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Word on the Street, Rising Stars Edition: Emily Klehm celebrates Stacey Carabine
October 20, 2026, The Association
In this special-edition Word on the Street series, animal welfare professionals sing the praises of the emerging leaders they nominated as 2026 Rising Stars
A stellar leader is someone who identifies, celebrates and cultivates the potential leadership qualities in others. We asked animal welfare leaders to do just that by nominating their organization’s emerging talent to our 2026 cohort of Rising Stars. This special-edition series is intended to spotlight the leadership qualities of both Rising Stars and the individuals—managers and mentors, as well as colleagues in the field—who nominated them. We defiinitely feel the enthusiasm that Emily Klehm shares in her nomination of Stacey Carabine.
When I was at South Suburban Humane Society, Stacey was hired by my team as an Animal Care Associate, cleaning cat cages. Very quickly we realized her skill set and eventually promoted her to Cat Care Coordinator, and then to Cat Care Manager. When I took my current position of Vice President of Operations at Anti-Cruelty, I was looking for opportunities to bring Stacey here. When a Shelter Care Manager position opened up, we hired her.
Stacey is undoubtedly a rising star. Her commitment and passion to getting all pets adopted, but particularly felines, is unmatched. She spearheaded pop-up adoption events at SSHS where she would find homes for 30+ cats in one day. She’s brought that enthusiasm to Anti-Cruelty and recently led two Kittenpalooza events finding homes for 40+ kittens. She’s empathetic, curious, and an avid learner, and has used her social media platforms to engage and inform hundreds of thousands of folks about adoption and animal welfare. She has become an ambassador for cat adoption, and I can see her leading an organization one day.
– Emily Klehm, Vice President of Operations, Anti-Cruelty
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