Hi, and welcome to the Animal Welfare Junction. This is your host, Dr. G, and our music is written and produced by Mike Sullivan. Today's guest is a very special friend of mine from Puerto Rico originally, Mia Nevedo Williams, VP of Marketing and Communications. Thank you for being here and welcome to the Junction.

Thank you for having me, Dr. G.

So let's start with what got you involved in animal sheltering and animal issues and kind of how your previous experiences brought you to where you are today.

Okay. That's like, you know, opening Pandora's box here. So, um, I will try to make it as brief as possible, but I think, you know, me by now I'm really bad at brief. Um, so I. Um, like you, um, you know, came to the U S from Puerto Rico. And when I came here, I was eight years old. And even though, you know, I had seen strays, I had seen, um, dogs as pets in Puerto Rico, though, the less so, um, when I came here and I, I didn't know the language, I didn't have friends, my family, um, was still back in Puerto Rico, the thing I asked my parents was, could I have a pet? Specifically, could I have a dog and, you know, even thinking back on it now, it surprises me because I didn't really have, you know, a pet in Puerto Rico. I had only seen that and seen that connection, um, between people and definitely had this empathy towards the dogs on the street, but not knowing exactly how to make that connection. So, um, my parents definitely gave in. Um, I think they felt a lot of guilt, um, you know, kind of transplanting me somewhere new. And so I got a dog and I loved this dog. My family loved this dog. Um, I think my mom loved the dog the most. And, um, looking back, you know, when I was in college, my dog passed away. And at that time I had begun learning more about animals. Um, I had a roommate that brought in a cat that, you know, just kind of happened. into our, into our house and became our pet. And it was then that I started reflecting on, you know, how I, how we treated our pet. And, you know, we loved our dog, um, but we didn't spay and neuter him and he lived most of his life outside. And so looking back, I had, I had tremendous guilt about that. Um, as I went on to, you know, have my own dogs, it weighed even heavier on me. So when I had the opportunity to volunteer and, um, I just, you know, just by chance, I don't know. I mean, Mary, maybe it was serendipitous, but it was like, I became friends with a veterinarian, um, in Kansas city. And I began, um, volunteering on the weekends, um, to help her just, you know, do everyday things. I, I really wanted to learn more. She noticed she was getting an increase in Spanish speaking population. So it was really helpful when I was there to be able to translate. And that's when I realized that, you know, we only had 15 minutes with this client sometimes. I mean, You don't have a lot of time, especially if they're coming for a very specific thing. And I went all over looking for information in Spanish, looking for something to give them. So when they left, they would have some sort of information to look back on, to read about, and potentially, you know, call us back and ask us. But I couldn't find anything. I really could not find anything. That was, you know, worthwhile. I think I found one page on the ASPCA site at that time. And that's all I had, but I printed out everything I could. And that's when I realized, wow, there's a big gap. There's a big gap here in, in getting information to a community that's growing and growing around us in an area that normally we didn't see, you know, another language. Um, and so I did reach out to a couple of people, um, locally who were, you know, working within shelters. I. Um, I had gone to, uh, the University of Missouri, um, and gotten a degree in journalism and just so happened to, uh, graduate with somebody that actually did go into sheltering. And, um, and so I, I talked to him and I was like, gosh, we really need more Spanish communication. We really need to do more outreach. Um, but I was in the for profit space. Um, I was a single mom and there was no way I could afford to switch over to animal welfare. And, you know, and do this full time and I didn't even know how I would even go about connecting to animal welfare right. Since we are in animal welfare, we, I think we assume that it's a very easy thing to find and it's not. Um, you really have to be looking for, um, this as an industry. I don't even think many people realize that it's its own sector and it and its own very big thing. Um, but I did express to friends that, you know, this was definitely a gap and I went back to my for profit job and at one point, um, just about four, my gosh, maybe four years ago, um, almost five years ago, um, I got a call and basically saying, you know, would you be interested in applying for this role that was at best friends? Um, and it was going to be focused on multicultural and to me, it just felt like it was, it was the right time, you know, I had moved, I had gotten married. Um, I was at that point where I could choose to go into another, um, industry and really do what I, I was, I think, meant and called to do. And so I, I started at Best Friends. And that's really what kind of catapulted, um, and really ingrained me and, and, and my desire to stay. Um, and continue to be a voice of change and a voice of connection, um, and a bridge builder, uh, so that we can do more community work. So in the end, um, I did build a multicultural team at Best Friends that ended up merging into a commute, what's called a community team. It was, um, a center of excellence, and it was really focused on looking at a community and seeing what their needs were. Where were they in terms of information about animal welfare? Um, so that we didn't begin the conversation about sheltering when maybe they didn't even know what a shelter was, right? So what, what steps did we need to take? Um, and what backup? And I was very fortunate to have a team of incredible talent, young talent. Um, that really understood that understood the concept of community of, um, not seeing one, you know, just just one audience, but really, truly understanding that the shelter we're working with in the Rio Grande Valley is going to look very different than a shelter we're working with in California or Florida or Pennsylvania. Um, so that really made it I think easier, but it really did. I can't tell you. Um, I really feel like the first step of my dreams came true just by creating a website in Spanish. Um, because I knew then that someone like me that was sitting in a vet's office or was sitting looking for information for their parents to explain certain concepts or to explain heartworms, I knew that now you could do a Google search and have that information in Spanish. So that was, you know, what seems like so simple to people, "oh, it's just a website", to me, that was a dream come true, because that is access. That is information that is tangible, that you can print out, that you can show someone, that you can link to. Um, and that is information that I didn't have. And it's information now that I feel that, you know, someone like me, a young person that had their first pet, would have access to that their parents would have access to. And because of that could make better decisions, um, for the family pet. So, um, That's the very long story. And now I am with Humane Rescue Alliance, um, really focused on, you know, marketing and the public relations that goes along with an organization that runs two very different shelters and two, um, different communities and also, you know, has a city contract and has the, um, I think, All of the many things that are involved with something like that. So at the end of the day, though, it's, to me, it's all about building those bridges with your community and continuing to exhaust myself talking about people. I probably talk more about people than I do animals. Um, I'm very focused on that because I feel that change cannot happen without embracing our very different communities and, um, and bringing very important information so that we can all, you know, make progress in saving lives.

Yeah, we were always talking about, I mean, and then one of the purposes of this podcast is education and, and getting the word out about different things. Because I think that first, we don't know what we don't know. And, and that can affect people significantly, right? It can affect. rescues and shelters and what and what they can do. You know, animal shelters are going through such a crisis with so many animals that have nowhere to go. Adoptions are low, you know, intakes are, they're actually not intaking because they have nothing to do with these animals. And perhaps some places are losing contact with the fact that the answer for it is that, you know, we blame people for the problem. But that's who is the answer. The people are the answer. So we need to figure out how to get the people involved in this process so that we can help the animals, right?

Absolutely. I think it's very, I mean, I don't know if this, I think everybody can identify with this particular example where we're very good at, saying that a group of people is one way based on one interaction, right? So let's say you have an interaction with a Hispanic family and you are not able to make headway, you're not able to get the, you know, the good outcome that you were hoping for. Um, if this was your first interaction, maybe, um, you would think, well, I did it. I went out. I tried to connect and it didn't work. I think Hispanics are this way. And I think we tend to do that. Um, and it's very easy to, um, you know, stereotype and, you know, stereotypes are based on, you know, some factual things, right? Like you can look at a person and maybe say, well, you know, he's Hispanic. He doesn't know this. I'm not going to approach him or whatever. Um, you know, and, and those are big mistakes because I can't imagine that if you're, you have 10 interactions a day, and one of them happens to be with a BIPOC individual, that you've dismissed the fact that you probably had five really bad interactions with, you know, your, um, you know, your white Community members, but for some reason it that's a little bit more forgiving than when you have an interaction with a community member that you're not as familiar with their culture, their language. Um, and I think we can make, you know, these very big assumptions that are incorrect and not only that but really do you a disservice because there are people waiting to feel included, to feel invited, um, and to be a part of something that's good. But they need for you to meet them halfway and sometimes they need you to meet them all the way. It's very, I think, for some reason, difficult for us to understand that newcomers are fearful. If you're dealing with an immigrant community, likely they were seeking refuge. They were seeking asylum. There were things back home that were, you know, they were fleeing something. They, there is trauma there. There is absolute trauma there. And it's important that we acknowledge that there's fear on their side. There's, you know, trauma that they're dealing with. These people didn't want to leave their home country. I don't know if you, um, well, I'm sure you know this because I don't think you could know any Puerto Rican family without seeing the flag outside. Right? Like, um, I have a flag on my car. I have a flag, you know, in my house, in my kitchen. And so we have this pride from the place that we came from. And I think no one, you know, grows up in a country and imagines themselves. having to leave it. Um, but when things are forcing you, um, and you come to a new place, it is really important that we understand that there is fear, there is apprehension, and there's just a lot of information that, um, that we need from each other. So, you know, um, I like to think of animal welfare as very much a people business, because it will take a lot of strength and, um, vulnerability from our leadership to build these bridges, because it really starts there. It needs to be modeled. Um, there needs to be open mindedness, there needs to be more transparency, we need to talk more to each other, work with each other, and it would be great to see nationals working together and, you know, um, and really including more people in the equation and and helping us inform communities because we we need our shelters to have support.

