for four months following Hurricane Katrina and was involved in the negotiations with federal agencies and courts that brought 22 of Michael Vick’s dogs to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. In 2011, Francis was instrumental in launching No-Kill Los Angeles (NKLA), a Best Friends initiative to take the city of Los Angeles to no-kill. He currently serves on the board of directors of Best Friends, advises its Community Programs and Services division and works with the Development division.

About Arlyn Bradshaw

Arlyn Bradshaw serves as the executive director of Best Friends Animal Society–Utah, overseeing the lifesaving programs that are turning Utah into a no-kill state. Together with the No-Kill Utah (NKUT) initiative and its coalition of more than 50 animal welfare organizations, Best Friends–Utah runs its own pet adoption center, kitten nursery, and two spay/neuter clinics. In addition to Arlyn’s work with Best Friends, he is also an elected member of the Salt Lake County Council. Among his top priorities as an elected official is ensuring that Salt Lake County Animal Services — the largest animal services agency in the state — maintains its status as a no-kill shelter. Arlyn graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in Public Administration. Prior to Best Friends, he worked at the University of Utah as the assistant dean of students. Originally from rural Idaho, Arlyn has been active in Utah politics and the University of Utah community for more than a decade. He lives in Salt Lake City with his partner, Neil Webster. They have three rescue pit bulls, Bella, Atticus and Sweet Pea, and a dachshund named Fritz.