In our last post you got a taste of who Candice is and a little preview of what being a DPA! Board Member is all about. As Leslie Sans, DPA!’s Executive Director, said, Candice has a “passion for the animals that we serve everyday.” Please read on to learn more about Candice.
Name and if you hold a title on the BOD what is that?
Candice Aaron
How have you supported DPA’s mission and helped us to accomplish our life saving goals?
Long before I was a board member, I was a donor. We (my husband and I) continue to give to DPA financially, but also donate our time to support events and activities. Jack has been a demo dog for several DPA training classes, and we have also hosted “friendraiser” events at our home for DPA. Quite a few of our friends have become DPA adopters and donors.
Why do you think our mission matters?
Our mission matters because of the disproportionate amount of homeless and abandoned animals in Dallas and in Texas, given the size of our population, and our mission matters because there is no one who is doing what we do on the scale we are, having the impact that we do.
What is one of the most rewarding experiences you have serving or volunteering with DPA?
Definitely it’s having earned the trust, respect, dedication and love of Jack and Ralphie, who were both badly abused and mistreated before their rescue.
How does your professional career (or other skill set) make you an asset to the BOD?
I am a lawyer and Chief Compliance Officer at a bank, and when I was a practicing litigator earlier in my career, I specialized in governance. I’m using that skill to help DPA move into a more mature state of governance with the hiring of our first employee and plans to grow to more, and with the building of our facility. I’m the Chairman of a large global foundation as well (the LIVESTRONG Foundation) and leverage that experience to help the board and volunteers navigate this growth period at DPA.
What is your vision for DPA?
I envision DPA doing what we do on a larger scale, growing into other nearby communities. I also envision building our facility so that we can save more animals and be a true gathering place for adopters, fosters, potential adopters, etc, and bring a tangible sense of place to our DPA community, as well as a place to offer resources like training and behavior work to our fosters and adopters. Long term, I would love to see us partner with a sanctuary or support development of one, to house animals that may be unadoptable for one reason or another. Operationally, I’d like to see us continue to grow to hire more employees vs. volunteers.
Anything else you would like to share?
I am forever grateful to DPA for what it does, because it gave a chance to Jack and Ralphie, who as scarred, scared pit bulls, didn’t stand much of a chance of making it out of DAS alive. Today, Jack is a Canine Good Citizen who has passed his Service Dog public access test. Ralphie is becoming less fearful and more confident every day, and lives a happy, full life in which he brings joy to many. Without DPA and all of its volunteers, neither of these dogs would be doing what they do to make the world a better place for people every day.
Stay tuned for our final May Board Member of the month post. To get a preview of the next post, take a look at WHAT we do, HOW we do it, and WHO we are here.