I think in both shelters and even in veterinary medicine and everything, we have to understand that there are different barriers in communicating with people and, and it really, realistically, it goes for everyone, right? Because it goes for minorities and such, but it can even go by differences in socioeconomics, but you got to understand, like, the culture of the individuals that you are reaching to. Because the culture here where I'm at in Columbus is going to be different than the culture that is in Southern Ohio. And it's going to be really different depending on the, on the makeup of that community. And then language makes a difference. And you know, it, they're not only, how do you say, being able to understand who you're talking to first, it gains trust, but then second, you can, you can transfer that information better. I have dealt with individuals that. have come to me and I have told them, you know, I have asked them why, you know, like why haven't you spayed your pet? Because that's a big myth is that Hispanic people, for instance, do not believe in spay and neuter. So I will ask, "Hey, why haven't you spayed your pet?" And they will say, well, because I don't need to, because she's not going to be around other dogs and they don't understand the health benefits of it, but nobody has taken the time to explain the health benefits because of the language barrier. So sometimes we have to make that extra effort to meet people, like you said, meet people where they're at and make that effort to make sure that our clients are understanding what we're giving them, because if not, who's going to suffer? The animals are going to suffer.

Absolutely. And you know, another point I, we should probably discuss is the fact that when I speak about immigrant communities or when I speak about multicultural communities, I think some people might think, well, that's not me, right? I, I live in St. Louis or, you know, I live in wherever. Um, and the thing that's important to note is that you are living in a multicultural community. Chances are, I mean, if one in three Americans is already multicultural, you are living in a multicultural community. And even if, you know, I'll speak specifically about, um, an example. I have family in New Jersey. Family that's lived there all their lives. Yet, they also speak fluent Spanish. They live in a mostly like bilingual Spanish Puerto Rican neighborhood. These folks, you know, they go to Wegmans. They go to all of their, um, the regular places that we're all at. Um, but they still have some beliefs that are exactly what you just said. Well, I don't need to spay and neuter because she's never going to leave the house. Um, and I had, you know, my sister, um, a family member on her, uh, side that her dog had pyometra. And just had no idea, like, why is this happening? And, you know, and so we began to have that conversation and what's crazy is that, you know, it happened to a friend of mine here in St. Louis. Um, and it's like, these folks are getting the same information, you know, that whatever the general market is or used to be, um, but the way we think of the general market is getting yet they are in cultural groups, right? So my friend here was mostly part of the black community, um, you know, in Ferguson. And so we still gravitate to people of our culture of similar values. And therefore, there are just some things that, you know, we're just like, well, my neighbors never, you know, spayed or neutered, you know, his dog stays on his side, mine stays on mine. Um, so it's important to note that this is every neighborhood. Um, it's important that we absolutely talk to the people that are outside our doors. And I think it's even more than that, right? We always say, yeah, talk to people and I'm sure every shelter that's gone to HSUS or Best Friends or any, you know, AWA, any conference is used to seeing, you just have to open the door and get out of your shelter. I would take it one step further. I think before you even walk out the door, you really have to examine yourself. You really have to become aware of, you know, your own fear, your own bias, and that's okay. Like. But it's important that you're aware of yourself, that you go out intentionally, that you open that door and go into the community with the intention of connecting, of being open, and letting yourself learn, and maybe even make mistakes. But it goes, it's not as simple as, oh well, you know, I'm going to go outside, you know, I'm going to leave the shelter and do this. It's, you have to really be intentional about it.

Yeah, I recently attended the International Veterinary Social Work Summit, and something that was very interesting is that, you know, some of the people there that were shelter individuals were saying, we don't look like the community that we're serving. And that can play a huge impact. And they were just talking again, like about socioeconomics. Uh, I believe that the place that I was talking about this, they were in Wisconsin, and they were talking about how the people that are in the shelter, they're not from rural communities, but that's who they are serving. So we have to be socially competent. We have to know the people that we are dealing with. We need to know what they need, but they also, we need to know what they want. And then we have to put that together to be able to reach out to them and again, help them and help the animals. But if they don't know what they need, then they may not know what to ask for.

