John Gehrt has held senior executive management positions with retail, direct marketing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution Internet, and NFP organizations and is currently the managing director Quick Start Shared Services, LLC., John has over 40 years’ experience working at executive and board level with companies ranging in size from startup to the Fortune 500. John has taught Strategic Planning, Finance and Statistics in adult education advanced degree programs. John holds a BA in Economics from the University of Washington and an MBA from the University of Puget Sound.

Julia Christophersen is the Chief Merchandising Officer for GreaterGood.com, where she leads a very talented buying team who develop and bring to market custom products from around the world. Julia has been with GreaterGood.com for over 20+ years.  Prior to joining GreaterGood.com, Julia spent 5 years at one of the leading computer reseller companies in the country doing print marketing for key graphic accounts.

Greg Hesterberg was a co-founder and one of the original board members of Greater Good Charities. As President and co-owner of GreaterGood.com for over 20 years Greg helped establish The Animal Rescue Site and other charity Click to Give sites. A cat lover since adopting a stray kitty while in law school. Greg and his life partner Martine share their home with three senior kitties which were litter mates and adopted as kittens. Initially they wanted to adopt two girls but couldn’t leave their brother behind when the kittens were ready to go home.

Ben Hamilton’s current role with The Kroger Co. is vice president, Supply Chain Enterprise Planning. He is responsible for implementing new processes, which include forecasting and driving planned orders to ensure that short and long-term supply meets customer demand. He serves as a critical link between merchandising and distribution center operations, overseeing integrated business planning, demand planning, supply planning and execution. Ben reports to Gabriel Arreaga, senior vice president and Chief Supply Chain Officer for The Kroger Co.

Experience
Ben joined Kroger in 2023 with nearly 20 years of Supply Chain experience. As vice president, eCommerce Fulfillment, he was responsible for the continued operations, growth, and build out of Kroger's home delivery network.

Before joining Kroger, Ben led Global Supply Chain Strategy & Capabilities at SC Johnson, where he worked to build resilient global supply chains and led several global functions to tackle some of the company’s largest Supply Chain challenges.

Additionally, he held various international leadership roles at SC Johnson across its Supply Chain.

Education
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of Illinois and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Personal
Ben and his wife Jamie have two daughters.

Fernando T. Maluf is Vice President of International Business at PremieRpet, one of Brazil’s leading pet food companies, where he leads global expansion and brand development. He has played a key role in scaling the company’s international presence, particularly in North America, across both digital and retail channels.

Fernando has also been a consulting partner in the development of three LEED Gold manufacturing facilities, as well as in key product development initiatives. He plays a central role in Premierpet’s sustainability agenda, including the creation of carbon emissions mapping, zero-waste goals, and life cycle product analysis. In addition, he serves as President of Instituto PremieRpet, a non-profit with over 10 years of experience supporting animal welfare and community initiatives. He holds an undergraduate degree and an MBA from top international institutions, including the Kellogg School of Management. 

William Carl “Skip” Klintworth II has a 45-year career as an entrepreneur and investor. From his earliest company creating and marketing the first colored casts, to founding the first publicly-traded B2B internet firm, to co-founding a healthcare-focused Private Equity firm (DW Healthcare Partners ), Skip has always looked for innovation and pushed for developing new business models. He has bought, sold and rolled up dozens of companies and operated several of them.

Skip's philanthropic and non profit board work started with the sale of his first business and continues to today, with a worldwide initiative called Girls’ Voices, to help empower young women through education and media training. He has been married to Kimberly for 23 years, and they enjoy a blended family of 4 children and 6 grandchildren. Skip and Kimberly have been Tradition members since 1999 and homeowners since 2002. He has sat on the board the last three years, chairing both the House and Strategic Planning committees.

Prior to joining Greater Good Charities, Jemimah Okantey spent 12 years working for GreaterGood.com in accounting. Since she has been involved with Greater Good Charities (then GreaterGood.org) since its inception in 2007, her experience and familiarity with the organization is unique and valuable asset.

In her free time, Jemimah is involved in her local community working with a youth and teen development recreation program.

Sára is the Greater Good Charities Executive Vice President of Pet Programs. She most recently served as the Vice President for the Humane Society of the United State’s Animal Rescue Team. She oversaw hundreds of responses to man-made and natural disasters that resulted in the rescue of thousands of creatures from cats and dogs to exotic and farm animals. She trained and consulted law enforcement agencies, animal shelters, and animal advocates on everything from how to identify animal cruelty all the way to ICS in disaster response. Her professional experience in animal welfare as the Director of Operations at a limited admission shelter, and for many years in the veterinary service field all began at a young age when she was encouraged to pursue her love of animals while working with horses.

Sára shares her home with her two young children, and a rescue dog and cat. She feels most connected hiking in the woods or seeing the world through the ears of a horse while riding on a trail.

