The Best Friends Podcast Episode 147
The animal welfare industry’s approach to data has come a long way in the last few years. As a result, we understand more than ever the importance of tracking our lifesaving efforts and using that data to ensure we have the right resources in the right places to save the most lives. However, the processes and tools available to help collect and analyze data have been due for an upgrade.
This week we focus on a newly launched platform that aims to help you take the way you use data to the next level. The Best Friends data science team designed the features of Shelter Pet Data Alliance. It includes automatically populated dashboards that quickly show you what you need to know and help you understand what you need to do to improve and how to do it.
The Chief Mission Officer for Best Friends, Holly Sizemore, joins us this week to discuss this exciting new platform.
Click here to check out all the episodes from the podcast.
Resources from this episode
This week's guest
Holly Sizemore
Chief Mission Officer
Holly Sizemore entered the animal welfare world in 1991 when she discovered a colony of community cats eating near a restaurant dumpster. The experience inspired her to co-found the first trap-neuter-return (TNR) organization in Utah (Community Animal Welfare Society, located in Salt Lake City) and she co-led that organization as a volunteer for more than 10 years.
In 2000, Holly joined No More Homeless Pets in Utah and served the organization in a variety of roles, ending with Executive Director from 2007 to 2010. While at No More Homeless Pets in Utah, she created and implemented some of the first comprehensive, targeted community cat public-private partnerships with Utah shelters. During her tenure, more than 100,000 lives were saved across the state in Utah shelters, thanks to the efforts of No More Homeless Pets in Utah and its many partners.
In 2010, Holly took a national role at Best Friends and has provided leadership support and stewarded growth in these areas: animal care at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, the Best Friends Network, community cat programs, and puppy mill, cat and pit bull initiatives. In her current role as Chief Mission Officer, Holly oversees the areas of national programs, national no-kill advancement, and legislative and advocacy efforts. A member of Best Friends' senior leadership team, she feels very lucky to be able to work with the teams at Best Friends who are dedicated to scaling up and sustaining the programs that will help create a no-kill country by 2025.
Holly's leadership has focused on growing and improving upon many of the early innovative no-kill programs and tactics implemented throughout Utah, including comprehensive shelter-focused community cat programs, large-scale adoption events, targeted spay/neuter, open adoption policies, community collaboration, data analysis efforts to steer lifesaving, legislative reform, widespread marketing and awareness efforts, effective change and conflict management strategies, and public-private partnerships that involve working side-by-side with shelter partners. The shelter-focused community cat programs have evolved into one of the most effective, efficient and transformational tools in a community's journey toward no-kill, and Holly is most proud of seeing how use of this model is growing exponentially throughout the U.S.
Holly holds a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the University of Utah and a master's degree in public administration from the University of Washington. She and her husband share their home with a few former community cats and one adopted dog. Holly believes that we will achieve our common goal of achieving no-kill nationwide by 2025 through the right balance of warrior resolve, patient persistence and true collaboration.