How to keep an eye on your organization's mission - Ep55

GUEST: Rebecca Guinn is CEO of LifeLine Animal Project, which manages Atlanta’s Fulton and DeKalb County animal shelters and which opened a new shelter, adoption center and clinic in 2019. LifeLine’s community outreach effort provides free vaccines, spay/neuter and other assistance to thousands of pets belonging to underserved Atlantans. LifeLine’s community cat program, the first and largest organized trap-neuter-return assistance program in Atlanta, has sterilized and vaccinated more than 40,000 community cats; and the LifeLine Spay & Neuter Clinics comprise the largest spay/neuter provider in Georgia, having performed more than 140,000 surgeries to date. Rebecca is active in the Animal Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and is a member of Best Friends Animal Society’s No-Kill 2025 National Steering Committee.

MAIN QUESTION: How can animal welfare leaders and managers keep an eye on the big picture while staying on top of day-to-day fires?

TAKEAWAYS:

• The leader’s job is to keep the focus on the mission and to get others involved in it.
• Build a team of likeminded people, look for each person’s superpower and tap into it.
• Seek out people with skills that complement others on the team.
• We owe our best to the animals every time. Set that standard for yourself.
• Find the gaps in your community, and figure out what’s needed to close those gaps.
• Regularly ask yourself if you're solving the right problems and what you are trying to make better. Perform gap analyses; over time, you’ll get better at solving for the right problems.
• Embrace both ends of the leash.

LINKS:

• Lifeline Animal Project — website
• Leadership recommendation: Nonprofit Tech for Good website and e-newsletter