November 18, 2024 • 30 mins
Robin Ganzert, Ph.D., serves as president and CEO of
American Humane, the country’s first national humane
organization and the first to serve animals, whenever and
wherever they are in need of rescue, shelter or protection.
She is the executive producer of the acclaimed documentary,
Escape from Extinction, narrated by Dame Helen Mirren, and
its follow-up, Escape from Extinction Rewilding, which
features narration by Oscar winner Meryl Streep. She is also
the executive producer of the annual American Humane
Hero Dog Awards which aired for ten years on Hallmark
Channel and most recently aired on A&E and fyi networks.
Additionally, she is the author of The Humane Table: Cooking with Compassion, Mission
Metamorphosis and Animal Stars. Her next book, Escape from Extinction, is set to come out in
2025. Dr. Ganzert serves on the board of Loro Parque Foundation, the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation
and is a member of The Explorers Club, the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce Trustee Program,
and the International Women’s Forum. She has been awarded the prestigious Gorilla Prize by
world-renowned zoological organization Loro Parque for her efforts in conservation.
Dr. Ganzert is frequently highlighted in prominent national news and media platforms as an
authoritative advocate for animals. In the recent season, she made appearances on shows like
Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Fox News Saturday Night, and America’s Newsroom,
among others. During her tenure at American Humane, she has been a guest on broadcast outlets
such as the TODAY Show, MSNBC, World News Tonight, CNN, and Fox Business News, to name a
few. Additionally, her insights have been featured in major newspapers, including The Washington
Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles
Times, and the Boston Globe.
Under her leadership, American Humane continues to earn recognition for its commitment to
transparency, accountability, efficiency, and financial responsibility. Thanks to this dedication,
American Humane is a top-rated charity having earned, for six years, Charity Navigator’s “Four-
Star” rating; the “Seal of Excellence” from Independent Charities of America – awarded to fewer
than three percent of charities nationwide; an “A” rating from Great Nonprofits; and is one of the
few charities that meet all of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance 20 Standards for
charity accountability.
Since her appointment in 2010, Dr. Ganzert has spearheaded unprecedented growth and
transformational change at the historic 145-year-old nonprofit, which has reemerged as the most
effective humane organization, directly impacting the lives of more animals around the world than
any other organization through innovative, life-changing and life-saving programs that set the gold
standard in animal welfare and protection. Dr. Ganzert has dramatically expanded the scope and
scale of the organization’s programs globally with a presence in 40 countries making American
Humane the largest certifier of animal welfare in the world. In addition to this growth she has
provided oversight for iconic humane programs such as No Animals Were Harmed®, protecting
animals in film and entertainment; and, American Humane Certified®, helping to ensure humane
treatment of animals in agriculture. She launched a first-of-its-kind humane certification in global
conservation for animals in zoos and aquariums and an innovative humane certification effort for
the airline industry to help improve the safety and protection of companion animals in
transportation. Most recently, Dr. Ganzert launched a new Humane Certified Pet Provider
program focused on assessing the condition, well-being and welfare of small mammals, birds,
reptiles, amphib
American Humane, the country’s first national humane
organization and the first to serve animals, whenever and
wherever they are in need of rescue, shelter or protection.
She is the executive producer of the acclaimed documentary,
Escape from Extinction, narrated by Dame Helen Mirren, and
its follow-up, Escape from Extinction Rewilding, which
features narration by Oscar winner Meryl Streep. She is also
the executive producer of the annual American Humane
Hero Dog Awards which aired for ten years on Hallmark
Channel and most recently aired on A&E and fyi networks.
Additionally, she is the author of The Humane Table: Cooking with Compassion, Mission
Metamorphosis and Animal Stars. Her next book, Escape from Extinction, is set to come out in
2025. Dr. Ganzert serves on the board of Loro Parque Foundation, the Lois Pope LIFE Foundation
and is a member of The Explorers Club, the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce Trustee Program,
and the International Women’s Forum. She has been awarded the prestigious Gorilla Prize by
world-renowned zoological organization Loro Parque for her efforts in conservation.
Dr. Ganzert is frequently highlighted in prominent national news and media platforms as an
authoritative advocate for animals. In the recent season, she made appearances on shows like
Good Morning America, Fox & Friends, Fox News Saturday Night, and America’s Newsroom,
among others. During her tenure at American Humane, she has been a guest on broadcast outlets
such as the TODAY Show, MSNBC, World News Tonight, CNN, and Fox Business News, to name a
few. Additionally, her insights have been featured in major newspapers, including The Washington
Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles
Times, and the Boston Globe.
Under her leadership, American Humane continues to earn recognition for its commitment to
transparency, accountability, efficiency, and financial responsibility. Thanks to this dedication,
American Humane is a top-rated charity having earned, for six years, Charity Navigator’s “Four-
Star” rating; the “Seal of Excellence” from Independent Charities of America – awarded to fewer
than three percent of charities nationwide; an “A” rating from Great Nonprofits; and is one of the
few charities that meet all of the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance 20 Standards for
charity accountability.
Since her appointment in 2010, Dr. Ganzert has spearheaded unprecedented growth and
transformational change at the historic 145-year-old nonprofit, which has reemerged as the most
effective humane organization, directly impacting the lives of more animals around the world than
any other organization through innovative, life-changing and life-saving programs that set the gold
standard in animal welfare and protection. Dr. Ganzert has dramatically expanded the scope and
scale of the organization’s programs globally with a presence in 40 countries making American
Humane the largest certifier of animal welfare in the world. In addition to this growth she has
provided oversight for iconic humane programs such as No Animals Were Harmed®, protecting
animals in film and entertainment; and, American Humane Certified®, helping to ensure humane
treatment of animals in agriculture. She launched a first-of-its-kind humane certification in global
conservation for animals in zoos and aquariums and an innovative humane certification effort for
the airline industry to help improve the safety and protection of companion animals in
transportation. Most recently, Dr. Ganzert launched a new Humane Certified Pet Provider
program focused on assessing the condition, well-being and welfare of small mammals, birds,
reptiles, amphib
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 2 (00:00):
I grew up in the South.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you can't tell by my accent, but actually I
was born in Florida. My dad was in the Navy
at the time, so I was initially a military brat,
and then we moved around this great country, mostly focusing
on Southern states. I went to Wake Forest University.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Go Deacons.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Then I finished my master's at wake Forest, my PhD
at the University of.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
North Carolina and in Greensboro.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And so I come to you with a great deal
of Southern background, but a lot of work in the
nonprofit space, and that's why i'm here today.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, we're thrilled to talk to you, and we have
a little bit in common because I used to live
in Raleigh for eight years. So I know your schools
very well, and they're great schools, and I'm glad you
got a great education. And that's where i'd like to
start about going out of school.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Obviously, we're here to talk a lot about American humane
and there's so many cool things starting in eighteen seventy seven,
what you've done over almost fifteen years now, which is
absolutely incredible, about the programs and ways to give and
all the cool things and what you exactly do. But
coming out of school, what did you want to do?
Because you've got a really diverse background. I mean, you've
been in finance and then a nonprofit. But what do
(01:04):
you want to do coming out of school?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So when I graduated from Wake Forest, I knew. I
knew that I wanted to be a university treasurer.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Really, yes, that's very specific. I know it was very specific.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I said, I'm going to get my PhD, I'm going
to finish my MBA, I'm going to have lots of certifications.
