Austin Humane Society competitors

Following her magna cum laude graduation from Southern Utah University, Julie Castle and some friends made a brief stop at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary while on vacation in the mid-90’s. Forever transformed, Julie decided to forgo a career in law for a low-paying, high-demand job working in a remote Utah canyon helping animals in need. As employee number 17 at Best Friends Animal Society, Julie worked her way up the ranks to become the organization’s first female CEO in March 2018. In between she helped build the organization into a $130M, 800-employee strong national leader in animal welfare. Julie started her tenure as CEO with the bold commitment to end the killing of dogs and cats in America’s shelters by the year 2025. Prior to her CEO role, Julie served as Best Friends’ Chief Development & Marketing Officer, doubling the organization’s revenue and support within a four-year span. Under her leadership, Best Friends earned the Harris Poll EquiTrend “Non-Profit Brand of the Year” four times, including most recently in 2018. Julie has championed the concept of multiple non-profit organizations, private and public municipalities and the corporate foundation sector putting aside competitive interests and joining forces to publicly tackle a shared social problem. Named by InStyle magazine as one of the “Badass 50 Women Changing the World” in August, 2018, Julie has spoken at TedX in Salt Lake City, Columbia Business School, the BUILD Series in NYC, and headlines the closing session at the Best Friends National Conference every year. Julie lives with her husband Gregory Castle, a Best Friends’ founder and CEO-emeritus, and their two dogs in Kanab, Utah.

Lisa LaFontaine is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Humane Rescue Alliance (HRA), this region’s premier animal welfare organization. In 2019 Lisa oversaw the merger of the Humane Rescue Alliance with St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center to create the first regional, community-based, multi-state animal welfare organization in the nation.

Kirk Mayes is a Board Member at Heat and Warmth Fund and Chief Executive Officer at Forgotten Harvest and is based in Detroit, Michigan. He has experience at The Skillman Foundation and has worked as program associate at National Community Development Institute, Project Director at Community In Schools of Detroit, and Executive Director at Brightmoor Alliance. Kirk attended Brother Rice High School between 1990 and 1994 and Michigan State University between 1994 and 1999.