Speaking out about the importance of Black lives isn’t a trend; it’s an ongoing commitment to justice and to standing up for our Black friends, neighbors, and community members. 

One of our core values, Compassion, states that “we are concerned for the well-being of others, both human and animal, and the challenges they face.” Over the last several weeks, Animal Friends Alliance has researched how systemic racism impacts our field of animal welfare and our community of Northern Colorado. We are committed to ensuring that our organization is a welcoming and inclusive place for people of color, and we are taking the time to be thoughtful in our words and actions. 

We support our community members and leaders in the pursuit of meaningful change and we are ready to do our part. We are taking steps to progress beyond simply rejecting discrimination and toward actively welcoming and supporting marginalized and oppressed members of our community. Animal Friends Alliance is establishing an internal Diversity & Inclusion Committee to regularly assess how we can improve and we are implementing implicit bias training for all staff. As we continue to educate ourselves and formulate additional ways to better serve, support, and include Black community members and other people of color, we invite you to share your feedback and questions by emailing development@savinganimalstoday.org. We want to be accountable and we want to take meaningful action toward permanent change.