In fact, I have a lot of financial and accounting
certifications for a career as a university treasurer. And my
mother said, stop getting so many certifications. You have more
certifications than you do children. So I think you've proven
a point. I said, thank you, Mom. I guess I did.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And so when I.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Finished up my PhD, I was still working full time
at Wake Forest University. I loved my time at that
gorgeous campus, both as a student and then as a
as a staff member assistant dean for Finance and administration
with the NBA School and all. And I had an opportunity.
You know, those opportunities come and knocking.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Sometimes sometimes out of nowhere, out of.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Nowhere, and it was Walkovia Bank, and they said to me, Robin,
we're creating a new think tank and philanthropy and we
know that you have the financial skills that will align
you nicely with our wealth management division, but we would
like for someone to specialize in the nonprofit space, and
we believe you have those skills. So I became the
(02:20):
first ever director of the Center for plan Giving in
the Center for Philanthropy at Walkovia. And but before I
turned around, I was fortunate to have over five thousand
nonprofit clients in our team's book of business that I
ran and went around the country met with all these
incredible charities, and I knew then that this was my
(02:40):
heart and my life was that I was going to
work in the philanthropic sector, and that I wanted my
life to be devoted not just to serving as a
university treasure, which is noble and indeed very import us,
but to be more engaged in meaningful social impact. And
that was learned through my first career step at Walcovia Bank,
(03:01):
leading their Center for Planned Getting and their Philanthropic Strategies unit.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
And Robin, that takes us to twenty ten, about fifteen
years ago. Now I do want to ask you this, yes,
because we're leading into the job at American Humane. Now
you've talked a little bit about your diverse background and
what you've done. I can certainly see why they were
interested in you joining the organization, but why did you
want to join them?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So I felt that this was an opportunity for me
to learn the philanthropic space from a key driver. You
cannot build social good in the NGO sector without financial resources,
and I had a skill set in the financial resources,
as my mother told me, more certifications than children, right,
and a PhD in nonprofit finance.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So I knew that I had.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
A talent where that was and that that could be
a very important factor in working in social impact. I
wasn't sure which side I would stay on. What I
stay on the wealth management side, serving to drive as
sets into the nonprofit sector, or would I actually go
into the nonprofit sector. And that's when again, opportunity came
(04:08):
a knocking, as we say in the South, and it
was the Pew Charitable Trust. The Pew Charitable Trust grew
from a bank. Did you know that I did? Yes,
It's fascinating story. And so when Pew came to me
and offered me a very unique position, it was a
wonderful opportunity to join one of the world's top think
(04:28):
tanks in philanthropy to drive social good. And so I
immediately took that opportunity and spent some formative years of
my career with the Pew Charitable Trust, which again was
the launching pad for me to become the CEO for
American Humane.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Right and also probably just a great training ground too
for you right for the next level.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Remarkable Rebecca Raimel was the CEO oft PEW at the time.
I learned so much from Rebecca. I learned so much
from the senior leaders at PEW, importantly how to drive
incremental change, how to evaluate effective programs. So, while I
knew the financial resources of the nonprofit sector, the program
impact and program effectiveness, the evaluation of those the key
(05:09):
performance indicators for social good, it was a question mark.
I didn't have that skill set until I had the
opportunity to experience PEW.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, I am glad you brought that up. I want
to divert just a little bit because I think there's
a good teaching lesson for our future entrepreneurs or people
who would like to lead a company. Yes, And my
daughter is now an aspiring filmmaker in New York. And
we've talked about this a lot since our high school
years about learning everything behind the scenes. If you want
to be a director or cinematographer, learn what everybody else does,
learn about blocking, lighting, audio, da da da da da
(05:38):
da da. That way, when you're in a little bit
more charge, you know what everybody's doing around you. That's
kind of what you did. You were getting all these
skill sets before becoming president and CEO of American Humaney.
And I imagine I'm not going to assume, but it
paid off.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Right, paid off. I'm still I'm still here. We have
incredible impact.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
We've taken our work, as you know, from one country
to forty five countries is very definitely incredible years. And
the number of animals we impact, again, we count them,
have put paul print, footprint, you know, you name it.
We count these incredible creatures that we serve are over
one point five billion each and every year that we
(06:15):
have touched through our programs. And I feel very fortunate
and blessed every day to be in the space.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Well you should and I know you're working very hard too,
because you're an accomplished author and podcaster and running a company.
I don't know how I have time for everything, but
I always know that CEOs and presidents have a lot
of extra energy like a rock musician, and I think
you have that. So let's talk about American Humane. Let's
do this first, because we're going to go into the
history and what you do. But what's the mission statement?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
You know what it's at American Humane. We are there
to uplift the healing power of the human animal bond.
We are the nations and I dare say the world's
biggest champion and protector of animals. So when I think
about American Humaine, I think about rescue, care and protect
animals no matter where they are, they know no geographic bounds.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
So some of our listeners are going to be new
to American Humane, even though it's been around since eighteen
seventy seven. And I want you to talk about that
in just a second, because it's truly incredibly one of
the first organizations out there that is charitable. But if
you were to give somebody maybe a thirty thousand foot view,
Robin about what you do, what.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Would you tell them we're the largest certifier of the
protection of animals around the world. American Humane serves as
global humane outside of our country, and we protect over
one point five billion animals in all areas of our lives,
from conservation, from animals on farms and ranches, from animals
and zoos and aquariums, animals and entertainment and working animals.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So wherever we.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
See an animal, American Humane has an initiative to ensure
that that animal has a humane life. How do we
determine what is to be humane? We get so emotional
about puppies and kittens, don't we But what we go
to is one of our fundamental core values is science.
So we have a group of the world's top scientists
who provide the critical success factors for each of our programs.
(08:10):
And then we added something else very important as we
talk about animals in our lives, and that's ethics. So
we have the world's top ethicist for animals also serving
at American Humane. So when I think about what we do,
we rescue, we care, protect, we serve as the globe's
largest voice for animal protection, and importantly, we define what
(08:31):
it is to be humane through science. And evidence based
practices wonderful.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
So we mentioned eighteen seventy seven a couple times, and
I imagine that you did your research on the history.
Can you tell us about the origins of it and
exactly what it was back then to what it is today.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Well, my children think I was around in eighteen seventy seven,
so of course they think I was always the CEO
of American Humane because they've been raised with this great
charity in their lives, this great nonprofit. So in eighteen
seventy seven, and our country was coming to terms with
the ravages of the Civil War, they were coming to
terms with cruelty and abuse and all of those horrific,
(09:10):
horrific changes that were going on in society. And what
a group of people started was this great organization called
the International Humane Society. I love that at the very
formation of this entity, they thought global. They were the
very first champions for farm animal protections. And you might
say why farm animals, And it was because the railroads
(09:32):
were going into place. Then think about the transportation of
herds and flocks from the East coast out west and
the unimaginable losses to those animals lives that happened because
there were no stops for water, no food, and inhumane
standards of care. So it was farmers and ranchers who
gathered forces with American Humane to create the very first
(09:54):
transportation laws for animals. And that was American Humane also
known as the International Humane Society, who created that in
the first years of our founding. Since then we were
behind the first ever child cruelty actions and laws because
child welfare was associated with animals. Animals and children had
(10:15):
no rights, and so we were the very first advocates
for children and animals in the eighteen seventies and eighties
and nineties, in the turn of the century. And every
single major advancement we take for granted today for child
protection and animal protection was actually promulgated by American Humane.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So yes, eighteen seventy seven, people say, oh, we rescue
animals today, and I say to them, did you know
the very first rescue program occurred on the battlefields of
World War One. Think about trench warfare. Think about the
movie Warhorse. The Steven Spielberg so puts on the screen
and touches our hearts and our minds and our souls.
