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Kelly Furnas of Operation Kindness shares her professional journey from Director of Volunteer Services to Chief Operating Officer in less than two years and the leadership mindset and actions that made this path possible. Founded in 1976, Operation Kindness is a pioneer in North Texas for providing assistance to animals in need of medical care, companionship, and a home. In addition to pet adoptions, they provide extensive medical care for animals, a foster program, a pet food pantry, a surrender prevention program, education to pet parents and volunteer opportunities.

And, the pandemic has not slowed them down. They have engaged over 11,000 volunteers since the start and regularly have about 1,600-1,800 volunteers active.

Kelly was initially hired as the director of Volunteer Services in October 2019.  But she was quickly promoted to Director of Operations in January 2021, and then Chief Operating Officer in July 2021.  It’s been a whirlwind ride, but Kelly is well grounded in what it takes to succeed as a leader.

In this episode, she shares how her organization has maintained close connections with volunteers during COVID through a smart communications strategy. 

She also shares advice for volunteer managers who want to advance their careers and offers practical tips on how to frame the volunteer work so it gets noticed and how to effectively ask for resources and support.

For more information, visit https://www.operationkindness.org/.

For More:

For more info on developing your leadership skills, check out Season 2 of the Time + Talent podcast, Episode 206: Strengthening the Impact of Young Professional Volunteers.

Guest Bio:

Kelly Furnas
Chief Operating Officer
Operation Kindness

Kelly Furnas became Chief Operating Officer of Operation Kindness in July 2021, following her roles as Director of Operations and Volunteer Services in recent years.

She has been involved with OPK since 2015. As COO, her goals include

helping Operation Kindness have the largest impact on life saving in North Texas, enhancing her team’s skills, and finding process improvements that allow them to save more lives. 

Previously, she worked in various senior leadership and operation roles in the financial services industry before finding her dream job with Operation Kindness. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business management from Texas A&M University. 

At home, Kelly loves spending time with her cat, Smokey (an Operation Kindness alumni),and her dog Quinn. As an A&M grad, you will find her rooting for her Aggies during every game. She also loves to cook and even acted as a judge in a local cooking competition!

You can find Kelly atkelly@operationkindness.org and on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-furnas/.