How many times have you thought "There ought to be a law!" when thinking about animal welfare and sheltering? Some of animal welfare's top leaders in legislative approaches, lobbying, and the political process will be speaking at the Michigan Pet Fund Alliance's "Getting to the Goal" Conference in Troy, Mich., on Sept. 4-5, 2014.
Nathan Winograd
Executive director of the national No Kill Advocacy Center, Nathan Winograd is a graduate of Stanford Law School and a former criminal prosecutor and corporate attorney. He has spoken nationally and internationally on animal sheltering issues, has written animal protection legislation at the state and national levels, has created successful no-kill programs in both urban and rural communities, and has consulted with a wide range of animal protection groups, including some of the largest and best known in the nation. His book
Redemption presents the No-Kill Equation (the formula for ending the killing of animals in shelters), promotes the need to legislate no-kill through shelter reform legislation, and includes a proposed model law. Redemption is the most critically acclaimed book on the topic in the United States, winner of five national book awards, and the inspiration for a documentary film of the same name. He'll be presenting the Michigan premiere of Redemption, a session on legislating shelter reform, and an inspirational keynote address, "Yes, We Can!"
Julie Lewin
Julie Lewin is founder and president of the National Institute for Animal Advocacy (NIFAA). The organization's mission is to convince advocates that state and local political organizations must be a mandatory component of their advocacy and to teach them how to be political. She's been an animal rights activist, a statehouse lobbyist for several animal advocacy organizations, and a journalist. She is author of the highly-praised, comprehensive how-to book, "Get Political for Animals and Win the Laws They Need: Why and How to Form a Voting Bloc for Animals in Your Town, City, County and State - and the Simple Steps It Takes to Do It." Her webinars include:- "Get Political for Animals and Win the Laws They Need"
- "How the Lawmaking Process REALLY Works, and How to Impact Each Step"
- "How to Launch and Run Your Political Organization for Animals"
- "How to Reform Your Local Animal Shelter and Animal Control Department"
Lewin will be presenting on "Citizen Lobbying: How to Effectively Advocate for Animals to Legislators." She'll show that winning strong laws for animals requires a political organization that endorses candidates for election and grows constantly; how lawmaking is an elaborate step-by-step process, with each step a danger for your bill; why your group needs fewer members to be more powerful than you realize; easy recruitment strategies for the group and you, the individual activist; why typical petitions, media coverage and protests are weak tools for winning legislation, and more.
Courtney Protz-Sanders
Courtney Protz-Sanders and Bubba
Courtney Protz-Sanders is a Board Trustee for Michigan's Political Action Committee for Animals (Mi-PACA) and is the founder and executive director of Paws for Life Rescue, a foster-based animal welfare organization operating throughout southeast Michigan. Courtney has more than 15 years of experience in the field. Employed by the Dumb Friends League, a large open admission humane society with intake numbers averaging 75 a day in Denver, Colorado, from 1999 through 2004, Courtney has since volunteered her time at various shelters in Oakland County. She is an active volunteer of the National Disaster Animal Response Team (NDART) and was deployed to New Orleans following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, to San Diego following the wildfires in 2007, and most recently to a Livingston County puppy mill bust in May 2014. Courtney works full-time in the auto industry in addition to managing Paws for Life Rescue and Mi-PACA. She graduated from Michigan State University in 1999 with a Bachelor of Arts in communication, then earned a Master of Science degree in public relations in 2002 from the University of Denver. Courtney's family consists of rescued animals: pibble mixes Peanut and Tyson and cats Marley and Pippin, as well as several foster animals at any given time.
At the 2014 conference, Protz-Sanders will be presenting "Smashing the Political Brick Wall: Advocating for Change at the City and County Levels," sharing how animal lovers can band together to make changes at the local level to improve the lives of their community's pets, farm animals and wildlife. This very simple concept of a PAC as the voice for Michigan's animals has already led to major changes in cities and counties throughout Michigan. She'll also speak on "How We Make it Work: Busting Myths, Working Together, Best Practices, and Saving Treatable Pets."
For more information about the conference, to apply for a scholarship, or to register, click here.
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