The Animal Welfare League of Alexandria has a new executive director and CEO to lead the operation of the Vola Lawson Animal Shelter and implement the city’s animal control contract.
Megan Webb will fill the organization’s top slot beginning March 11. Webb was hired following a national search for CEO and executive director.
According to the AWLA, Webb has more than 15 years of management experience, a proven ability to lead and motivate and extensive knowledge of both animal shelter and field operations.
“Megan’s knowledge and management expertise within the sheltering community will enhance the AWLA’s growth and strengthen our relationships within the Alexandria community,” said Charlotte Hall, chairwoman of the AWLA’s board of directors, in a news release.
Webb served as the director of Oakland Animal Services, or OAS, in Oakland, Calif., for the last three and a half years. OAS is a unit of the Oakland Police Department and cares for more than 6,000 animals every year. Webb improved the care of the shelter’s animals, increased the number of animal adoptions and transfers and led her team of animal control officers to investigate and rescue animals from multiple felony abuse cases.
Before serving as director, Webb was the volunteer manager at OAS and gained national recognition for her innovative and successful volunteer program. Webb also founded Friends of Oakland Animal Services, a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising donations to enhance the quality of life of the animals at OAS.
"I chose to join the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria because it has such a strong foundation to develop projects that will make a real difference in the lives of animals in the community,” Webb said in a news release. “The staff is compassionate and knowledgeable, the Board of Directors is composed of individuals with a wide range of expertise, the shelter is modern and progressive, and the City has a wealth of people who truly care about animals.”
Webb also said she is impressed with Alexandrians’ compassion and activism and plans to harness that energy to assist more animals in need.
Webb earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and an EMBA from a joint program between the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University in New York City. She will move to Alexandria with her shelter rescue animals — Suzie, a Chihuahua/dachshund mix; Rosie, a Shepherd mix; and Flips, a cat born with a brain disorder similar to cerebral palsy in humans.
