Colorado Animal Welfare Conference Session
Growing Humane Cultures: Coaching Skills for Animal Welfare Leaders
9-10am • August 19, 2026
Lakewood Ballroom
General Session
The heart of humane animal care lies in how we care for the humans inside our organizations. Yet many animal welfare teams struggle with compassion fatigue, emotional overload, and communication patterns that unintentionally create tension, avoidance, or internal politics. You will learn how to develop cultures without triangulation, where difficult conversations become easier, and where collaboration grows from shared clarity and mutual respect. This session equips participants, for the sake of the animals they serve, to build truly humane workplaces that are a joy to join.
Making Conflict Constructive: Practicing Courageous, Humane Conversations
10:30-11:45Am • August 19, 2026
City Lights 1
Leadership
If the keynote answers the question “Why does humane culture matter?” — this workshop answers “How do we actually do it?”
This interactive session equips you with practical, repeatable skills for communicating directly, resolving tension early, and supporting one another through emotionally charged work. Participants will learn how to move conversations from avoidance and anxiety into shared clarity and collaborative problem-solving – without harshness, defensiveness, or escalation. Using real scenarios common in shelters, rescues and veterinary teams, this workshop provides guided scripts, reflection prompts, and practice exercises designed to help participants recognize triangulation, interrupt internal politics, and engage in conflict with courage and compassion. Learn to facilitate healthy, honest conversations that strengthen trust and advance humane outcomes – for both people and animals.
Michael Simpson
Michael has spoken professionally in over 20 countries, delivering keynote speeches and workshops across the world, and is a contributing author to five books on leadership, coaching and industry trends. He has coached leaders in manufacturing, tech, services, government, sports, and Michael Simpson is a Leadership Coach and Organizational Strategist with experience supporting leaders across manufacturing, tech, government,
sports, and nonprofit sectors in six countries. His previous company earned Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Companies, Colorado Companies to Watch, Denver Chamber Startup of the Year, APEX Emerging Tech Company of the Year, and more than 10 regional and national “Best Places to Work” awards.
Today, he helps organizations operationalize their values — translating purpose and principles into daily behaviors, decision-making norms, hiring practices, feedback language, and conflict resolution patterns. Michael works with leaders to build politics-free environments where triangulation dissolves, difficult conversations become easier, and collaboration strengthens through clarity, courage, and care.
An avid cyclist, outdoorsman, fly fisherman, dog-lover, and award-winning chocolatier, Michael has tracked wolves in Yellowstone, climbed mountain ranges across continents, and dived reefs and wrecks in five oceans. What excites him most, however, is witnessing individuals and teams learn to see themselves clearly and grow into their potential.
Susan Simpson
Susan brings decades of experience in leadership coaching and organizational
development. With a warm, insight-driven approach, she helps individuals and teams align with purpose and grow toward their potential.
With a background in industrial engineering, she integrates behavioral insight with practical systems thinking — enabling cultures to reflect and live their values in daily practice.
She deepened her cross-cultural coaching expertise while working alongside faculty at St. Petersburg State University in Russia, equipping professionals to navigate complex conversations with clarity and grounded presence. She completed formal coaching certification through the International Coaching Federation (ICF) in 2009.
For over a decade, Susan coached internally at an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing software
company, consulting across departments and delivering development programs in 67
organizations. She also served six years on the board of a global nonprofit with 5,000 staff across 70 nationalities, advising leadership on people development and executive evaluation.
Her work focuses on building humane, emotionally mature cultures where truth and care coexist — and where growth becomes visible, meaningful, and measurable.