Dr. Bryna Donnelly, the Executive Vice President of Programs, founded Rescue Rebuild, our animal shelter renovation program, in 2006 while a college biology professor. Teaching is still her passion, and she now uses her knowledge of construction and animal welfare to help people by building pet spaces in domestic violence and homeless shelters. Bryna and her team have renovated over 190 facilities worldwide and consulted with countless others to help keep people and pets safe. As part of her work to help pets of people in crisis, she started the Don’t Forget the Pets initiative that helps human service shelters start, sustain and evolve their pet programs through training, consulting and funding opportunities.

Dr. Ruth Parkin grew up on a small family farm in the US Pacific Northwest and attended University of Washington in Seattle for her undergraduate degree in economics. She attended veterinary school at Colorado State University, where, as a second-year veterinary student she co-founded ViDAS, an organization which travels internationally to hold free high-volume, high-quality spay/neuter services in underprivileged areas. ViDAS has performed over 40,000 sterilizations and is now a part of the Greater Good Charities programs.

Professionally, Dr. Parkin was in clinical practice for over 10 years and was medical director of a clinic in Denver for several years. She has also worked as a relief veterinarian and spay/neuter surgeon in Colorado and in the Portland, OR area and has traveled to Thailand and South Africa to teach veterinary science through a study abroad program. She is currently the Veterinary Medical Director at Greater Good Charities and of the Good Fix program currently kicking off in Kauai. Dr. Parkin's personal interests include playing volleyball, travel, outdoors, and relaxing anywhere there is some sunshine and a baseball game to watch

Melissa has worked in animal protection for over thirty years. She started out in law school with a group called “Students for Animal Welfare” and eventually began working at The Humane Society of the United States where she ran the direct care programs, which included the Animal Rescue, Care and Sanctuary department, including the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch, Duchess Sanctuary, Rural Area Veterinary Services, Pets for Life,  Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge Liberia and the Global Animal Rescue and Response team. Melissa is very knowledgeable in setting  program strategy and has  developed strong relationships in the field, which she will be continuing at GGC.

Nichole Guzman, Executive Vice President of Global Partnerships, is a transformational leader with over 20 years of expertise in strategic partnerships, business development, fundraising, and cause marketing. Renowned for her ability to analyze critical business needs and consistently deliver desired outcomes, she is a strategic problem-solver with a profound commitment to ensuring all individuals have the opportunity to thrive. Throughout her career, Nichole has consistently achieved double-digit year-over-year revenue growth while reducing costs and streamlining operations. She has pioneered numerous "largest ever" multi-year national partnerships with renowned brands by aligning major corporations' CSR, ESG, and marketing goals with mission-driven outcomes. Her leadership extends to developing systems and procedures that ensure sustained business success, with interests that reach beyond corporate achievement to meaningful community impact. Based in Southern California, Nichole enjoys traveling, playing games (and winning), and quality time with her husband and son. She embodies her personal philosophy that "a happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather someone with a certain set of attitudes"—an outlook that informs both her leadership approach and her commitment to helping others thrive.  

Born and raised in Oklahoma, Laura has worked in the veterinary industry for over 20 years.  She previously served as Director of Operations for The Humane Society of the United States and focused primarily on the Spayathon for Puerto Rico program.  She has volunteered with ViDAS (Veterinarios Internacionales Dedicados a Animales Sanos) and served as the Vice President for the past 12 years. Laura’s work with ViDAS inspired her focus and expertise in establishing and providing high quality/high volume spay and neuter in underserved areas.  

She has a passion for animal welfare and improving the lives of pets and the people that surround them. Her personal and professional goals center around spay and neuter advocacy, education and sustainment.  Laura joined Greater Good Charities as the Director of the Good Fix program in May 2021.

Laura resides in Oklahoma with her husband Tommy, their two dogs, Luna and Izzy and three cats, Gus, Sammi and Swampy.  She has two human children,  Morgan and Justin.  She enjoys time outdoors and travelling. 

Zach Baker began working with Greater Good Charities’ Rescue Rebuild program in 2016, after having volunteered with the program for five years.  Zach came from his own construction business and has worked in various construction fields since 2006.  With Rescue Rebuild, he was able to combine his passion for animals with his construction experience. 

Zach now oversees Rescue Rebuild’s operations as it works to renovate and create pet spaces in animal shelters, domestic violence shelters, and homeless shelters.  Additionally, he works with the team to provides design consultations, plans, and conceptual renderings to aid shelters in their own construction projects.  

Zach lives near Nashville, TN with his wife, 5 dogs, and 3 cats.

Sydney is originally from Houston, TX and graduated from Boston University with degrees in Public Relations and Psychology. She has run campaigns for a variety of social services, health, and education nonprofits and previously worked at a digital marketing and public relations agency. At Greater Good Charities, she runs digital channels including advertising, email, and social as VP of Digital Marketing.

In her free time, Sydney rides horses, does kickboxing and pilates, and runs a cookbook club. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and their two rescue dogs, Ricky and Ronnie.

Ashlee received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Arizona. After interning with the Native American Advancement Foundation for a year, wanting to work for a nonprofit was a clear choice! She has now worked her way up to Vice President, Content.

When she’s not at the Greater Good offices she can be found enjoying local Tucson events, catching a concert with friends, or lounging by the pool.