The Association Blog

The CEO of Greenville Humane Society discusses everything from goals to green beans, spiced up with a wealth of inspirational quotes from great leaders.

Name & Title: Rachel Delport, Chief Executive Officer, Greenville Humane Society 
Member of The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement since:  3/27/2019

The Association: Tell us a little about your organization, and one victory, large or small, you experienced this week.
Rachel Delport: I have the great pleasure of serving as the Chief Executive Officer at the Greenville Humane Society. I have been with the organization since 2013 and have served as the CEO since January 2021.

At the Greenville Humane Society, we love and care for each pet as if they were our own. We work hard every day to provide homeless pets with more than just the basics of food and shelter—our pets receive daily enrichment, loving attention, and medical care. Beyond adoption, we offer a wide variety of preventative services like vaccinations and spay/neuter to make proper pet care affordable for our community so that all pets can be pets for life.

With the community’s support we are able to find forever homes for over 4,000 animals, spay/neuter over 16,500 animals, and treat over 4,000 animals for illness and injury each year.

The Association: What does a typical day as Chief Executive Officer of Greenville Humane Society look like?
Rachel Delport: As the CEO, I love connecting with our staff and with our animals. I make a point to connect with multiple team members on a daily basis. Outside of maintaining emails, you will find me meeting with team members to review overall operations and planning for the next month, encouraging and leading professional development for our junior and senior leadership teams, jumping in to help departments when needed, communicating with our board of directors, signing donor thank you letters, and finding a few minutes in the day to welcome newcomers from a transport or love on some of our residents.

The Association: Name one of your professional goals for the year ahead.
Rachel Delport: Simply put, continuing to meet the demand of our animal-loving community. Facing the root issues in animal welfare and finding sustainable solutions through growth and collaboration with others. We have exciting opportunities on the horizon, and I hope you will stay tuned to find out more.

The Association: Favorite professional development tips?
Rachel Delport: Find a great mentor and someone who believes in you. Be that person for someone else. Invest in good people. As one person, you cannot accomplish everything alone. Invest, grow, and inspire others to make bold moves. If it’s not hard, you’re not dreaming big enough. Get to know your people, your organization, and your community. Determine your “Why” and learn others’ “Why,” and use that information to lead the people around you.

The Association: You started out at Greenville as a part-time Kennel Tech, and now you’re CEO. What advice do you have for someone who wants to move up the ranks in animal welfare from within the industry?
Rachel Delport: The best advice I have for someone who wants to move up the ranks in animal welfare is to do the hard things well. Show up when it’s hard, show up when others would have given up, and show up for the animals. This is a hard field to work in, but you need to keep your love and passion for this work at your core.

Also, invest in your professional development and in turn, share what you’ve learned to help grow the people around you.

The Association: What do you like to do when you’re outside the office? 
Rachel Delport: When I’m not in the office, I love spending time with my family. I married my high school sweetheart, Trysten, and we have an almost 3-year-old daughter named Ellie. We have four dogs, Chloe, JoJo, Colt, and Poppy, and a cat, Kyro, who rules the house. Aside from spending time with my family, I love home décor projects (I love a good transformation!), spending time with friends, going to the gym, shopping, and spending time outdoors.

The Association: What’s the last good book you read?   
Rachel Delport: Dare to Lead by Brené Brown. I love seeing women encouraging other women. My favorite quote from this book: “Leadership is not about titles, status, and wielding power. A leader is anyone who takes responsibility for recognizing the potential in people and ideas and has the courage to develop that potential.”

The Association: One final question. You can invite 5 people from all of history to dinner.  Who’s at the table, and what are you eating?
Rachel Delport:

• Amelia Earhart: “Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.”
• Betty White: “Animals are near and dear to my heart, and I’ve devoted my life to trying to improve their lives.”
• Bob Barker: “A person who has never owned a dog has missed a wonderful part of life.”
• Ronald Reagan: “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
• Rosa Parks: “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.”

We would be eating a good southern-cooked meal; think country fried chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes & gravy, mac & cheese, dinner rolls, and sweet tea!

Learn More

Connect with Rachel Delport on LinkedIn
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