​

​

​

Adri Herron is an animal welfare leader, entrepreneur, and lifelong advocate for creating better outcomes for animals and the people who care for them. As President & CEO of BetterTogether Animal Welfare Advisors, LLC, Adri brings more than 17 years of hands-on experience in animal rescue, organizational leadership, community engagement, fundraising, and lifesaving program development.

​

In 2010, Adri founded Sanctuary Rescue, building the organization from the ground up into a multifaceted animal welfare organization serving animals and families throughout the community. Under her leadership, Sanctuary Rescue has grown to include three brick-and-mortar locations, a low-cost wellness veterinary clinic, an innovative retail storefront and adoption center, and a community resource center with a food pantry. The organization is supported by a dedicated network of more than 500 volunteers and fosters.

​

Adri’s work has given her a unique perspective on the realities of animal welfare, from the day-to-day challenges of shelter and rescue operations to the larger questions of organizational sustainability, community engagement, fundraising, collaboration, and lifesaving.

​

She is particularly passionate about helping animal welfare organizations move beyond simply managing challenges and toward building systems that work better for animals, staff, volunteers, adopters, and the communities they serve.

Adri has shared her expertise nationally as a presenter at the Best Friends Animal Society National Conference and the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies Conference, speaking on topics including fundraising, neonate animal care, and shelter/rescue collaboration.

​

Her professional accomplishments have also been recognized through honors including the NBC12 Act of Kindness Award and the Full Circle Grief Center’s Living Your Dash Award.

​

Adri is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) and is proud to be part of the Association of Animal Welfare Administrators. She believes continuing education, collaboration, and a willingness to challenge the status quo are essential to advancing the animal welfare profession.

​

Through BetterTogether, Adri brings together the lessons learned from more than a decade of building and leading an animal welfare organization with her belief that no organization has to figure it all out alone.

​

Her philosophy is simple:

Listen first. Learn continuously. Collaborate generously. And always ask, “How can we do better?”

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Kristen Brooks is a lifelong animal lover and seasoned animal welfare professional with more than 20 years of experience working across municipal animal shelters, private rescue organizations, and veterinary medicine. Throughout her career, Kristen has developed a reputation for turning complex challenges into organized, efficient, and sustainable systems that help both people and animals succeed.

​

Kristen’s experience spans nearly every side of animal welfare. She has worked within municipal shelters, private rescue organizations, and veterinary practices, giving her a unique understanding of the different perspectives, challenges, and opportunities that exist across the field.

​

One of Kristen’s most significant accomplishments was building a successful animal transport program from the ground up for one of the country’s largest animal shelters, with more than 30,000 intakes annually. Developing a program of that scale required strategic planning, strong partnerships, efficient processes, detailed logistics, and the ability to create systems that could function effectively within a fast-paced, high-volume environment.

​

Kristen has also served as a practice manager in both a busy municipal animal shelter and private veterinary practice, giving her extensive experience in operations, team management, workflow, client and community relations, and the intersection of veterinary medicine and animal sheltering.

​

She is particularly skilled at identifying inefficiencies, developing clear processes and procedures, and using technology to make organizations more organized, effective, and accountable. Kristen has a natural ability to look at a complicated system, break it down into manageable pieces, and build practical solutions that work in the real world.

​

At BetterTogether, Kristen leads operational consulting with a focus on helping organizations work smarter, strengthen their systems, and create sustainable practices that support lifesaving. She understands that even the most passionate and dedicated animal welfare organizations can become overwhelmed by the demands of daily operations and that strong systems can make the difference between simply keeping up and truly moving forward.

​

Kristen approaches consulting with a combination of experience, organization, curiosity, and compassion. She believes the best solutions come from listening to the people doing the work, understanding the realities they face, and creating processes that make their jobs and their organizations better.

​

As Vice President of Operations, Kristen is committed to helping shelters and rescues build stronger infrastructure, improve efficiency, embrace technology, and develop sustainable programs that ultimately create better outcomes for animals and the communities they serve.

​

Her philosophy is simple:

When you improve the process, you improve the outcome.