(10:54):
That was American Humane rescuing calvary horses and mules in
World War It was the Secretary of War of our
country that called my predecessor, doctor William Stillman, and said,
doctor Stillman, we need you, We need you to go overseas.
Before US boys went overseas, it was American Humaine caring
(11:15):
for sixty one thousand war horses a month in World
War One. That was the very first idea of animal rescue.
And it was American Humaane.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
It was there and.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
How historic, incredible. Well, this is a good segue into programs.
And you've got nine that are featured on the website,
and I don't know if you want to go through
all of them very quickly, but maybe you can touch
on some of them, and not necessarily the more important
than the others, but can you go through some of
the programs.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
For us absolutely Well, we talked about rescue, and to
this very day, we're rescuing animals that were left behind
in the ravages of Hurricane Eleen and Hurricanes Milton. We're
there for fires and floods this very day with six
rescue caches stationed in high prone disaster areas. American Humaine's
there to reunite you with your furry best friend in
a time of disaster and crisis. We've been doing that
(11:59):
for well over one hundred years. We think about the
idea of animals and film and entertainment, and you already
know us. There are no Animals Were Harmed program. We're
on thousands of production days every year ensuring that animals
you see in film and entertainment are humanly treated and
that those animal stars are given the care they so deserve.
You already know us through our American Humane Certified program.
(12:22):
If you eat a cage free egg or enjoy a
butterball turkey at Thanksgiving time, those are all American Humane Certified.
That program's been around almost twenty five years and allows
us to make sure that animals aren't farms and ranches
have a humane life. It's very, very important you already
know us through our conservation program. If you enjoy some
(12:44):
of the world's top zoos and aquariums where you're introduced
to an incredible megafauna and you fall in love with
a rhino or elephant, those zoos and aquariums that have
our Good Housekeeping Silver Approval or American Humane Certified Seal
are the world's very and We're very proud of that initiative.
And of course you may know us, particularly if you're
(13:05):
a veteran. There we our Pups for Patriots Service dog program.
We founded that over seven years ago, providing wounded warriors
with those healing paws and healing leashes, and we actually
save both ends of the leash. We've placed over three
hundred healing leashes on this very day and saved both
lives and the ends.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Of the leash.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Everybody, It's
just absolutely amazing. I do want to ask you a
question about leadership, Robin, and you're such a large organization,
and I know you have staff, and then you have managers,
and then you have people that work across the globe
with you. Yes, when it comes to the vision of
the organization, but also your vision, morals, ethics, and how
you want things to go down. Because there are so
(13:47):
many people, how does the work get trickled down to
make sure that the culture is stole there, your message
is still there. Everybody's having a great time with those
work life balances, but still saying this is American humane.
We're doing all the same thing's the same mission for
everybody right across the board.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
With that many people, well, we do have a lot
of people, and most importantly, all of our people care
about those animals. So this mission is personal. This mission
is we act professionally in terms of the way we
follow our core values that we instituted fourteen years ago.
Core values of a culture that embraces kindness, compassion, personal excellence,
(14:27):
accountability to the mission. Those are entwined in everyone's individual
performance goals.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Isn't that wonderful.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, So when we.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Talk about a culture of civility, it's because we are
running the world's oldest humanitarian organization. So those values of
what is to be humane to animals are reflected in
our culture. And I believe I'm the number one culture
champion right Well, I have to be. I have to be,
and so I recognize that I have. It's what Betty
(14:55):
White told me before she passed. She said, Rob, and
I'm handing over to you heavy mantle of responsibility. I said,
oh no, Betty, I don't know about this. She said,
I'm getting old and I want to hand over to
you that heavy mantle of responsibility of animal welfare and protection.
Gave me goosebumps. It still does, and I share that
(15:16):
story to each and every colleague at American Humane. It's
our heavy mantle of responsibility to be that voice for
animals to be humane, and that starts with how we
are with each other and how we hold each other
to excellence, accountability, kindness, compassion, and most importantly love.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I love that. That's fantastic. And Betty Wade, if you
don't know, just looved animals, all animals. She was wonderful
and uh quite a treasure. So I'm glad you've got
some time with her. I think that's really special.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
She was our oldest supporter and champion. Seventy five years
of her ninety nine year life she was engaged with
American Humane.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Amazing, absolutely amazing. I do want to talk to you
about challenges. And I always tell people in this series
that when we talk to leaders and CEOs and entrepreneurs
and presidents of the series that it's always windyst at
the top. And sometimes you know, when you have your issues,
there's not a lot of people that you can relate
with and talk to you about your problems. So I'm
here for you. So, but challenges in the industry, are
(16:19):
there any presenting you and your team right now.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Well, first of all, let me tell you who I
do tell my challenges to. His name is Julius Caesar,
and he's his most perfect cat in the world.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
So I have to sell of it. Julius Caesar, here's
it all. Listen. Oh, he's a great listener.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
He purs going through it, and he also gets his
tuna every morning at six am because he's an early
riser king. But I respect that lovely. So he is
certainly a great confident. But when I think about challenges
in this space, first and foremost, there's always the challenges
of resources, and there's never enough to protect the animals
(16:54):
in Africa to the animals in our own backyard. And
so I say resources are always a challenge. But that's
where I think I had, early on in my career
a great.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Talent with finances.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So I ensure that there are key performance indicators with
every dollar that we spend, and that we hold each
other accountable to using our financial resources with excellence, to
expect that we have impact and accountability, and that we
measure our social impact. So first and foremost is a challenge,
never enough resources, But that makes us more responsible with
(17:27):
the resources that we have. Secondly, I don't think people
understand the crises with animals. They think, oh, Robin, you
get to work with puppies and kittens all day, And
I say, on some days those are the great ones.
Churs I had the best cat ever with Julie is
at home. But I also think about those animals who
have no voice, and we are facing what people don't
understand is real, and that is the sixth mass extinction,
(17:52):
where one million species will be gone in our children's
lifetime twenty twenty five years. The very web of life
on this earth as we know it will not be
the same. So as I think about those animal advocates
out there, it's important for us to understand that it's
more than our companion animals in our lives. We must
(18:13):
be better stewards of the earth because the loss of
species and the loss of individual animals matters today.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
More than ever.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
All right, let's talk about a good story. Now. I know,
with almost being fifteen years at the organization, yes that
there are probably hundreds of great stories, but maybe you
could just share one with us about And this is
how I present it when I talk to people like
you that are in charge of organizations that are doing
some incredible things. This is why we get up every
day because that happened. Do you have a story for us?
