The Best Friends Podcast Episode 47
It’s hard to imagine animal welfare and sheltering without Maddie’s Fund. From the support of individual shelters and rescue organizations to national campaigns and the vast amount of resources and programs, online courses, and conferences, Maddie's fundamentally changed what we do and how we do it. Mary Ippoliti-Smith has been there since there very beginning and has been directly responsible for much of that impact.
Today, as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, she is responsible for the family foundation’s strategic direction.
We talked to Mary about her storied career and what she sees ahead for the no-kill movement.
Click here to check out all the episodes from the podcast.
RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE
- Maddie's Fund
- Register for the No Place Like Home Challenge
- Maddie's Fund on Facebook
- Harvard University's Project Implicit
Mary Ippoliti-Smith
Mary joined Maddie's Fund® in 1998 and currently serves on the Executive Leadership Team, with responsibility for the development of the strategic direction, annual operating business plan and policies to fulfill Maddie's Fund's mission. Prior to this role, Mary was the Vice President of Operations at Maddie's Fund, where she was involved in every facet of corporate and philanthropic activities, supervising the day-to-day operations of the foundation and managing a multi-million dollar budget and distributions of more than $10M in grants annually.
Previous to Maddie's Fund, Mary spent seven years at the San Francisco SPCA and saw firsthand how much a dedicated group of staff and volunteers could accomplish to save animal lives in unprecedented ways.
Mary has a degree in development studies from the University of California, Berkeley (Go Bears!). She and her husband share their home in Oakland, California, with an assortment of canine companions, including Daisy, Ziggy and Roxie.
The 2021 conference is happening on June 23rd and 24th, 2021! Have you ever wanted to share your knowledge as a presenter at the Best Friends National Conference? If so, now is the time to submit your proposal.
We're looking for content around any aspect of our work. Potential topics include advocacy and community engagement, animal care, cats, coalition-building, communications, executive and leadership, field services and animal control, fundraising, innovation, large dogs, lifesaving, and shelter medicine.
The submission period is open from now until February 3rd. Click here to get your proposal in! To learn more about the conference, and to sign up for general updates, click here.
Episode Transcript