Camp Maddie: Foster Edition - Fosters Welcome: Low-Barrier Onboarding for High Community Engagement

Clare Callison is the Maddie’s® Director of National Pet Supply and Demand for American Pets Alive! and serves on the Board of Directors for CARE (Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity). She provides guidance and support to help organizations build robust lifesaving programs and improve operations to better serve people and pets. Clare specializes in helping organizations grow their transport relationships and increase their lifesaving through rescue partnerships and open adoption practices. Before joining American Pets Alive!, she was the Director of Operations for San Antonio Pets Alive for 5 years. Because of her heavy involvement, San Antonio has gone from a 28 percent live release rate to a 90 percent live release rate in over three years. Clare enjoys helping others seek lifesaving solutions to common challenges that exist in working in a high-volume, fast-paced animal welfare organization.

In 2016, my journey in the world of animal rescue began with a simple act of volunteering. Little did I know that this initial step would ignite a passionate fire within me. I quickly became one of the forest fosters for our local shelter, nurturing the belief that every animal deserves a loving home. As the years rolled by, my commitment to this cause continued to deepen. In 2019, I took on the role of Shelter Manager, where I witnessed first-hand the incredible impact we could make in the lives of animals. In 2021, I embarked on a new adventure, partnering with Let Love Live in Texas as Executive Director to create a foster-based second location in Minnesota. This exciting collaboration allowed us to expand our reach and provide even more animals with the chance to find their forever homes while creating relationships with people, businesses, and organizations within multiple communities in different states. Through every step of my journey, I've learned that the love and dedication we pour into animal welfare not only transforms the lives of these precious creatures and the families that love them but also enriches our own lives in immeasurable ways.

Luis Quintanilla is the Executive Director for the Rio Grande Valley Humane Society, located in the Rio Grande Valley in deep south Texas. Luis joined Rio Grande Valley Humane Society after most recently being the Director of Operations for Palm Valley Animal Society (PVAS) in Edinburg, Texas. In his role at PVAS, Luis was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of an organization with an annual intake of 30,000 animals. In two years, the save rate at PVAS increased from 30% to 70%, and in January 2020, the save rate surpassed 90% for the first time in the organization’s 40-year history. Luis started at PVAS in March 2018 as a temporary worker handling data entry. Luis then joined the rescue department, where his primary duties were handling the logistics of biweekly rescue transports. During his seven months in the rescue team, Luis drove over 35,000 miles transporting animals out of the shelter to rescue partners. The PVAS rescue team found live outcomes for over 8,000 cats and dogs in 2018. Luis then moved on to the development team, where he handled grant writing as the Donor Relations Coordinator. A year after joining PVAS, Luis became Shelter Manager and eventually Director of Operations. A law school graduate and recent graduate of Best Friends Animal Society’s Executive Leadership Certification program, Luis is excited to continue the mission of lifesaving at HSH where the save rate for 2020 was an incredible 92% (up from 49% in 2019).