Speaker 1 (18:41):
I have lots of stories, I know I do. That's
an unfortunate question for me given a limited time of
a podcast. So I'll tell you one. I'll talk about
Mighty Mitchell. Mighty Mitchell is very, very cute and charming boy,
and his T shirt said Mighty Mitchell. I took Mighty
Mitchell to Capitol Hill one day.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Man, you know why.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Mighty Mitchell was winning his battle against a horrible form
of childhood cancer. Mighty Mitchell was one of the first
kiddos to participate in one of American Humane's innovative clinical
trials that work to prove the efficacy of the use
of therapy dogs for kids with cancer. This was one
of my dreams when I joined American Humaine. So let's
(19:19):
talk about how we can show and prove in clinical
trials and drive great effective public policy by showing the
healing power of the human animal book. I brought Mighty
Mitchell to Capitol Heel and he told his stories to
members of Congress, and we actually had the most unbelievable
study outcomes in eight children's hospitals around our great country
(19:42):
that proved the efficacy of the use of therapy dogs
for kids with cancer. And that is one of the
stories of Mighty Mitchell that gives me great hope for
the future because Mighty Mitchell not only a cancer survivor,
but an animal lover. And I'll have to tell you
it's the next generation of animal life who I will
transfer this heavy mantle of responsibilities to be the animal's
(20:05):
voice that Betty White gave.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Me to them.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Outstanding. Thanks for sharing that. I really appreciate that. Why
don't we stay on that Capitol Hill because part of
your job, I know, is advocating, yes, and not only
I will talk about ways to give it, and there's
many ways to give with American human we'll talk about
that in just a moment. But you're probably constantly advocating,
whether you're going to be going up on Capitol Hill
or you're going around the world. Can you expand on
that just a little bit for us.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yes, we just finished.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I just finished my second documentary film, Escape from Extinction
Rewilding narrated by the legendary Meryl Streep. What a joy
it is to have her voice associated with this great
message and cause. I'm so honored that Merrill gave up
her time and talent to participate in this incredible initiative.
I took Escape from Extinction and Rewilding on Capitol Hill.
(20:53):
I wanted to make sure that members of Congress had
an opportunity for a private screening that really exposed and
indicated the most pressing challenges that we face, the biodiversity
crisis and the loss of animals in our lives. That
was an incredible opportunity to advocate for a work to
protecting dangered species, work in their own backyards, to promote
(21:15):
community gardens, work to promote the healing power of the
human animal bond. That's one example. I'm taking the film
to show to the EU Parliament. I'm scheduled to do
that in January. I'm scheduled to show the film in
November to the UK Parliament. I'm taking this one documentary
film to halls of government around the world to indicate
(21:36):
that we need to work together to create communities of change.
Those can happen globally, those can happen locally, but it's
important that we create communities of conversation around this very
pressing issue.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Well, I'm glad you have the opportunity to do this.
As I watch films all the time, specially documentaries, they
can be so powerful, yes, and that you're just watching
that for ninety minutes however long a documentary would be,
and just be able to see it right there, all
in front of you. So I'm glad you're getting the
opportunity to do that. I think it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Let's talk about ways to give, because what's really cool.
When I got on the website several weeks ago, when
I found I was going to chat with you, I said,
here's an organization as button Ut, because there are a
lot of ways to give, Yes, which is cool because
we're living in an age that you know, if you're
just doing this one donation, that's okay, But it's so
different how people give money today, or cars or anything.
(22:26):
It doesn't matter or crypto, it doesn't matter what it is.
You have many ways to give. Can you talk about
that a little bit?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yes, absolutely so. Anyone that wants to make a difference
in the life of animals, have meaningful impact, create a
legacy of compassion, actually inspire your next generation by giving
your children an opportunity to make those gifts happen. You
can visit americanumane dot org and actually explore our many options.
I love their sophisticated gifting mechanisms through you know, a
(22:53):
charitable trust and legacy giving through through wills and iras,
which are always tax advantage giving for sure, But there's
also ways to make a monthly gift, which is really
important to create a program that your family identifies and
resonates with. We have many veterans who make monthly donations
(23:15):
to our Pups for Patriots Service Dog program in honor
of their own service, in honor of somebody who might
have passed away on a field of battle. That's a
really important opportunity to have that person's legacy live on
through a veteran and service dog team. How wonderful is
that to be able to give that opportunity. We also
see communities hit by disasters, and those are our neighbors.
(23:37):
I've lived for a long time, as I shared with
you in North Carolina, and Hurricane Helene provide a great
devastation there. I give to our rescue program there. We
have rescue trucks you could name after your favorite dog,
so I actually have a lot of my dogs and
my mother's dog on one of our rescue trucks because
my mother inspired me. So I wanted to give a
gift in her honor, and that's her dog on our
(23:59):
rescue that provides so much services in our home of
North Carolina. So when I see all of there's many
ways to give, where's your heart? Where is your passion?
If you want to give to save animals in Africa?
I just bought a farm in Africa. Can you imagine
we're going to rewild a place that hasn't seen white
(24:20):
and black rhino.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
In two hundred years?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
I'm cutting down.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Those fences in April, and I'm so excited. So join
me in translocating in rhino. Well name the rhino after you.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
I love that, right. I guess my point to ask
you about this was there's so much variety of ways
you can give, and I love that you guys do
that so many options. So thank you, and we'll give
the website a couple more times as we finish up
the conversation. If you're already having Google that we've given
him once, well we'll do that again. I did want
to do this before I get some final thoughts from
Robin about advice. You've been in this job, as we mentioned,
(24:52):
for almost fifteen years, and once again there's a lot
of curren CEOs and entrepreneurs listening this program, but also
a lot of young people that want to do whatever
their journey there is, and yours is exclusive to you
when we realize that. But just maybe a little advice
on your journey about going because you did a lot
of things before this and now you've invested almost fifteen
years in this job, can you part a little advice
(25:12):
to people that want to maybe do something someday like
you do.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I've always known I wanted to have a life with impact,
and so I do believe the first part of my
career was building those tools that I needed to be
able to effectively run an NGO such as American Humane
and again when you're the CEO in the ngospace, but
I think this supplies across a for profit areas as well.
Your passion has to be evident every single day. So
(25:41):
my advice is you have to truly love what you do,
and then you have to remember something that's so important.
You have to walk that talk every day as I
tell you I'm Chief Culture Officer. I work really hard,
but I wouldn't expect any of my colleagues to work
(26:03):
any harder than I do. I live this life of compassion,
kindness and love because this is the space I choose
to be in. I choose to be a humanitarian. Those
are the values that I share in a spouse and
that is how I lead American Humane and I expect
our colleagues to follow along in this journey that we're
(26:27):
on together because we have to lead by example. The
world today needs much more unconditional.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Love, agreed naxness.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Passion, Yes, more kindness. And while we are showing this
through the voice of animals, animals make us better people.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
They sure do. They sure do. Well said, and I'm
glad that you talked about passion. That's a common theme
with all of our leaders in this program. It's almost
the number one deal beside surrounding yourself with people that
are smarter than you and what they do and just
let them run at it. But I will say this,
and I relate my experiences in my industry to our
(27:06):
listeners as well too. All the years I've gotten jobs,
and some real fun jobs. As it taken me across
North America. The hiring manager wants and got to know
me and told me, hey, you know why I hired you.