I mean, absolutely. And I think about, there are so many examples of where there is absolutely, you know, your shelter doesn't look like your community, but the leadership, the government, um, nothing looks like the community it serves. Now, sometimes that isn't always because there are some populations that, and many, I would say, um, there are two things that you steer away from if you're, you're a new immigrant or you're of a different culture, and that's politics and the police, right? And very much so when we think about sheltering or ACOs, um, you know, there are uniforms. And, um, or so, so, so they're still trying to figure things out, but a lot of people don't run for office because their home country and the values that they kind of have for themselves and their family didn't line up with the authority and regime or, you know, the politics that were happening in their home country, they fled that. So there's not this. desire immediately to become a part of that. Um, and so in many cases, it's not just that, um, that we're not being inclusive. It's that we haven't built enough bridges to bring information and help them understand, um, what it could mean. For their, you know, for their community, for them to hold an office or for them to become an ACO. Um, so yeah, I, I think I, I was definitely working with, um, shelters in the South that were white led, but, um, the community was absolutely, predominantly BIPOC. Um, and with the understanding of your community, um, one of the things that's beautiful about, like, having a community approach versus this kind of national, um, blanket approach is that you have information about how these groups consume media, right? So, you know, one of the things that we know offhand that we, that we've always known that we've known since I started in multicultural back in, oh my God, 2003, um, is that Hispanics, Latinos, do adopt technology quicker than any other group. So, you know, when I was working at Sprint, which is now T Mobile, um, smartphones were being developed, but they were not being promoted to the Hispanic community because the thought was, or the stereotype was, well, you know, they likely want a free phone. They likely cannot afford a smartphone or maybe, you know, maybe, maybe the thought was. They can't afford it and they probably don't know how to use it. Right. But our competitors, um, were absolutely on it. Um, and they were already gaining growth from the Latino market because they understood that Hispanics and Latinos were using their smartphones. To call home call back home so that again at the time you paid for long distance. You paid for these, um, larger, more sophisticated phones, but since they preferred cell phones to a home phone. I mean, they were really the first group that, you know, cut the cord, so to speak. They never had a cord to begin with. Um, so. When you get to know your community, you can also learn about how they consume media, which will make your message even, you know, go even further. So, you know, I, I worked in a community once where I knew it was a predominantly black community who loved TV. They got all of their information from TV. So, you know, that would have been the best way to them versus social. Um, and the one thing, though, that I think worked in all communities was the face to face, the, the person to person contact because, um, that's what they valued. They valued connection. They did business with friends. Um, and They didn't separate those things. So that connection was really, and to me is still the most important thing, um, for any business or, you know, any organization.

So if we have a, if we have a shelter, let's say, you know, we have a shelter in a relatively small community and they're, they're struggling, like all shelters are struggling as far as decreased, decreased adoptions and that kind of stuff, and they want to start reaching out more to the community. What would you say is their first step as far as learning about the community that where they live in?

I would say the first thing that you'll want to do is figure out the makeup of your community. So whether that's going online and googling your zip code and getting the census information, but understanding what the makeup of your community is and identifying where they gather. Right. So let's say I'm going to give an example here in St. Louis. We had what was once a community that was mostly black at one point. Turn into a mostly Latino Hispanic community, and there was definitely a gathering place there was definitely a couple of buildings where they felt at home together where there were parties where there were meetings about, you know, like, finding financial or, you know, how to become a citizen where they were really holding all of these information, um, type of community events. And when you know where those places are, you can begin, I think, that relationship. Go there, um, meet, um, here in St. Louis, it was the library. It was a library in a community. And to know the librarian is to know the gatekeeper. And so it's always someone different. It may not be a librarian in your community. You know, it may be a, um, restaurant. Who the business owner is considered almost a celebrity among that community. And so that's the gatekeeper. Um, but know the makeup of your community and start to find out where they gather. And I'd say the next step is try to make one friend, just one friend. And, um, I, I think that's easier than most people think.

So once you, once you gather the information as far as the, the makeup of your community, what are going to be the ways that we can approach the community? Like what are going to be the resources that a shelter can use to reach those people?

So I would say if you're just starting out, the information you should go out with is the very basic. So information like what you do, your address, why you're there. Um, but it's really important to start out with the basics. I went to a community where they were really excited to show me like the information that they had for the community. And when I looked at it, it was really complicated. It was about TNR and it was like the process of it and why do it and I was like, oh boy, um, This is too much, right? Like, um, I think it's important first to assess, you know What are your needs in that community? What do you need to do? Um, and then we'll work back from there. So I wouldn't start right at TNR, right? Even if you have the information translated, um, into, you know, the language of that community, it's still very confusing. You have to start at the beginning by introducing yourself and really inviting them to come See you to come visit the building. Um, if you have vaccine clinics nearby or at the building those are fabulous inviting them to things that are, um, a benefit to them, right? So either it's low cost or it's free, but I would really start with basic information, basic services, And if you are able to provide like free services, free vaccines, those are the places to begin to connect. You have a very, um, engaged audience when they come to you for, at a vaccine clinic. And so if you have one person that's, you know, Doing, um, the vaccinating and another one that's just connecting that's greeting people, right? Really basic connection points, um, being kind. Smiling, like it is. It is just the basic things that can take you so far. Don't try to complicate it by going straight into a TNR conversation. Oh, do you feed community cats or blah, blah, blah. They will tell you, you know, um, they will give you that information in the best manner they can. Obviously, if you have somebody on staff that can speak that particular language, great, but we're not always going to have that. Um, that language experience until we meet someone that is bilingual in that community and wants to help you. And those people are out there. Um, there are kids growing up in these communities that are learning, um, newer things about pets, about, you know, businesses and, you know, they can be your gateway as well. So really think back to basics. Um, think about even, you know, how to connect in schools, especially if you're in a small town, um, because, these kids are learning the language and they are giving the information to their parents. I think a lot of parents that either don't speak the language or are new here, they delight when their kids come home with information. And so making sure that there's access to that information it's fantastic. You don't always have to have the The knowledge of the language to connect with people.

