SPEAKING

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Evidence-based training on moral injury, compassion fatigue, and building resilient animal care teams…

delivered by a PhD who's lived it

Signature Keynotes and workshops

that change how organizations care for their people.

Why Hire Dr. McNally?

After almost 15 years as a trauma specialist and active shelter volunteer at Michigan's highest-intake facility, I understand what keeps your teams up at night, and why traditional "wellness initiatives" fall short.

I don't deliver motivational platitudes. I provide evidence-based frameworks for addressing the ethical wounds, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue that cost your organization talent, morale, and mission impact.

My presentations combine:

  • Peer-reviewed research on moral injury in animal care professions

  • Real-world applications from the shelter floor

  • Immediately actionable strategies teams can implement

  • The credibility of a PhD with dirt under her nails

I work with:

  • Veterinary conferences & associations

  • Animal shelter & rescue organizations

  • Wildlife rehabilitation centers

  • Humane societies & SPCAs

  • Veterinary schools & training programs

  • Animal welfare coalitions

  • Zoo & aquarium professional development programs

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TOPICS

TOPICS

  • Force-Free Leadership

    BUILDING CULTURES WHERE COMPASSION DOESN’T COLLAPSE

    Force-free principles revolutionized animal training. Now it's time to apply them to how we lead humans. This keynote exposes the hidden costs of punitive management in animal care organizations, exploring everything from turnover to moral injury, and it provides a proven framework for trauma-informed leadership that actually works. Your staff aren't weak. Your systems are broken. Let's fix them.

    What makes this unique: The only presentation connecting force-free philosophy to organizational culture and retention.

    Ideal for: Progressive organizations, leadership conferences, management training

  • Beyond Burnout & PTSD

    UNDERSTANDING MORAL INJURY IN ANIMAL CARE

    Your team isn't burned out. They're morally injured. And the difference determines whether your interventions succeed or fail. This keynote provides diagnostic clarity on three distinct conditions (PTSD, compassion fatigue, and moral injury) that get lumped together as "burnout." You'll learn the neuroscience behind each, why traditional self-care falls short, and what leadership can actually do Monday morning to address root causes, not just symptoms.

    What makes this unique: The only framework distinguishing these three conditions for animal care professionals offered specifically from a moral injury expert.

    Ideal for: Veterinary conferences, shelter leadership, annual meetings

  • The Ethical Wound

    WHEN GOOD PEOPLE FIND THEMSELVES DOING BAD THINGS

    Resource euthanasia. Price-driven triage. Capacity-based decisions. Science that causes suffering and death in the name of future progress. Every day, animal care workers make impossible choices that violate their values, and carry the ethical residue for years. This keynote goes deeper into
    “transgression-self” events to address the moral injury created when organizational constraints and systemic shortcomings force good people into bad situations. You'll learn decision-making frameworks that reduce ethical burden, protocols for processing moral remainder, and how to distribute responsibility across teams instead of individuals.

    What makes this unique: The only presentation addressing moral injury's ‘transgression-self’ and complicity events, including their root cause: value-action misalignment under scarcity.

    Ideal for: Ethics symposiums, shelter leadership retreats, animal control training

Additional Signature Keynote and Workshop Topics

And More…

  • Building Resilient Teams

  • When The Public Becomes The Predator

  • Peer-To-Peer Support

  • Navigating Public Hostility

Handpick Your Topic!

Speaking Formats & Options

  • 30-90 minute main stage presentations for 50-1000+ attendees

  • Half-day, full-day, or multiday intensive workshops for executive teams

  • Customizable workshops for entire organizational staff.

  • Available to moderate or participate in expert panels on animal welfare workforce issues

  • Zoom keynotes and webinars for distributed teams or national audiences

  • Equip your leadership to deliver ongoing education using my frameworks

  • Multi-session engagements to assess and transform workplace culture (premium offering)

BOOK JAMIE TO SPEAK

Jamie’s Signature Keynote and Workshop Topics?

Interested in

Let's Get To Work!