Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 4 days ago
Speaker: Dr. Azalia Boyd, Veterinarian and Owner Critters and Cultures Podcast and Boyd Veterinary Services
In animal welfare, we often focus on technical skills and best practices, but what if one of the most powerful tools for impact isn’t something you can learn from a textbook? Cultural agility is a superpower that allows us to navigate diverse communities, build trust, and make meaningful change in the lives of both animals and people.
In this interactive session, Dr. Azalia Boyd, a veterinarian, cultural intelligence consultant, and host of the Critters and Cultures podcast, will take you on a journey through real-world stories that reveal how cultural agility (or the lack of it) shapes the outcomes of sheltering, rescue, and veterinary outreach.
We’ll explore:
• What cultural agility actually means and why it’s essential in today’s animal welfare landscape.
• The subtle ways cultural misunderstandings impact adoptions, community engagement, and veterinary care.
• How to develop this superpower to create stronger connections, better outcomes, and a more inclusive future for animal welfare.
Expect a thought-provoking and engaging conversation that will leave you rethinking how you approach your work, and maybe even how you see the world.
To access the full agenda and resources from this call or to ask questions of our speakers, visit https://maddies.fund/communityconversations32425
About Community Conversations, hosted by Maddie’s Fund: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, animal sheltering transformed overnight. Foster-based sheltering, home-based employees and volunteers, along with collaboration galvanized our communities. The pandemic, along with social injustice, has motivated our industry to look at how we partner with our communities and confront our own biases. Shelter and rescue staff across the country began talking on a weekly basis, offering support and innovative ideas to do things differently. To learn more about these calls, visit forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations
00:00 Welcome + Question of the Day
03:45 National Updates
04:31 Presentation
Speaker: Dr. Azalia Boyd, Veterinarian and Owner Critters and Cultures Podcast and Boyd Veterinary Services
In animal welfare, we often focus on technical skills and best practices, but what if one of the most powerful tools for impact isn’t something you can learn from a textbook? Cultural agility is a superpower that allows us to navigate diverse communities, build trust, and make meaningful change in the lives of both animals and people.
In this interactive session, Dr. Azalia Boyd, a veterinarian, cultural intelligence consultant, and host of the Critters and Cultures podcast, will take you on a journey through real-world stories that reveal how cultural agility (or the lack of it) shapes the outcomes of sheltering, rescue, and veterinary outreach.
We’ll explore:
• What cultural agility actually means and why it’s essential in today’s animal welfare landscape.
• The subtle ways cultural misunderstandings impact adoptions, community engagement, and veterinary care.
• How to develop this superpower to create stronger connections, better outcomes, and a more inclusive future for animal welfare.
Expect a thought-provoking and engaging conversation that will leave you rethinking how you approach your work, and maybe even how you see the world.
To access the full agenda and resources from this call or to ask questions of our speakers, visit https://maddies.fund/communityconversations32425
About Community Conversations, hosted by Maddie’s Fund: When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, animal sheltering transformed overnight. Foster-based sheltering, home-based employees and volunteers, along with collaboration galvanized our communities. The pandemic, along with social injustice, has motivated our industry to look at how we partner with our communities and confront our own biases. Shelter and rescue staff across the country began talking on a weekly basis, offering support and innovative ideas to do things differently. To learn more about these calls, visit forum.maddiesfund.org/communityconversations
00:00 Welcome + Question of the Day
03:45 National Updates
04:31 Presentation