I like the idea of going to schools because I have gone to usually really young, um, classes like kindergarten through about like third grade, because they're the ones that are really excited to see you, right? Like once you get into high school, they just kind of, you know, watching their phone and, and ignoring you or whatever, but the. They're really little kids like they're very impressionable and they want to learn and they're so excited and they love animals and you go in and you give them information about, you know, their, their pets overall health, the important of going to get vaccines, the same as your parents take you to get your vaccines, the important of, of taking care of their teeth. And you give them handouts that you know that the kids are not necessarily going to read those handouts. You give them coloring pages, but then they take them home and they say, Hey, look, look at the coloring page that I made. And then they start a conversation with the parent. And then hopefully that gets the parent to, to say, Oh, I never thought about, you know, if you're needing this, and then that can potentially bring them in to, you know, to, to get. preventive care for their animals.

Absolutely. I mean, think about it. I mean, I remember when the dentist came in and showed you the big toothbrush and how you brush your teeth and how you do these things. And yes, I'm not reading the brochure they give me afterwards, you know, um, but I brought it home and parents knew about it. And so we did have a discussion and, um, and so it's really. It's really a way to begin those conversations. One of the things that, um, I think a lot of cultures have in common is, um, or at least I know, you know, when I speak to different ethnicities, um, that are, you know, my friends that are different ethnicities. We all have this collective mentality. Um, when decisions are made, they're made for what's best for the entire family, not necessarily what is best for one individual. So this There's a lot of collective discussions. There's a lot of, um, engagement in, you know, what did you learn today? Or, you know, um, and I think also as I learned new words in English, I was always excited to like tell my parents, or I would. I was, I feel so bad for doing this, but I always corrected my mom, uh, because you know, she was learning English at the same time I was, but she was in her thirties and, um, she would say what time it is. What time it is? And I'm like, do you mean what time is it? Like, is that a question? And it was something that was really hard for her. And so she'd always be like, what time it is? And I'm like, mom, it's what time is it? And so we had a lot of moments where I would, you know, And, you know, give her information or, you know, educator on how to say different or, you know, conjugating different things in English. Um, so we always have these opportunities for discussion. And I think, um, we're no matter whether you're an introvert or extrovert, if you're in a Latino family, you are. required to talk about things. So, um, so I think there are just so many opportunities where you can, you know, go to the younger ones in the family and then that message gets up to the adults. So that's, that's definitely one way to do it. Knowing that the decisions are made by the parents, that's where you have to also remember that you're going to need to have some information and it has to be basic information so that they can come along with the child, um, and, you know, feel more informed so they can make decisions. better decisions for their families.

So we have evaluated our community. We have decided on our messaging on starting simple and not overwhelming people with too much and about the importance of face to face meeting. Now, how about social media? How does social media tie into all of this?

