Team

Erin is a doctoral student at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work. She partners with young people and the community-based organizations that serve them to understand how youth activism shapes civic development, related individual health outcomes, and the transformation of unjust social systems. Her goal is to identify pathways for youth coalitions to increase their diversity and political power in moving society to adopt regenerative practices that will yield a healthier world for all species. 

Laura is a doctoral student at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of Social Work. She is a graduate research assistant in the Center for Housing and Homelessness Research at the University of Denver. Her interests include access to subsidized housing, housing discrimination, housing futures and abolitionist approaches to housing justice, and guaranteed basic income.

Avery is an undergraduate student in the University of Denver honors program majoring in biology with minors in chemistry and psychology. She is the co-founder of Fern's Place, a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon that provides free animal care for those entering long-term addiction treatment and other in-patient medical care.  She is deeply passionate about medical accessibility and the role animals can play in human health. 

Sloane (she/her) is the Chief of Research and Development at Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity (CARE). She is a scholar-activist who uses a community based participatory research approach to develop and evaluate equitable, accessible, and community-led solutions that improve the quality of life for marginalized people and their pets. She has nearly a decade of experience in research, direct care, and advocacy roles that include community organizing, case management for unhoused people, and supporting families in crisis at an open-admission animal shelter. Sloane is the co-chair of the Co-Sheltering Collaborative’s Racial Justice Working Group, Membership Chair for the American Public Health Association’s Public Health Social Work section, and currently serves as a volunteer commissioner for her local housing authority. She lives in Colorado with her partner, two young people, an English Mastiff, and six chickens.

Layla is a communications specialist and lived experience advocate who has worked in the Denver-metro area for over 5 years to support nonprofits, government agencies, and other community members to end homelessness. She is passionate about the power of the human-animal bond to transform the lives of young people, especially while they navigate adversity.