Colorado Animal Welfare Conference Session

Don’t Be Judgy: Messaging That Leads To Positive Change

}

9-10am • August 19, 2025

Lakewood Ballroom

General Session

Stories about pets and people are everywhere. So much content floods the news, social media, and our inboxes daily. Each time we encounter a story, our brain is triggered to ask questions—what is the problem, who is responsible, and what is the solution? In seconds, our mind makes answers. The answers influence how we think about issues – like overwhelmed shelters, access to care, cruelty, and responsible pet ownership – and what we should do about them.

In this session, we will explore two essential practices for narrative change that have big impacts on the ideas and beliefs that shape our work: “systems framing” and “messaging with dignity.”

  • Explore how our mind takes in messages and makes meaning out of them, influencing what we think, feel, and decide.

  • Learn about “systems framing” and “messaging with dignity” and why they are essential to our work now.

  • Understand how these principles shape our thinking about problems, people, and pets and lead us to more impactful solutions.

  • Explore how to put these principles into practice—on social media with donors, staff, Board members, your community, and people in our sector.

Dr. Jon Geller

Hanna Lentz

Hanna Lentz is the exeutive director of SPARC (Supporting People and Animal Relationships). She has spent two decades working in animal care and well-being. Her experiences include work at sanctuaries and shelters such as the Washington Humane Society in D.C., MSPCA-Methuen, Farm Sanctuary in New York, and SASHA Farm Sanctuary in Michigan.
As the global program officer for companion animals at the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), Lentz helped create and facilitate community-based dog and cat population management programs in communities worldwide – including Mexico, Bosnia, and Chile.  She holds a master’s degree in Animals and Public Policy from Tufts University and a global MBA from IE University in Madrid, Spain.