I love social media, first and foremost. Um, I think that, um, all generations are on there in some way. Um, and so I think social media is still fantastic. What I would say is, and what we do, is we ensure we have Things for different audiences, right? You want to know who's coming to your page. But the way I really think about measuring how well we're doing on social media and how well we're doing on our website is seeing how many new follows are we getting from people that, um, you know, have are not part of our page, right? So how many people are we seeing that we're adding, that are seeing a reel and are opting in to, you know, follow us. Um, because too often we just talk in circles. We just talk to each other. We talk to our Followers that are already following us. We know what they like, right? Um, we know what gets the clicks. And so we just continue in that pattern. But one of the big goals for us is to continue to add younger people looking at this content. Because those those folks are helping to make the decision of the animal that's coming in to the home, and they are absolutely on social media. So having information about adoption, but not just adoption, like one of the things I'm always strict on is adoption. We want to push adopting from your local shelter or rescue versus just adoption. Because one of the things I learned when we did research, um, on Latinos was that, and we already know this, that adoption is a term that's. used for all kind, all acquisition, whether you did it at a pet store or you did it at a shelter, everyone's using the word adoption. But I think even more so Latinos really felt that they were saving an animal at a pet store, right? So they saw the conditions. They weren't happy with them. Um, but the, the, the response was, well, I'm going to buy the dog and get it away from this, um, not realizing obviously that then you're perpetuating, you know, the whatever's happening on that other side. So, um, I think it's important that we stay on top of trends, listen to your volunteers, your young ones. Um, if. You know, I loved the fact that, um, our social media person, um, you know, is in the know of the, the TikTok trends and all of that, and was able to bring some of that humor, um, and some of those trends into shelter content, so it's about looking at ways to bring people to your content to bring new people to your content, consistently asking your followers to, um, to, to forward the messages. I even ask our volunteer team to ensure that the volunteers know to share out our content because their contacts are out in the world and aren't following us. So it's really about how do we get out of our own loop and bring in more people of all different, you know, age groups. So you have to sometimes. Take a risk. Um, and you know, follow it a certain trend. Your older audience may totally not know it'll go over their head, but your younger audience will pick it up. And I think to me, the most important thing about social media is understanding not everyone gets served up the content you send out. So it's, You know, all algorithm based. The more engagement you get, the more it does get shared out. But, you know, you have to get out of the loop of talking to your followers, um, and really start thinking about how do you bring in more engagement from others and think about content that requires engagement. So, everyone, it's, you know, whatever, "Yappy Friday" um, "please post a picture of your adopted pet and what he's doing right now." People love that because if I get an opportunity to show off my pet, I will do it. And so now. Facebook is automatically already seeing, Oh my God, there's a lot of engagement. I'm going to push this out to more people. And so your reach will go up. Um, it's important to comment, like your own post. And like, if somebody comments on your post, comment back, um, that increases engagement as well. So understand that it's not the one all be all solution to adoption. But it is a way to bring more people into the fold of animal welfare. So, be open to new ideas, um, try to do as much engagement content as possible. Keep an upbeat tone. Life is hard. It's really hard right now. It's very difficult to maintain positivity with politics. With, you know, what's happening in schools, there's a lot of bad news and bad news weighs on people. Don't have your posts become the additional bad news, which will turn people off. So, try to keep an upbeat voice. Try to bring people along in the journey. But I would say the best advice is maintain that positivity and maintain that open mind to really go a little extra, um, in your content and know that social is part of your media mix, not your entire solution.

Yeah, because some people, especially in rural communities and some underserved communities, they may not have social media. They may not have Wi Fi at home. Like we, we don't even think about that being a possibility. I, we, we call people sometimes and they have a landline. Like what is that? Right. Like people don't know that that even exists. Yet, that is the reality of some of our clients, of some of our community members. So they are being left out if we are only approaching one, one thing. As you say, you know, like social media is going to approach a lot of different people, but that person that has a landline, that person is probably the one that you need to reach at the library, the person that you need to reach at some community center, at the Y, you know, because that's going to be their, their focus of engagement. The other thing that you said that resonates is that I really hate when on social media, you get some of these groups that are constantly posting and everything is. death row. This dog's gonna be killed tomorrow. This dog's gonna be killed if nobody gets it. This is ridiculous that this is happening and that kind of stuff. And I'm not saying that we should not speak for those animals because definitely we have to get their information out there. We have to let people know that this is the reality of shelters and animals unfortunately and sadly are dying in shelters. But when every single thing you put out is depressing, people are just gonna unfollow you because they don't want to see that. They don't want to see all the depressing stuff. One of the things that, that I do is when I have a case that, that is kind of sad, like we, we get a dog and it's been hit by a car or, you know, a kitten with a, ruptured eye or something like that, I will take pictures. I will take that story, but I'm also going to wait until the story unfolds and I have a happy ending so that then I can tell people, look at how this poor kitten came in, but look, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We have a happy ending here. And then that makes, you know, that, that, those are the tear jerker moments because you look at the positivity that happened. And in my experience, that helps draw more, more viewers. And in the case of shelters that may help bring in more donations because you're saying look at look at the great things that we're doing with the help that you're giving us and this cat this dog is in a better place because of you.

