Jim Tedford, President & CEO of The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (formerly SAWA), who previously appeared on Community Cats Podcast episode #199, joins Stacy again to discuss his organization's new name, their rebranding, and their new commitment to making educational opportunities available to even more folks in the animal welfare world.

Formerly SAWA (Society of Animal Welfare Administrators), Jim's organization is now known as The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement or simply "The Association." The group has been around for nearly 50 years, and as that milestone approached, they felt it was time for them to evolve—just as the animal welfare industry itself has evolved and changed over the past 50 years. As a professional association of leaders in animal welfare and animal care and control, The Association wanted their new name to reflect the fact that they have something to offer toanyonewho aspires to lead in this field—not just executives from large organizations.

The Association has long helped animal welfare groups operate in a more "business-like" manner in order to ensure successful bottom lines and advance the animal welfare movement. They have done this through educational opportunities, particularly on-site conferences, but they are now realizing that there are many folks, perhaps those from smaller groups especially, who will simply never make it to a conference. The Association wants to make sure that they are offering something for everybody, from mom-and-pop-type shops to huge, multi-million dollar budget organizations. To that end, they have now hired a Director of Professional Development and Credentialing, whose role is to develop educational content—and figure out how to deliver it to folks any and everywhere—even if they never want to leave their desks!

Jim encourages everyone to consider joining The Association in order to discover the powerful network available to members, and all the folks who are involved and willing to help you as a member. The real strength of our industry, Jim tells us, is in working together, and building our network.

To learn more about The Association forAnimal Welfare Advancementand to download past conferences, learn about new upcoming educational opportunities, and download free best practice documents, visit theaawa.org.