Best Friends earns place on Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators
When we put a stake in the ground to achieve no-kill nationwide in 2025, I knew that getting there would require new ideas, new ways of thinking, and new approaches to lifesaving. In a word, we would have to innovate.
Today, Fast Company announced its sixth annual Best Workplaces for Innovators list, honoring organizations and businesses that demonstrate an inspiring commitment to encourage and develop innovation at all levels.
I’m incredibly proud to say that Best Friends has earned No. 26 on that list, as well as earning a finalist spot in both the Education & Nonprofits and Social Good categories.
The 2024 Best Workplaces for Innovators list honors companies that are actively creating and sustaining the kinds of innovative cultures that top employees value, as well as recognizes companies that have demonstrated a commitment to building internal infrastructure to foster creative problem-solving.
Best Friends was honored for our partnership with Southern Utah University (SUU), which brings our industry and higher education together to fill a niche in the often-misunderstood space of animal services. Together, we are pioneering online learning in the animal services profession, offering a range of educational opportunities from short courses and certificates to comprehensive programs and degrees, establishing clearer standards and career pathways within the field.
This initiative was spearheaded by two Best Friends employees and one volunteer, all having started when Best Friends’ own Aimee Charlton came to me with a concept to create a higher learning partnership with SUU — her and my alma mater. I loved the idea, and I told her to run with it. And through that out-of-the-box idea came these first-of-their-kind university-endorsed programs with a unique focus on lifesaving-first animal sheltering.
This partnership with SUU is bringing real-world changes to the way we relate to homeless pets, working to transform every community into a sanctuary for animals and to end killing in shelters. So not only is it exciting to be recognized by Fast Company — one of the world’s leading voices on innovation in technology and leadership — but it also validates our belief that we must be scrappy, nimble, and collaborative to save the lives of dogs and cats in America’s shelters.
And it all started with a great idea and a staff member who wholeheartedly believed in it.
-Julie
