Volunteer Mission Advisory Councils

About the role

The Shepherds Ark is a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to building a sanctuary of hope and justice for both animals and people. We are a volunteer-based ministry focused on rescue, care, and advocacy for at-risk animals, addressing systemic injustices.

Responsibilities

• Identify relevant standards, evidence, professional resources, referral pathways, and potential collaborators.
• Participate in scheduled remote meetings and provide timely written comments when a matter is circulated for review.
• Disclose conflicts, limitations, professional boundaries, and circumstances requiring legal, veterinary, financial, or other licensed advice.
• Protect confidential plans, partner information, volunteer information, animal information, intellectual property, and unpublished materials.
• Support continuity by producing clear recommendations or review notes that remain useful beyond one meeting or individual.

Qualifications

• At least 21 years old and based in the United States.
• Substantial professional, academic, technical, nonprofit, public-sector, licensed, industry, or lived expertise relevant to at least one council area.
• Ability to separate advice from governance, supervision, public representation, and execution authority.
• Sound judgment, candor, discretion, collaborative communication, and willingness to disclose conflicts.
• Ability to review written material and provide practical, evidence-informed recommendations.
• Respect for the Christian mission and the organization's responsibility to protect animals, partners, volunteers, donors, and the public.

Preferred Experience

• Five or more years of relevant experience, advanced education, licensure, certification, board/advisory service, published work, or recognized field expertise.
• Experience with animal welfare, nonprofit systems, public agencies, veterinary care, transport, technology, finance, law, marketing, fundraising, ethics, or community partnerships.
• Experience reviewing early-stage programs, establishing standards, evaluating risk, building coalitions, or advising mission-driven organizations.
• Able to contribute professional contacts or referral pathways without creating conflicts or unauthorized commitments.
• National, regional, rural, municipal, shelter, rescue, veterinary, corporate, church, academic, or community perspectives that broaden organizational understanding.

Operating Boundaries

• Councils advise. Working groups produce defined deliverables. The board governs. Authorized leadership and assigned volunteers execute.
• Council appointment does not grant authority to direct staff or volunteers, bind the organization, approve expenditures, speak publicly, solicit funds, contact partners, or use organizational accounts.
• Professional advice must remain within the advisor's competence, licensing, ethical duties, and applicable law.
• Council materials may contain confidential and proprietary program architecture; access will be limited to the advisor's approved scope.
• Recommendations may be accepted, modified, deferred, or declined based on organizational authority, capacity, legal review, funding, and mission priorities.
• Council names, membership, meeting frequency, and assignments may be staged or adjusted as the organization develops.

Volunteer Service Terms

• This is an unpaid volunteer position and does not create an employment relationship.
• Applicants must be at least 21 years old and currently based in the United States.
• Applicants must be able to work respectfully within a Christian animal-welfare mission.
• A 90-day introductory period may be used to evaluate reliability, communication, judgment, and assignment fit.
• Volunteers may be asked to sign the Volunteer Service Agreement and applicable confidentiality, intellectual-property, and public-communications documents.
• Volunteers may not speak, publish, contact organizations, make commitments, or otherwise represent The Animal Cause without written authorization for the specific role, channel, and activity.
• Officially published organizational content may be shared as directed; independent statements on behalf of the organization are prohibited unless authorized.
• Organizational files, source files, credentials, research, work product, and records must remain in approved organizational systems and be returned or transferred at the end of service.
• AI tools may be used only within approved boundaries. Confidential information may not be entered into external AI systems, and AI-generated content must be reviewed for accuracy, rights, safety, and mission alignment before use.
• At this time, The Animal Cause does not accept or verify court-ordered, probation, parole, diversion, judgment-related, school-required, or employer-required community-service hours.