The NATAO Story
An Idea, a Conversation, and a Dream Come True
I was sitting in a meeting of the Board of Directors of a Therapy Animal Organization in the late spring of 2022, and an issue came up before the Board that was hotly discussed. I was sitting next to Lynne Robinson, the Founder and Executive Director for the Therapy Animal Organization, and I turned and asked her,“Why don’t you call the national association and find out what the consensus is of the members as to how they have addressed this issue?” Lynne responded: “There is no national association of therapy animal organizations, but we desperately need one.” I ruminated on that for a while; I had been a member of a national association in my business, and had gradually come to understand the value of a group of like organizations bonding together to help each other out. I couldn’t understand why there was not a national association of therapy animal organizations, since there were many of them throughout the country, and they were almost all smaller local organizations. By their very nature, a therapy animal organization must be local, as they have their volunteer dog teams in close proximity so that they can send them to the local sites that need visitations.
In the spring of 2023, I was sitting in a Board meeting and again, another issue was being passionately discussed. Again, I turned to Lynne and said, “Can’t you call the national association and find out the answer?” And once again, Lynne said there still wasn’t any such association, but she also said, “A while ago I thought about starting one, but I have been too busy running our organization.”
I thought about that for a couple of weeks and finally decided that I could do ‘one more big project’ in my life, and that it would be to create a national association of therapy animal organizations so that there would be a large network of similar organizations helping each other to succeed.
This was the inspiration for the year’s worth of work that I did to develop a master data base of all the therapy dog organizations in the country and to create the initial basic values, philosophies and foundations of the planned national association.
In the spring of 2023, I was sitting in a Board meeting and again, another issue was being passionately discussed. Again, I turned to Lynne and said, “Can’t you call the national association and find out the answer?” And once again, Lynne said there still wasn’t any such association, but she also said, “A while ago I thought about starting one, but I have been too busy running our organization.”
I thought about that for a couple of weeks and finally decided that I could do ‘one more big project’ in my life, and that it would be to create a national association of therapy animal organizations so that there would be a large network of similar organizations helping each other to succeed.
This was the inspiration for the year’s worth of work that I did to develop a master data base of all the therapy dog organizations in the country and to create the initial basic values, philosophies and foundations of the planned national association.
– Harry Martens, co-Founder
And then one day Harry requested a meeting of several members of our therapy animal organization, and in that meeting he shared the story of his 12-month journey of researching and writing the infrastructure of what has become the National Association of Therapy Animal Organizations. He had created a framework that was ready for more hands to complete the project. Several of us recognized the value of what Harry had done and the value in helping to finish the job. We’re still working on some parts of NATAO, but we’re proud to share what Harry and the rest of us have built for you.
Thank you, Harry, for your foresight and your perseverance. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this creation and a participant in your dream.
Thank you, Harry, for your foresight and your perseverance. It has been a pleasure to be a part of this creation and a participant in your dream.
– Lynne D. Robinson, co-Founder
I heard Harry tell the story about his discussion with Lynne and I was immediately excited. I quickly realized how much the Therapy Animal Organization that I represent could benefit from an association and how beneficial it would be to share our experiences with other Therapy Animal Organizations. I reflected on the signature on e-mails from the Board of Directors chair from my Therapy Animal Organization, “None of us is as smart as all of us,” and I instantly knew that I had to help make this happen.
– Brian Kroll, co-Founder