It was not because of your skill set or you're
good at this. I hired you because of your passion
for this business. Yes, and people really appreciate that and
they can feed off it. Yes, And I just think
(27:29):
that so powerful, folks said, I just don't want you
to underestimate. Is you go into whatever turned you on
to be super passionate about it, and that will take
care of almost everything else.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
It does get you up in the morning, It sure does,
and just by whatever else is happening in the world,
if you can make a difference through your passion and importantly,
you know, what is driving me every day is the
fact that I have the privilege of working with volunteers
and staff who are literally humane heroes.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
These are people who stop their own lives to rush
into a disaster. These are people who are connected with
veterans ensuring that suicide does not enter into their DNA
and that their lives have for ever change by the
matching with the service dog. These humane heroes are inspiring
(28:23):
to me and I know they make a huge difference
in our communities around the world, and a lot.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Of selflessness too, and I think that's just wonderful. As
we wrap up our conversation in the last thirty minutes here,
I've enjoyed it so much. But what I'd like to
do is get some final thoughts from you. Robin and
I should really encourage people, as Robin will give the
website after some final thoughts for you, we're just hitting
the tip of the iceberg about what American Humane does.
It really truly is incredible, and you have to check
out the website and all they do, ways to give
(28:51):
and how you can be a part of it. But
if you could maybe do some final thoughts for us,
the floor is yours.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I always say, you can't protect what you don't love,
you can't love what you don't know. So many of
us have lost the connection to animals in our lives.
So many of us have lost the understanding how animals
make us better people. We've lost that connection to the
earth as well. So I would say to all listeners,
(29:19):
find that connection to animals, find the way that you
can fall.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
In love again.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Visit your local zoo and aquarium, bring an animal into
your home, and if you can't do so, volunteer at
a shelter plant, a butterfly garden, or a hummingbird feeder
in your yard. Bring animals into your life, and that
I will tell you will allow you to love, love
your life so much and allow you to change the world.
(29:48):
I know that many corporate leaders are listening to this
podcast today and I'd like to encourage them to reach
out to American Humane. Perhaps we can provide rescue training
and education through an employee of giving program as well.
So there's many ways to partner with American Humane to
bring animals into your employees' lives.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Such good words to live by. Let's give the website
one more.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Time, Robin, americanumaane dot org.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Thank you so much for this and you've given a
lot and I know there's so much more to do
with you and your team, the volunteers and the world
and what American Human does. Thank you so much for this.
We really appreciate you joining us on CEOs.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
You should know, thank you so much for having me
I grew up in the South.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
If you can't tell by my accent, but actually I
was born in Florida. My dad was in the Navy
at the time, so I was initially a military brat,
and then we moved around this great country, mostly focusing
on Southern states. I went to Wake Forest University.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
Go Deacons.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Then I finished my master's at wake Forest, my PhD
at the University of.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
North Carolina and in Greensboro.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
And so I come to you with a great deal
of Southern background, but a lot of work in the
nonprofit space, and that's why i'm here today.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
Well, we're thrilled to talk to you, and we have
a little bit in common because I used to live
in Raleigh for eight years. So I know your schools
very well, and they're great schools, and I'm glad you
got a great education. And that's where i'd like to
start about going out of school.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Now.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
Obviously, we're here to talk a lot about American humane
and there's so many cool things starting in eighteen seventy seven,
what you've done over almost fifteen years now, which is
absolutely incredible, about the programs and ways to give and
all the cool things and what you exactly do. But
coming out of school, what did you want to do?
Because you've got a really diverse background. I mean, you've
been in finance and then a nonprofit. But what do
(01:04):
you want to do coming out of school?
Speaker 1 (01:06):
So when I graduated from Wake Forest, I knew. I
knew that I wanted to be a university treasurer.
Speaker 3 (01:13):
Really, yes, that's very specific. I know it was very specific.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
I said, I'm going to get my PhD, I'm going
to finish my MBA, I'm going to have lots of certifications.
In fact, I have a lot of financial and accounting
certifications for a career as a university treasurer. And my
mother said, stop getting so many certifications. You have more
certifications than you do children. So I think you've proven
a point. I said, thank you, Mom. I guess I did.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
And so when I.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Finished up my PhD, I was still working full time
at Wake Forest University. I loved my time at that
gorgeous campus, both as a student and then as a
as a staff member assistant dean for Finance and administration
with the NBA School and all. And I had an opportunity.
You know, those opportunities come and knocking.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
Sometimes sometimes out of nowhere, out of.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Nowhere, and it was Walkovia Bank, and they said to me, Robin,
we're creating a new think tank and philanthropy and we
know that you have the financial skills that will align
you nicely with our wealth management division, but we would
like for someone to specialize in the nonprofit space, and
we believe you have those skills. So I became the
(02:20):
first ever director of the Center for plan Giving in
the Center for Philanthropy at Walkovia. And but before I
turned around, I was fortunate to have over five thousand
nonprofit clients in our team's book of business that I
ran and went around the country met with all these
incredible charities, and I knew then that this was my
(02:40):
heart and my life was that I was going to
work in the philanthropic sector, and that I wanted my
life to be devoted not just to serving as a
university treasure, which is noble and indeed very import us,
but to be more engaged in meaningful social impact. And
that was learned through my first career step at Walcovia Bank,
(03:01):
leading their Center for Planned Getting and their Philanthropic Strategies unit.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
And Robin, that takes us to twenty ten, about fifteen
years ago. Now I do want to ask you this, yes,
because we're leading into the job at American Humane. Now
you've talked a little bit about your diverse background and
what you've done. I can certainly see why they were
interested in you joining the organization, but why did you
want to join them?
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So I felt that this was an opportunity for me
to learn the philanthropic space from a key driver. You
cannot build social good in the NGO sector without financial resources,
and I had a skill set in the financial resources,
as my mother told me, more certifications than children, right,
and a PhD in nonprofit finance.
Speaker 2 (03:45):
So I knew that I had.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
A talent where that was and that that could be
a very important factor in working in social impact. I
wasn't sure which side I would stay on. What I
stay on the wealth management side, serving to drive as
sets into the nonprofit sector, or would I actually go
into the nonprofit sector. And that's when again, opportunity came
(04:08):
a knocking, as we say in the South, and it
was the Pew Charitable Trust. The Pew Charitable Trust grew
from a bank. Did you know that I did? Yes,
It's fascinating story. And so when Pew came to me
and offered me a very unique position, it was a
wonderful opportunity to join one of the world's top think
(04:28):
tanks in philanthropy to drive social good. And so I
immediately took that opportunity and spent some formative years of
my career with the Pew Charitable Trust, which again was
the launching pad for me to become the CEO for
American Humane.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
Right and also probably just a great training ground too
for you right for the next level.
Speaker 1 (04:47):
Remarkable Rebecca Raimel was the CEO oft PEW at the time.
I learned so much from Rebecca. I learned so much
from the senior leaders at PEW, importantly how to drive
incremental change, how to evaluate effective programs. So, while I
knew the financial resources of the nonprofit sector, the program
impact and program effectiveness, the evaluation of those the key
(05:09):
performance indicators for social good, it was a question mark.