I think that's a fantastic approach because I'm the same. I see often too many graphic images, but as it happens, which can be really anxiety inducing. And, um, very much, I think, a detriment to your brand. Um, because then it becomes, like you said, almost like a rhythm. So it worked one time. So you continue to do it. But over time that wears on your audience. And yes, you will just stop seeing those posts or opt out of those posts, because it's very difficult to be in fight or flight mode consistently when you're looking at shelter content. So I'd say we're really similar in that, um, you know, we had, we had a case, um, We still we have a case currently where a dog was shot. Um, luckily this prognosis is amazing. He's, you know, um, going home probably this week, you know, amazing things, right? The dog strayed from home, comes back two days later and they noticed that he's got like, Like what looks like a gunshot wound between his eyes, but it has not touched that that gunshot did not touch any of the, you know, the life altering tissue, um, and the dog really made it home. There was they were able to pull the bullet out and he has, he's got a great recovery. And now. We talk about it because we want to find what happened to this dog and likely will need to Find a way to pay for the care of that dog For all of the medical and the overnights that they did an emergency. So I think that's a great way to stay positive. Um, and definitely I know that there are some that say, you know, here's our last chance list. Um, I'm, I'm really torn in that, um, because I think there are some, um, organizations that are taking, I think, a more positive approach to it. Like here, we know we have these dogs. Space is the only issue we have here. Um, you know, if we can get these dogs into foster, if we can get them adopted, but, you know, and I think they're using better names than, you know, last chance or, you know, kill list. Um, oh boy, that word just really. Um, bugs the heck out of me. But, um, I think it's It's important to have a variety of content, not get stuck in the doom and gloom um, even if we feel it on the daily basis. That is not how to bring people in to help you. Um, so it's really important to, to find some positivity and bring people to aid and be part of the solution versus continuing to just add anxiety to people's feeds. But you're right, you know that when I talked about that library, um, at that library, the reason it is the gathering point is because you have access to WiFi. At the library, and when they were laying like the, the what you need for like Google fiber and all of that, they didn't do it in that neighborhood. Right. But the library has it. So it does become the gathering point after school. So you can have access to Wi Fi. So yeah, that's why it's important that you know where people gather more than just social because your community is probably not going to be on social all the time.

And there are some people that because of all of the negativity in social media, they're little by little getting away from it or only doing things like like Snapchat or Instagram or, you know, that kind of stuff because they don't want to read all this, all this stuff, they just want to see a picture and kind of feed off that picture. So, you know, we have to be, we have to be able to approach. A lot of different individuals that may be getting away from social media. So that brings me up to most people have email addresses. So how beneficial is it to create an e newsletter for different organizations?

Um, I find that I think e newsletters are great as long as you keep it brief and, um, use visuals, right? So, um, if it's too text heavy, it's just too much. Like you said, there's a lot of competing. Your, your audience is getting thrown things at them. I mean, if you're on Facebook these days, you can see that even everything has changed on Facebook. You get more ads than you actually get. Your friends content. So people are becoming more like, Oh, this is enough. You know, let's just keep scrolling. Keep scrolling. Um, so I think if you do a newsletter, having some visuals, but making it short and sweet, you know, understand, like, the action that you want is to stay, have them stay in the know, have them continue to, you know, engage in some way. They're not going to click on everything. They're not going to read everything. But if you can find out what they did read or that even they opened it, that's important. So I think newsletters are very valid. I think if you can also, you know, if you have the opportunity to make a Spanish newsletter, if you have a Spanish speaking audience, that's fantastic because chances are they're not getting a ton of content in their own language. Um, so when they do, it's like, ah, I want to read it, right? Like I speak, you know, just like you, we speak predominantly English in our daily lives. Um, but tell me you don't do a double take when you see an ad in Spanish and it's because they're speaking to our heart language. They're speaking to our family language and that. Has draw that has a lot of motion for us. So when you can do that, you automatically grab more attention than the other emails that are in that inbox.

And then I guess finally, the, some, some rescues and shelters just for, for a website. They just utilize things like the free sites from Petfinder and that kind of stuff. And I feel like they're not able to tell the story and they're not able to really say what's in the shelter, what sets them apart and showcase their animals in an inviting way. I know that I. I just kind of cringe when somebody gives me a website and I go in and it's just some kind of like AI formulated, you know, generic site landing page. So how important is the website and what are the things that they should include in that website to, to engage, not just the one time engagement, but perhaps to keep people coming back to it.

