Certified Humane Educator since 2017, Josie Espinoza has been with the City of San Antonio Animal Care Services Department (ACS) for seven years. In her role as one of the shelter’s original Education Coordinators, she revitalized the decade’s long school based program through effective humane-centric curriculums that bring empathy and compassion into local classrooms. Thousands of local students have participated in her fun, interactive presentations. Each lesson focuses not just on humane pet care but also the human-animal bond and helping children understand how being compassionate towards animals also reflects in their relationships with one another and their community.

Josie’s leadership in the humane education field isn’t limited to school based programs. A recent innovation saw her creating a pet related learning game based on Loteria, a bilingual bingo style game popular in Spanish speaking communities. The San Antonio version created by Josie is aptly called Pawteria and it’s already making educational inroads with both adults and children.