I didn't have that skill set until I had the
opportunity to experience PEW.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Well, I am glad you brought that up. I want
to divert just a little bit because I think there's
a good teaching lesson for our future entrepreneurs or people
who would like to lead a company. Yes, And my
daughter is now an aspiring filmmaker in New York. And
we've talked about this a lot since our high school
years about learning everything behind the scenes. If you want
to be a director or cinematographer, learn what everybody else does,
learn about blocking, lighting, audio, da da da da da
(05:38):
da da. That way, when you're in a little bit
more charge, you know what everybody's doing around you. That's
kind of what you did. You were getting all these
skill sets before becoming president and CEO of American Humaney.
And I imagine I'm not going to assume, but it
paid off.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Right, paid off. I'm still I'm still here. We have
incredible impact.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
We've taken our work, as you know, from one country
to forty five countries is very definitely incredible years. And
the number of animals we impact, again, we count them,
have put paul print, footprint, you know, you name it.
We count these incredible creatures that we serve are over
one point five billion each and every year that we
(06:15):
have touched through our programs. And I feel very fortunate
and blessed every day to be in the space.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Well you should and I know you're working very hard too,
because you're an accomplished author and podcaster and running a company.
I don't know how I have time for everything, but
I always know that CEOs and presidents have a lot
of extra energy like a rock musician, and I think
you have that. So let's talk about American Humane. Let's
do this first, because we're going to go into the
history and what you do. But what's the mission statement?
Speaker 1 (06:43):
You know what it's at American Humane. We are there
to uplift the healing power of the human animal bond.
We are the nations and I dare say the world's
biggest champion and protector of animals. So when I think
about American Humaine, I think about rescue, care and protect
animals no matter where they are, they know no geographic bounds.
Speaker 3 (07:06):
So some of our listeners are going to be new
to American Humane, even though it's been around since eighteen
seventy seven. And I want you to talk about that
in just a second, because it's truly incredibly one of
the first organizations out there that is charitable. But if
you were to give somebody maybe a thirty thousand foot view,
Robin about what you do, what.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Would you tell them we're the largest certifier of the
protection of animals around the world. American Humane serves as
global humane outside of our country, and we protect over
one point five billion animals in all areas of our lives,
from conservation, from animals on farms and ranches, from animals
and zoos and aquariums, animals and entertainment and working animals.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
So wherever we.
Speaker 1 (07:46):
See an animal, American Humane has an initiative to ensure
that that animal has a humane life. How do we
determine what is to be humane? We get so emotional
about puppies and kittens, don't we But what we go
to is one of our fundamental core values is science.
So we have a group of the world's top scientists
who provide the critical success factors for each of our programs.
(08:10):
And then we added something else very important as we
talk about animals in our lives, and that's ethics. So
we have the world's top ethicist for animals also serving
at American Humane. So when I think about what we do,
we rescue, we care, protect, we serve as the globe's
largest voice for animal protection, and importantly, we define what
(08:31):
it is to be humane through science. And evidence based
practices wonderful.
Speaker 3 (08:37):
So we mentioned eighteen seventy seven a couple times, and
I imagine that you did your research on the history.
Can you tell us about the origins of it and
exactly what it was back then to what it is today.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Well, my children think I was around in eighteen seventy seven,
so of course they think I was always the CEO
of American Humane because they've been raised with this great
charity in their lives, this great nonprofit. So in eighteen
seventy seven, and our country was coming to terms with
the ravages of the Civil War, they were coming to
terms with cruelty and abuse and all of those horrific,
(09:10):
horrific changes that were going on in society. And what
a group of people started was this great organization called
the International Humane Society. I love that at the very
formation of this entity, they thought global. They were the
very first champions for farm animal protections. And you might
say why farm animals, And it was because the railroads
(09:32):
were going into place. Then think about the transportation of
herds and flocks from the East coast out west and
the unimaginable losses to those animals lives that happened because
there were no stops for water, no food, and inhumane
standards of care. So it was farmers and ranchers who
gathered forces with American Humane to create the very first
(09:54):
transportation laws for animals. And that was American Humane also
known as the International Humane Society, who created that in
the first years of our founding. Since then we were
behind the first ever child cruelty actions and laws because
child welfare was associated with animals. Animals and children had
(10:15):
no rights, and so we were the very first advocates
for children and animals in the eighteen seventies and eighties
and nineties, in the turn of the century. And every
single major advancement we take for granted today for child
protection and animal protection was actually promulgated by American Humane.
Speaker 3 (10:33):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (10:34):
So yes, eighteen seventy seven, people say, oh, we rescue
animals today, and I say to them, did you know
the very first rescue program occurred on the battlefields of
World War One. Think about trench warfare. Think about the
movie Warhorse. The Steven Spielberg so puts on the screen
and touches our hearts and our minds and our souls.
(10:54):
That was American Humane rescuing calvary horses and mules in
World War It was the Secretary of War of our
country that called my predecessor, doctor William Stillman, and said,
doctor Stillman, we need you, We need you to go overseas.
Before US boys went overseas, it was American Humaine caring
(11:15):
for sixty one thousand war horses a month in World
War One. That was the very first idea of animal rescue.
And it was American Humaane.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
It was there and.
Speaker 3 (11:23):
How historic, incredible. Well, this is a good segue into programs.
And you've got nine that are featured on the website,
and I don't know if you want to go through
all of them very quickly, but maybe you can touch
on some of them, and not necessarily the more important
than the others, but can you go through some of
the programs.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
For us absolutely Well, we talked about rescue, and to
this very day, we're rescuing animals that were left behind
in the ravages of Hurricane Eleen and Hurricanes Milton. We're
there for fires and floods this very day with six
rescue caches stationed in high prone disaster areas. American Humaine's
there to reunite you with your furry best friend in
a time of disaster and crisis. We've been doing that
(11:59):
for well over one hundred years. We think about the
idea of animals and film and entertainment, and you already
know us. There are no Animals Were Harmed program. We're
on thousands of production days every year ensuring that animals
you see in film and entertainment are humanly treated and
that those animal stars are given the care they so deserve.
You already know us through our American Humane Certified program.
(12:22):
If you eat a cage free egg or enjoy a
butterball turkey at Thanksgiving time, those are all American Humane Certified.
That program's been around almost twenty five years and allows
us to make sure that animals aren't farms and ranches
have a humane life. It's very, very important you already
know us through our conservation program. If you enjoy some
(12:44):
of the world's top zoos and aquariums where you're introduced
to an incredible megafauna and you fall in love with
a rhino or elephant, those zoos and aquariums that have
our Good Housekeeping Silver Approval or American Humane Certified Seal
are the world's very and We're very proud of that initiative.
And of course you may know us, particularly if you're
(13:05):
a veteran. There we our Pups for Patriots Service dog program.