I think the way to keep people coming back to it is to link to the places of your site that you want people to look at. First of all, you don't need a difficult or complex, um, website. You don't need to, um, Every, I have to say, like, I'm, I'm speaking from experience because right now I'm not happy. with our website, um, because I think it needs to be a lot simpler and you have to have a strategy in terms of what content you want for people to look at, right? So one of the things I Um, and that is something that I suggest my team do. So anytime we have a social, let's say the social is about transports, and we want people to donate to a certain transport, right? So I always provide the link to that page. So people, so they don't have to read the whole thing. We can just gauge. Do they want this content? And then do they visit the site? And at the end of the month, you can look over your Google Analytics and see where people are coming from, what they're doing on the site, um, and that leads you to formulate kind of the strategy you want based on the goals that you have, um, for the organization. So, you know, are people coming direct to the site? Are they coming from a link? Um, or is it, you know, are they coming from another site? Right? So, um, to me, it's about making your, um, your website simple. Not throwing everything at once. Cause I know there are all these stakeholders and they think their program needs the most, and this program needs the most, it's important that you understand what your strategy is for your organization, build the website in that manner, keeping it simple, knowing that it's not supposed to be everything. It's supposed to be enough to get people to act on something, right? Make any forms that you have easy, simple. If you're going to become, you know, a volunteer, it should just be a very simple form. Then follow up, um, with an email or another communication. But it shouldn't be how you conduct business. Because at the end of the day, people do want other people. They want to talk to somebody. They have questions. Provide an email address. Not just a link. So I get that you may not have enough bandwidth, and you can set expectations on a website or on an email. But it's important that you don't see your website as the sole source marketing information element. It really should be a simple breakdown. Use simple language. Um, Stay away from a lot of paws and effect. P A W S. Um, check out our pawsibilities. P A W S. Really try to stay as simple as possible because if they're linking or if they're clicking on a language switch, those things do not translate. So you could lose meaning. So, use the play on words for social or for big events, where you can be, have some fun and try to find what the fun might be on the other language side, but there's not always a fun on other in other languages. So I would just kind of, um, avoid it altogether.

I think that we have given our audience a lot of information to, to digest, but I think that these are, these are necessary steps for getting the information out there. And as you mentioned, for getting, for reaching out the people that are taking care of the animals, so that then the animals can be taken care of, you know, we're not going to adopt our way out of this problem. The shelters cannot kill their way out of this problem. The intake problem needs to stop. The overpopulation problem needs to stop. So we need to come together and figure out how to utilize all our resources to get the information that needs to. To be given out, educate the community, educate the public, getting it, get them engaged, and then have everybody, everybody work together for the animal.

Yeah, absolutely agree. And feel free to, like, I talked a lot, so feel free to snip and cut and do whatever you need to. Um, because I feel like I can talk forever about this issue, but for me, it just, it really comes down to. Imagining for yourself, bridge building, imagine yourself as a bridge builder and understand that all of this work is truly about connection and belonging. It's all about that. Um, and that it's an inside out job like we cannot, we have to change ourselves. In order to be able to come out to the community in an open way. And I think so many of us are stuck, um, or our leadership is stuck. Um, and, and those are big issues that we need to look at seriously. And the importance of mentorship, right? Um, I think about a lot of our content, even at these national conferences. Is so similar, and it's the same groups coming back to hear it. A lot of the groups that need the information cannot afford to come to these conferences. So we need to figure out how to reach out to them, right? How to provide mentorship if they want it. Um, but we have to do that in a way that's about connecting. And that's about, um, you know, integrity. Right? And knowing that progress is slow. I mean, progress is slow. And, um, it's not gonna happen in a year, in two years. Please don't set goals like that because, you know, we don't know what's going to happen. Um, and people turn over a lot. So it's just important that you, I think, extend yourself whenever you can, to whoever you can. And We will progress, but it takes time. It takes time.

Well, thank you so much for the work that you're doing and for sharing your story and for sharing all this important information. Hopefully again, some of our, some of our audience that are, that work in shelters and in rescue can take, even if they can take one thing and run with it, then that's going to help improve the life of the animals in the shelter and the lives of the individuals that are working in that shelter as well. So I hope, you know, Yeah. Say something.

Well, yeah, I want to say something because, um, I'm so proud of you. Um, I'm really proud of you when I met you through LinkedIn, I think because we had a mutual friend, um, I was just so impressed by the work that you do. Not only that you're Boricua, because I absolutely love you for that, um, and I love that we, that we both come from the same island, um, but to see how much you've done. Um, and the risks that you've taken for the animals. Um, just knowing I how much you've gone through the changes that you yourself have gone through. Um, and to be such an agent of change. Um, I'm so proud of you, Dr. G like, really, I'm, I feel really humbled to know you. Um, and I hope that we can be side by side in Puerto Rico someday.

Thank you so much. I'm horrible at taking compliments, so I will do my best to say thank you. That's it. That's the introvert in me. I don't know how to handle it. But no, I really appreciate you saying that, you know, it's a matter of, of knowing, of knowing what you want to do and not letting any kind of obstacles come in your way. You know, you fail and that's okay. You just figure it out and then, you know, go on to the next thing until you find the one that doesn't fail. Just don't give up.

Absolutely. Don't give up.

So thank you so much for being here. And for everybody who's listening, thank you for listening and thank you for caring.

Thank you for having me.