Top Dog Podcast with Carrie Ridgway | Why Modern Shelters Must Become Community Resource Centers

What happens when an animal shelter stops thinking like a shelter and starts becoming a community resource?

In this episode of Top Dog Podcast, we sit down with Carrie Ridgway, Executive Director of the Mary S. Roberts Pet Adoption Center in Riverside, California. After joining the organization in 2008 to help with a capital campaign, Carrie worked her way through the organization before becoming Executive Director in 2015.

Today, she leads an organization that has grown from five employees into a comprehensive animal welfare resource center with a high-volume spay/neuter clinic, thrift store, adoption programs, and community services.

In this conversation, we discuss:

✔ Transforming a traditional shelter into a community resource center ✔ Leading with compassion while making difficult decisions ✔ Why shelters need to find reasons to say yes ✔ Building stronger relationships with surrendering pet owners ✔ Keeping teams engaged in a high-stress, compassion-filled industry ✔ The importance of staying open-minded and embracing change ✔ Learning from failure and having the courage to try new things ✔ Why animal welfare leaders must care about both people and animals

Carrie shares a powerful perspective on leadership, reminding us that being a great leader isn't about having everything figured out. It's about staying flexible, giving yourself grace, and continuing to become better.

Learn more about tools supporting animal welfare organizations: https://doobert.com/

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