We founded that over seven years ago, providing wounded warriors
with those healing paws and healing leashes, and we actually
save both ends of the leash. We've placed over three
hundred healing leashes on this very day and saved both
lives and the ends.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Of the leash.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Everybody, It's
just absolutely amazing. I do want to ask you a
question about leadership, Robin, and you're such a large organization,
and I know you have staff, and then you have managers,
and then you have people that work across the globe
with you. Yes, when it comes to the vision of
the organization, but also your vision, morals, ethics, and how
you want things to go down. Because there are so
(13:47):
many people, how does the work get trickled down to
make sure that the culture is stole there, your message
is still there. Everybody's having a great time with those
work life balances, but still saying this is American humane.
We're doing all the same thing's the same mission for
everybody right across the board.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
With that many people, well, we do have a lot
of people, and most importantly, all of our people care
about those animals. So this mission is personal. This mission
is we act professionally in terms of the way we
follow our core values that we instituted fourteen years ago.
Core values of a culture that embraces kindness, compassion, personal excellence,
(14:27):
accountability to the mission. Those are entwined in everyone's individual
performance goals.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Isn't that wonderful.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
Yeah, So when we.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Talk about a culture of civility, it's because we are
running the world's oldest humanitarian organization. So those values of
what is to be humane to animals are reflected in
our culture. And I believe I'm the number one culture
champion right Well, I have to be. I have to be,
and so I recognize that I have. It's what Betty
(14:55):
White told me before she passed. She said, Rob, and
I'm handing over to you heavy mantle of responsibility. I said,
oh no, Betty, I don't know about this. She said,
I'm getting old and I want to hand over to
you that heavy mantle of responsibility of animal welfare and protection.
Gave me goosebumps. It still does, and I share that
(15:16):
story to each and every colleague at American Humane. It's
our heavy mantle of responsibility to be that voice for
animals to be humane, and that starts with how we
are with each other and how we hold each other
to excellence, accountability, kindness, compassion, and most importantly love.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
I love that. That's fantastic. And Betty Wade, if you
don't know, just looved animals, all animals. She was wonderful
and uh quite a treasure. So I'm glad you've got
some time with her. I think that's really special.
Speaker 1 (15:49):
She was our oldest supporter and champion. Seventy five years
of her ninety nine year life she was engaged with
American Humane.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Amazing, absolutely amazing. I do want to talk to you
about challenges. And I always tell people in this series
that when we talk to leaders and CEOs and entrepreneurs
and presidents of the series that it's always windyst at
the top. And sometimes you know, when you have your issues,
there's not a lot of people that you can relate
with and talk to you about your problems. So I'm
here for you. So, but challenges in the industry, are
(16:19):
there any presenting you and your team right now.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Well, first of all, let me tell you who I
do tell my challenges to. His name is Julius Caesar,
and he's his most perfect cat in the world.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
So I have to sell of it. Julius Caesar, here's
it all. Listen. Oh, he's a great listener.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
He purs going through it, and he also gets his
tuna every morning at six am because he's an early
riser king. But I respect that lovely. So he is
certainly a great confident. But when I think about challenges
in this space, first and foremost, there's always the challenges
of resources, and there's never enough to protect the animals
(16:54):
in Africa to the animals in our own backyard. And
so I say resources are always a challenge. But that's
where I think I had, early on in my career
a great.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Talent with finances.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
So I ensure that there are key performance indicators with
every dollar that we spend, and that we hold each
other accountable to using our financial resources with excellence, to
expect that we have impact and accountability, and that we
measure our social impact. So first and foremost is a challenge,
never enough resources, But that makes us more responsible with
(17:27):
the resources that we have. Secondly, I don't think people
understand the crises with animals. They think, oh, Robin, you
get to work with puppies and kittens all day, And
I say, on some days those are the great ones.
Churs I had the best cat ever with Julie is
at home. But I also think about those animals who
have no voice, and we are facing what people don't
understand is real, and that is the sixth mass extinction,
(17:52):
where one million species will be gone in our children's
lifetime twenty twenty five years. The very web of life
on this earth as we know it will not be
the same. So as I think about those animal advocates
out there, it's important for us to understand that it's
more than our companion animals in our lives. We must
(18:13):
be better stewards of the earth because the loss of
species and the loss of individual animals matters today.
Speaker 2 (18:20):
More than ever.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
All right, let's talk about a good story. Now. I know,
with almost being fifteen years at the organization, yes that
there are probably hundreds of great stories, but maybe you
could just share one with us about And this is
how I present it when I talk to people like
you that are in charge of organizations that are doing
some incredible things. This is why we get up every
day because that happened. Do you have a story for us?
Speaker 1 (18:41):
I have lots of stories, I know I do. That's
an unfortunate question for me given a limited time of
a podcast. So I'll tell you one. I'll talk about
Mighty Mitchell. Mighty Mitchell is very, very cute and charming boy,
and his T shirt said Mighty Mitchell. I took Mighty
Mitchell to Capitol Hill one day.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
Man, you know why.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Mighty Mitchell was winning his battle against a horrible form
of childhood cancer. Mighty Mitchell was one of the first
kiddos to participate in one of American Humane's innovative clinical
trials that work to prove the efficacy of the use
of therapy dogs for kids with cancer. This was one
of my dreams when I joined American Humaine. So let's
(19:19):
talk about how we can show and prove in clinical
trials and drive great effective public policy by showing the
healing power of the human animal book. I brought Mighty
Mitchell to Capitol Heel and he told his stories to
members of Congress, and we actually had the most unbelievable
study outcomes in eight children's hospitals around our great country
(19:42):
that proved the efficacy of the use of therapy dogs
for kids with cancer. And that is one of the
stories of Mighty Mitchell that gives me great hope for
the future because Mighty Mitchell not only a cancer survivor,
but an animal lover. And I'll have to tell you
it's the next generation of animal life who I will
transfer this heavy mantle of responsibilities to be the animal's
(20:05):
voice that Betty White gave.
Speaker 2 (20:06):
Me to them.
Speaker 3 (20:08):
Outstanding. Thanks for sharing that. I really appreciate that. Why
don't we stay on that Capitol Hill because part of
your job, I know, is advocating, yes, and not only
I will talk about ways to give it, and there's
many ways to give with American human we'll talk about
that in just a moment. But you're probably constantly advocating,
whether you're going to be going up on Capitol Hill
or you're going around the world. Can you expand on
that just a little bit for us.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Yes, we just finished.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I just finished my second documentary film, Escape from Extinction
Rewilding narrated by the legendary Meryl Streep. What a joy
it is to have her voice associated with this great
message and cause. I'm so honored that Merrill gave up
her time and talent to participate in this incredible initiative.
I took Escape from Extinction and Rewilding on Capitol Hill.
(20:53):
I wanted to make sure that members of Congress had
an opportunity for a private screening that really exposed and
indicated the most pressing challenges that we face, the biodiversity
crisis and the loss of animals in our lives. That
was an incredible opportunity to advocate for a work to
protecting dangered species, work in their own backyards, to promote
(21:15):
community gardens, work to promote the healing power of the
human animal bond. That's one example. I'm taking the film
to show to the EU Parliament. I'm scheduled to do
that in January. I'm scheduled to show the film in
November to the UK Parliament. I'm taking this one documentary
film to halls of government around the world to indicate
(21:36):
that we need to work together to create communities of change.
Those can happen globally, those can happen locally, but it's
important that we create communities of conversation around this very
pressing issue.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Well, I'm glad you have the opportunity to do this.
