From Our Director – Britney Tennant

Amidst the day-to-day demands we are also moving forward with several larger priorities. The board recently underwent governance training and a facilitated conversation about committee activities with strategic planning to follow in the Fall of 2022. At the end of December, we passed a budget for the remainder of the fiscal year which increased all hourly employees’ wages.

Knowing that wages aren’t the only thing keeping our team together, the staff engaged in a shared visioning exercise and developed a picture of the kind of organization we wish to be. That “Beach Scene,” as we’ve come to call it, includes improved staff and volunteer orientation, onboarding, and development, adequate funding, needed building maintenance and repairs, enhanced animal care and husbandry, better systems of communication, and a solid, respectable reputation across the community.

In order to make this scene come to life, we drilled down to the fundamentals. Who are we, and what matters most?There is a strong ethic of animal care and community service which permeates the organization. But we needed more clarity – something to anchor us to that purpose. Together, we defined a set of core values and it is with these in mind that we are now moving forward with other projects.

Those values are:
Integrity, Safety, Communication, Positivity, Learning, and Courage

With these values guiding us, our next steps include defining them in the context of our work and community, developing specific behavioral examples and expectations, and aligning our internal culture with them. It’s a big task, but as I recently told our team, if we don’t change the culture, we’re going to have all of the same old problems. They are just going to wear different clothes.

There are challenges around every corner and it’s hard to know some days where to start. But when I remind myself that the starting place is our team, and our community – that the resources we need and the changes we wish to make are usually only an ask away, I feel confident we can do it. The only constant is change, and we’re riding a wild change-wave at the Cheyenne Animal Shelter right now. I’m grateful for everyone’s continued interest, support, and encouragement.