March 2019 by Tawny Hammond, Jose Ocano, Mike Kaviani and Paula Powell

Audience: Executive Leadership, Shelter/Rescue Staff & Volunteers

Video Length: 74 minutes

Conquer Fear and Doubt: Managing Your Team Through Change and Controversy - panel

In this session you will learn how to be a motivating people manager and help your team reach their goals - even through change and controversy. This presentation was recorded by Maddie's Fund® at the 2019 American Pets Alive! Conference.

About Tawny Hammond

Tawny has more than 30 years of experience in the public service arena, creating and implementing programs and services for people and their pets, working effectively with appointed and elected officials, creating and leading teams focused on professional excellence and lifesaving best practices. Tawny currently leads Best Friends' leadership advancement initiatives with a focus on strengthening existing leader's skill sets for the goal of ending the killing of shelter pets in their communities. She hopes to add an additional focus to the program which will consist of developing programs to assist seasoned leadership from other fields and disciplines interested in making the transition into animal welfare and services leadership. Tawny has a proven track record of success, serving for more than 25 years in municipal government in Fairfax County, Virginia. Tawny is also the former chief of animal services for the city of Austin, Texas. Under Tawny's leadership, Austin and Travis County, Texas, reached a new milestone in 2017, achieving live outcomes for 98 percent of the more than 17,000 animals who came through the doors.


About Mike Kaviani

Mike Kaviani began working with shelter animals at the Irvine Animal Care Center in California when he was 18. His "3rd Chance for Pets Program" received national recognition when IACC was given the 2007 Shelter of the Year award primarily due to this program. In 2010, Mike became the Director of Training and Behavior at the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation. At SASF, he worked under the guidance of Aimee Sadler, and together their work resulted in the shelter consistently reaching one of the highest save rates in the country. In the Spring of 2012, Mike joined forces with Dr. Ellen Jefferson and became the Dog Behavior Program Manager for Austin Pets Alive!. APA! had already achieved a 90 percent save rate for the entire city of Austin, and Mike's focus was to save the last 10 percent, which primarily comprises large dogs with behavior issues. The city's current canine save rate now holds steady at 98 percent. Mike moved up to Director of Lifesaving Operations at Austin Pets Alive! (APA) and led the organization's shelter staff, working alongside hundreds of volunteers, in planning and carrying out all of APA!'s programs for cats and dogs. Mike is now the director of OC (Orange County) Animal Care.


About Jose Ocaño

Jose Ocaño started as a shelter technician at Pima Animal Care Center (PACC). During his tenure, Jose and his team focused on shifting the internal culture and implementing progressive adoption, rescue, community cat, and volunteer programs to increase live release outcomes and decrease intake, which has declined to 17,000 pets annually. This success led to Jose becoming the executive director of PACC which led to even more progressive and innovative changes. In 2017, Jose joined Best Friends Animal Society as the new Pacific regional director. In this role, he works with animal welfare groups in California, Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, and Alaska to support them in implementing life-saving strategies, policies, and programs to achieve no-kill in their communities. Jose also leads the No Kill Los Angeles initiative, which focuses on bringing together passionate individuals, city shelters, and an entire coalition of animal welfare organizations to end the killing of homeless pets in L.A. city shelters.


About Paula Powell

Prior to leading Animal Services, Paula spent 24 years serving the City of El Paso in various operational positions. Before that, Paula served as a 1st Lt in the US Army and was stationed at Fort Bliss. She began her college education at the United States Military Academy and culminated it with her master's in public administration at the University of Texas at El Paso. She received her certification in Shelter Management in 2018 and continues to look for new ways to learn and grow in order to save more of the lives that need us most