As I watch films all the time, specially documentaries, they
can be so powerful, yes, and that you're just watching
that for ninety minutes however long a documentary would be,
and just be able to see it right there, all
in front of you. So I'm glad you're getting the
opportunity to do that. I think it's wonderful.
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (22:04):
Let's talk about ways to give, because what's really cool.
When I got on the website several weeks ago, when
I found I was going to chat with you, I said,
here's an organization as button Ut, because there are a
lot of ways to give, Yes, which is cool because
we're living in an age that you know, if you're
just doing this one donation, that's okay, But it's so
different how people give money today, or cars or anything.
(22:26):
It doesn't matter or crypto, it doesn't matter what it is.
You have many ways to give. Can you talk about
that a little bit?
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yes, absolutely so. Anyone that wants to make a difference
in the life of animals, have meaningful impact, create a
legacy of compassion, actually inspire your next generation by giving
your children an opportunity to make those gifts happen. You
can visit americanumane dot org and actually explore our many options.
I love their sophisticated gifting mechanisms through you know, a
(22:53):
charitable trust and legacy giving through through wills and iras,
which are always tax advantage giving for sure, But there's
also ways to make a monthly gift, which is really
important to create a program that your family identifies and
resonates with. We have many veterans who make monthly donations
(23:15):
to our Pups for Patriots Service Dog program in honor
of their own service, in honor of somebody who might
have passed away on a field of battle. That's a
really important opportunity to have that person's legacy live on
through a veteran and service dog team. How wonderful is
that to be able to give that opportunity. We also
see communities hit by disasters, and those are our neighbors.
(23:37):
I've lived for a long time, as I shared with
you in North Carolina, and Hurricane Helene provide a great
devastation there. I give to our rescue program there. We
have rescue trucks you could name after your favorite dog,
so I actually have a lot of my dogs and
my mother's dog on one of our rescue trucks because
my mother inspired me. So I wanted to give a
gift in her honor, and that's her dog on our
(23:59):
rescue that provides so much services in our home of
North Carolina. So when I see all of there's many
ways to give, where's your heart? Where is your passion?
If you want to give to save animals in Africa?
I just bought a farm in Africa. Can you imagine
we're going to rewild a place that hasn't seen white
(24:20):
and black rhino.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
In two hundred years?
Speaker 3 (24:22):
That's incredible.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
I'm cutting down.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Those fences in April, and I'm so excited. So join
me in translocating in rhino. Well name the rhino after you.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
I love that, right. I guess my point to ask
you about this was there's so much variety of ways
you can give, and I love that you guys do
that so many options. So thank you, and we'll give
the website a couple more times as we finish up
the conversation. If you're already having Google that we've given
him once, well we'll do that again. I did want
to do this before I get some final thoughts from
Robin about advice. You've been in this job, as we mentioned,
(24:52):
for almost fifteen years, and once again there's a lot
of curren CEOs and entrepreneurs listening this program, but also
a lot of young people that want to do whatever
their journey there is, and yours is exclusive to you
when we realize that. But just maybe a little advice
on your journey about going because you did a lot
of things before this and now you've invested almost fifteen
years in this job, can you part a little advice
(25:12):
to people that want to maybe do something someday like
you do.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
I've always known I wanted to have a life with impact,
and so I do believe the first part of my
career was building those tools that I needed to be
able to effectively run an NGO such as American Humane
and again when you're the CEO in the ngospace, but
I think this supplies across a for profit areas as well.
Your passion has to be evident every single day. So
(25:41):
my advice is you have to truly love what you do,
and then you have to remember something that's so important.
You have to walk that talk every day as I
tell you I'm Chief Culture Officer. I work really hard,
but I wouldn't expect any of my colleagues to work
(26:03):
any harder than I do. I live this life of compassion,
kindness and love because this is the space I choose
to be in. I choose to be a humanitarian. Those
are the values that I share in a spouse and
that is how I lead American Humane and I expect
our colleagues to follow along in this journey that we're
(26:27):
on together because we have to lead by example. The
world today needs much more unconditional.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Love, agreed naxness.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
Passion, Yes, more kindness. And while we are showing this
through the voice of animals, animals make us better people.
Speaker 3 (26:46):
They sure do. They sure do. Well said, and I'm
glad that you talked about passion. That's a common theme
with all of our leaders in this program. It's almost
the number one deal beside surrounding yourself with people that
are smarter than you and what they do and just
let them run at it. But I will say this,
and I relate my experiences in my industry to our
(27:06):
listeners as well too. All the years I've gotten jobs,
and some real fun jobs. As it taken me across
North America. The hiring manager wants and got to know
me and told me, hey, you know why I hired you.
It was not because of your skill set or you're
good at this. I hired you because of your passion
for this business. Yes, and people really appreciate that and
they can feed off it. Yes, And I just think
(27:29):
that so powerful, folks said, I just don't want you
to underestimate. Is you go into whatever turned you on
to be super passionate about it, and that will take
care of almost everything else.
Speaker 1 (27:40):
It does get you up in the morning, It sure does,
and just by whatever else is happening in the world,
if you can make a difference through your passion and importantly,
you know, what is driving me every day is the
fact that I have the privilege of working with volunteers
and staff who are literally humane heroes.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
These are people who stop their own lives to rush
into a disaster. These are people who are connected with
veterans ensuring that suicide does not enter into their DNA
and that their lives have for ever change by the
matching with the service dog. These humane heroes are inspiring
(28:23):
to me and I know they make a huge difference
in our communities around the world, and a lot.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Of selflessness too, and I think that's just wonderful. As
we wrap up our conversation in the last thirty minutes here,
I've enjoyed it so much. But what I'd like to
do is get some final thoughts from you. Robin and
I should really encourage people, as Robin will give the
website after some final thoughts for you, we're just hitting
the tip of the iceberg about what American Humane does.
It really truly is incredible, and you have to check
out the website and all they do, ways to give
(28:51):
and how you can be a part of it. But
if you could maybe do some final thoughts for us,
the floor is yours.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
I always say, you can't protect what you don't love,
you can't love what you don't know. So many of
us have lost the connection to animals in our lives.
So many of us have lost the understanding how animals
make us better people. We've lost that connection to the
earth as well. So I would say to all listeners,
(29:19):
find that connection to animals, find the way that you
can fall.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
In love again.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
Visit your local zoo and aquarium, bring an animal into
your home, and if you can't do so, volunteer at
a shelter plant, a butterfly garden, or a hummingbird feeder
in your yard. Bring animals into your life, and that
I will tell you will allow you to love, love
your life so much and allow you to change the world.
(29:48):
I know that many corporate leaders are listening to this
podcast today and I'd like to encourage them to reach
out to American Humane. Perhaps we can provide rescue training
and education through an employee of giving program as well.
So there's many ways to partner with American Humane to
bring animals into your employees' lives.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
Such good words to live by. Let's give the website
one more.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
Time, Robin, americanumaane dot org.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
Thank you so much for this and you've given a
lot and I know there's so much more to do
with you and your team, the volunteers and the world
and what American Human does. Thank you so much for this.
We really appreciate you joining us on CEOs.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
You should know, thank you so much for having me
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