For the June 2nd meeting, we will welcome Charleston Animal Society CEO Joe Elmore as our speaker. Joe Elmore joined Charleston Animal Society, the first animal organization in South Carolina and one of the oldest in the Nation, in 2012 as its chief executive officer. He brought over 30 years of experience in the nonprofit sector, throughout 8 states and 3 times overseas, to an organization in turmoil. He stabilized its operations and led it to become the leading animal welfare organization in the State and a model in the region and nation. In addition, Charleston Animal Society became the most honored charity in South Carolina for the past three years. Designing and launching No Kill Charleston 2015, Joe led Charleston County to become the first No Kill Community in the Southeast, saving every healthy and treatable animal. This 3-year initiative was achieved in its first year (2013)! Joe has served as chief executive of five nonprofit organizations and chief operating officer of a national nonprofit. He has spent most of his life defending and caring for the most vulnerable among us — children, at-risk youth, disaster victims, members of the U.S. Armed Forces, refugees and prisoners of war, victims of HIV/AIDS and helpless animals.
Prior to joining Charleston Animal Society, Joe served as Senior Director of Community Initiatives with the ASPCA, the Western Hemisphere’s first humane organization, where he began in 2006 by helping animal organizations in Mississippi recover and develop long-term sustainability in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Joe led the effort to pass the first and only felony animal cruelty law in the U.S. Possessions. In addition, he was a consultant/co-instructor for the first two Animal Law courses taught at Tulane Law School.
Joe was born and raised in the Deep South. He is an alumnus of the University of Alabama where he completed bachelor and post-graduate studies in Mineral Engineering. He has been recognized by the Governors of Washington and the Virgin Islands, has received the American Red Cross Tiffany Award for Management Excellence, and was awarded the U.S. Dept. of Defense Medal for his work in Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Farewell during the Persian Gulf Conflict.