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VMAE | Live! is all about connecting our special network for input, insight and inspiration while exploring association management and professional issue topics. What began as monthly webinar series has now evolved into webinars, town halls, new member orientation, and VMAE Strategic Initiative Partner webinars.

Diversifying the Veterinary Pipeline of the Future

Wednesday,June 5, 2024 – 2:00-3:00 PM Eastern

Veterinary medical associations are increasingly looking for innovative ways to support the recruitment and retention of individuals from underrepresented communities to the veterinary profession. This program will explore current ideas and examples of how to proceed and advance these worthwhile efforts. We will hear how Pawsibilities Vet Med is working to increase the diversity of the population entering the veterinary profession and how your VMA may partner with them. The Minnesota VMA will describe its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Action Team formed in 2021. One of the top action items the team developed early and has remained active on is to promote interest in the veterinary profession at the elementary, middle school, and high school age levels. Participants will learn about a corporate work study partnership that can be modeled on a local or national level, as well as recent exploration into career fairs, after school programs, and children’s museums.

Presenters

Kelly Andrews

Executive Director

Minnesota VMA

Kelly Andrews joined the staff at the MVMA in 1989 and has held every staff role during her tenure. She has been the Executive Director since March of 2022. Kelly remains focused on listening to the MVMA membership and turning their ideas and passion into tangible benefits for the entire profession.

Valerie C. Marcano, DVM, PhD, Dip. ACPV

CEO & Board of Directors Co-Chair

Pawsibilities

Dr. Valerie Marcano is an international speaker published in multiple peer-reviewed journals as well as an entrepreneur advocating for health and belonging in veterinary medicine. In 2020, Dr. Marcano co-founded the 501(c)3 nonprofit Pawsibilities Vet Med and in 2022 she founded ValCri Consulting LLC. Pawsibilities Vet Med is a nonprofit that aims to increase recruitment and retention of individuals from underrepresented and marginalized communities to the veterinary profession. ValCri Consulting LLC is a firm offering consultations in poultry health as well as diversity and belonging. Dr. Marcano is the chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the American Association of Avian Pathologists and a member of the Commission for a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Veterinary Profession of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges.

Ryan Tibbitts

Director of Marketing, Communications, and Engagement

Minnesota VMA

Ryan Tibbitts has been with the MVMA for the past two and a half years and is the association’s Director of Marketing, Communications and Engagement. On top of his day-to-day marketing and communications duties, he is the staff lead on a number of committees and task forces including the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Action Team, the Power of Ten Leadership cohort and is the student liaison with the University of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine.