Jam M. Stewart is currently head of Corporate Affairs for the Banfield Pet Hospital business of Mars, providing strategic communication and policy leadership to protect and promote the reputation of the amazing teams at the practice’s 1,000+ pet hospitals.

Previously, Stewart was Vice President of Corporate Affairs for the North American Petcare business of Mars, leading community engagement, creative services, consumer relations, brand public relations, internal communications, stakeholder strategies and corporate digital platforms. She was also the architect for the Better Cities for Pets program, which aims to make life better for pets by creating more pet-friendly places. Earlier in career, Stewart held various public affairs, communications and marketing roles at SC Johnson, Kohl's Department Stores and Daniel J. Edelman.  

Serious about giving back, she lends her time and service to several nonprofit organizations. She proudly serves as Board Chair for Greater Good Charities, a global organization devoted to improving the health and well-being of people, pets and the planet and is Board President for the Banfield Foundation, which is focused on making preventive care possible for pets that need it most. She also served on the board of PEDIGREE Foundation, which aims to help dogs find their forever homes and Civic Design Center, which drives actionable change in communities to improve quality of life.

Passionate about lifting, supporting and developing others, she is currently the Executive Sponsor for the Banfield PRIDE and Veteran’s associate resource groups. Previously she served as the Executive Sponsor for Women of Mars and co-founded The Village, a resource group for parents. She mentors women through the Harvard Business School program, Women Leading Purposefully.  She’s been honored as a Woman of Influence by Nashville Business Journal and has received the Top Women in PR award by PR News.  

Stewart earned a master's degree from Michigan State University and graduated with honors from Eastern Illinois University. 

She lives in the Nashville area with her two kiddos James and Jasmine, her four-legged babies, Jackson Ryder and Baxter Henry and partner, Stuart. She is a voracious reader and is attached to her well-worn passport. 

Dr. Julie Ryan-Johnson is passionate about Shelter Medicine and has been a shelter veterinarian for over 25 years and was the director of a large government shelter. She served as President of the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association and is the CE Co-Chair for the California VMA. Dr. Ryan-Johnson is a member of ASV (Association of Shelter Veterinarians) and SAWA (Society of Animal Welfare Administrators). Dr. Ryan-Johnson also serves as the CVMA disaster coordinator for Orange County, California and is one of the founding members of southern California’s Large Animal Response Team (LART). She enjoys riding Alainn, the horse she bred for dressage, hiking out on trails with friends and dogs and paddleboard surfing out in the ocean. She is married to small animal practitioner Dr Gary Johnson, and co-owner of Dana Niguel Veterinary Hospital and Laguna Niguel Veterinary Hospital.

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.

David Yaskulka, Greater Good Charities' Board Chair from 2018-2022, is MidAmerica Pet Food's (MAPF) Senior Vice President Corporate Social Responsibility, and Board Vice Chair for the Pet Sustainability Coalition.

He was Nature’s Logic CEO from 2019-2022, leading the brand to sustainability leadership while multiplying sales, profits, and investor value. Nature's Logic was acquired by MAPF in 2021.

Prior, during executive leadership roles at Halo, David forged a partnership with GGC, gaining multiple marketing award nods. He helped grow social mission companies such as eBay for Charity and Investors’ Circle (now part of the American Sustainable Business Network). His strategies are featured in over a dozen books. He’s also held leadership roles in nonprofit sustainability groups.

He studied philosophy at Williams College (BA), and has a Certificate in Sustainable Business Strategy from Harvard Business School. David and his wife Debbie share their Budd Lake, NJ home with sons Noah and Ben, dogs Samson and Lyla, and cats Erebos and Zebulon.

David Samuelson is the CEO of ISACA. ISACA is a global professional association and learning organization that leverages the expertise of its more than 150,000 members who work in information security, governance, assurance, risk and privacy to drive innovation through technology. It has a presence in 188 countries, including more than 220 chapters worldwide. David is a seasoned executive with particular strength in strategic and technology leadership, communications and execution. He has a deep foundational expertise in operational execution, product management and leadership, and deep industry experience in global education technology, software development, consumer publishing, television, and theater. Samuelson has had proven success in both creative ideation and tactical execution of ideas, with an excellent track record of working effectively across global, complex and matrixed organizations. His 25 years in education began at the Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation as vice president and executive producer. He worked at Pearson, the leading global education company, for 15 years in a variety of executive roles, including president of global schools, chief marketing officer and product strategist for Pearson’s US School division, and VP of the Family Education Network. Samuelson’s earlier career in theatre and television included an Emmy award-winning children’s television producer.

Jackson Galaxy is the host and executive producer of Animal Planet's long running hit show My Cat From Hell. Jackson, an animal advocate and cat behavior and wellness consultant, is also a two-time New York Times best-selling author with more than 25 years of experience working with cats and their guardians. Jackson is on a mission to educate people about cats and deepen the human and cat bond, while reducing the number of animals that end up in shelters.

True to this goal, Jackson started The Jackson Galaxy Project (www.thejacksongalaxyproject.org), which seeks to better the lives of at-risk animals by transforming the places they live and helping the people who care for them. Through this work, he supports important causes for animals in need, and runs the Cat Pawsitive program-which uses positive reinforcement training to make adoptable cats feel comfortable and confident in the shelter environment, and help them find their forever homes.

In 2017, Jackson joined the Greater Good Charities' family, adding The Jackson Galaxy Project to the global nonprofit's array of programs.

Jeffery R. Zuba obtained his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin’s School of Veterinary Medicine. Following graduate school in virology and immunology, he completed his residency in Zoo and Wildlife Medicine at San Diego Zoo Global. Dr. Zuba then received an appointment as Clinical Professor in Zoo Medicine at Colorado State University. For the past 27 years, Dr. Zuba has been a staff veterinarian at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. Professional highlights include being a faculty member for the EnviroVet Institute (an ecosystem veterinary health program); an affiliate instructor at the Wildlife Health Center at the UC-Davis; the Director of Veterinary Programs for the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s California Condor Reintroduction Program; Veterinary Coordinator for the Condor Release Program in Baja, Mexico; and the Veterinary Advisor for both the AZA’s California Condor and White Rhinoceros Species Survival Plans. Dr. Zuba consults and lectures internationally on a wide range of subjects including mega-vertebrate anesthesia and conservation medicine and serves as a scientific advisor for several conservation and educational institutions. Dr. Zuba is an inventor and founder of a company which creates and manufactures specialized mega-vertebrate anesthetic equipment. He is also a principal investigator of a team of international veterinarians who developed anesthetic and laparoscopic protocols to perform the first ever surgical contraception procedures in free-ranging African elephants as an alternative to the controversial use of culling for population control.

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.

Liz Baker serves as CEO of Greater Good Charities, a national non-profit that works to amplify the good in the world to improve the well-being of people, pets, and the planet. Since joining Greater Good Charities in 2012, Liz has set the strategy for the organization and overseen the implementation of more than a dozen innovative programs that impact the lives of countless people and pets while leading the way for powerful compassion filled change.

These programs have resulted in everything from leading dozens of global biodiversity expeditions, to providing hundreds of scholarships to girls across the globe, flying thousands of at-risk pets to safety to renovating pet and domestic violence shelters, and responding to catastrophic natural disasters.

Under Liz’s leadership, Greater Good Charities has received an overall 100/100 score from Charity Navigator in the areas of finance & accountability, leadership & adaptability, and culture & community, with a top four-star rating exemplifying success. Greater Good Charities also achieved a Platinum Rating for transparency through GuideStar. To date, Greater Good Charities has given more than $575 million in impact, including cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support in 121 countries since 2007.

In Liz’s previous role as Executive Director of the Petfinder Foundation, she worked to distribute grants to adoption partners across the U.S. Liz has also worked for Petfinder as Vice President of Partner Relations, at Family Education Network as Vice President of Digital Sales and Marketing, and at MeetingMakers.com as Vice President of Operations.

Liz lives in Tucson, Ariz. with her adopted pit bull and two adopted cats. Her oldest daughter goes to college in London and youngest daughter goes to college in San Diego.

Noah Horton serves as the Chief Operating Officer for Greater Good Charities, a national non-profit that works to help people, pets, and the planet by mobilizing in response to need and amplifying the good. Since joining Greater Good Charities in 2013, Noah has helped to launch and lead the expansion of over a dozen innovative programs that work to accomplish this mission. 

In his role as Chief Operating Officer, Noah works with a talented team of program experts to support the mission of the organization, and drives collaboration with Greater Good Charities' marketing and fundraising professionals to create and execute meaningful campaigns throughout the year. Noah believes that there is nothing more rewarding than connecting people to projects they care about and telling the story of the good work done by Greater Good Charities’ programs. 

Under Noah’s guidance the fundraising and marketing efforts have been instrumental in helping to create and support the growth of the existing program portfolio at Greater Good Charities. To date, Greater Good Charities has invested more than $575 million in real impact, including cash grants, in-kind supplies, and programmatic support, to charitable partners in 121 countries since 2007.

Prior to his work with Greater Good Charities, Noah served as Assistant Director for Petfinder Foundation, where he helped foster corporate and charitable relationships to help end the euthanasia of adoptable pets. He also worked in the music industry both as a musician and a promoter, where he first learned the importance of marketing and the power of a good story. Noah currently volunteers for nonprofits in the animal welfare, public radio, and choral arts spaces. Noah holds an MBA from the University of Arizona.  

Noah currently lives in Tucson, AZ with his lovely wife, their cat Raja, and their dog Willow.  

No bio available.

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.

I was born and raised in Maryland. I joined the Navy after high school in 1985, and while stationed in San Diego was accepted into Basic Underwater Demolition/SEALS (BUD/s) training in 1988. After graduating I was stationed in Virginia Beach. After multiple deployments, I was screened and accepted for NSWDG, where I spent the remainder of my career before retiring in 2005. I’ve extensively traveled and operated in some of the world’s most challenging environments. 

After the military, I took a General Schedule job as the facility manager of United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Parachute Training and Testing facility, and opened several sports bars in Tucson. I decided to give college a try and graduated from the University of Arizona at the young age of 52 in 2018. After 14 years with USSOCOM, I left to work for an aviation company, supplying airlift for DOD contracts, specifically Military Freefall. 

In 2023 I left that job, thinking I was “retiring” again. Then, along came GGC, and I decided it wasn’t time. I’m excited to meet you all and for the future!

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.

Jennifer Fermon is Director of Impact Planning for Greater Good Charities, formerly SVP of Strategic Development at Seattle-based CharityUSA.com, LLC. Jennifer is keenly interested in the creative intersection of on and offline technologies with big-picture problem solving and policy to get at the guts of our most pressing humanitarian and environmental concerns.

Mike Aultman has been a long-time friend and supporter of Greater Good Charities formerly VP of Fulfillment of an Ecommerce Fulfillment Center for 18 years. During that time, Mike oversaw the storing & shipping of in-kind donations between the two partners.

Mike lives in Allendale, Michigan where he is the proud husband and father of 4 kids, 1 grandkid, and 4 four-legged family members.  

Caroline brings more than 25 years of experience in marketing and PR to the GGC marketing team. She’s worked with a variety of businesses from agencies and non-profits to start-ups and corporations, but her favorite roles have always been with cause-driven organizations. Most recently, she spent 4 years with Nature’s Logic Pet Food as VP of Marketing, successfully positioning the brand as a leader in sustainability and helping the company multiply sales and increase investor value. She lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, and three cats.

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.

Christie has worked in the animal welfare field since 2004, in areas ranging from mobile spay/neuter clinics and trap-neuter-return (TNR) education to door-to-door community veterinary outreach and feline behavior programming. At Philadelphia-area organizations she managed a variety of spay/neuter programs and developed and implemented multi-year, targeted feline spay/neuter plans. Christie also worked extensively on model TNR legislation and advocacy in local municipalities and led initiatives to expand training opportunities and resources for community cat caregivers. In addition, she managed the Pets for Life Camden program, providing access to veterinary services in some of the most under-resourced neighborhoods in the country.

In 2015, Christie joined Greater Good Charities’ Jackson Galaxy Project. Here she co-developed Cat Pawsitive, the JGP’s flagship behavior training program for cats in shelters and rescues. She continues to develop and implement new initiatives at the JGP to improve the lives of cats and support the people who care for them in shelters and rescues and in their communities.

Christie serves on the advisory committee of CARE (Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity) and on the advisory board of the Harcum College Veterinary Nursing program. She also fosters cats for shelters and rescues in her area and has a soft spot for senior cats. Christie and her husband are the proud parents of several indoor cats and a small colony of community cats.

Heidi serves as Vice President of Corporate Partnerships, contributing to the development and execution of growth strategies aimed at expanding the program’s capacity to aid people, pets, and the planet.  Her efforts focus on mobilizing responses to need and amplifying positive impacts.

Heidi began her philanthropic journey at Alcoa, where she managed community partnerships spanning environmental, humanitarian and STEM programs.  She also directed the learning and development programs at Alcoa and BP, emphasizing on environmental and safety initiatives, and mentorship of individual professional development.

Driven by a desire to make a difference, she pursued her philanthropic calling at PetSmart Charities where she managed an annual $20MM portfolio, directing investments dedicated to advocating for and supporting pets and people.

Beyond her professional endeavors, Heidi enjoys traveling and spending time with her spouse Scott, son Drew and their spirited rescue from Mexico. Finley, known for his street-smart charm, is the ultimate comedian and sprinkler enthusiast in Arizona.

Born and raised in the beautiful countryside of southern Portugal, Dr. Pequito graduated from Évora University and worked in general veterinary practice for more than a decade. In 2020, he moved to the High-Quality, High-Volume Spay and Neuter and Shelter Medicine fields and since then has worked in different shelters in Portugal.

Dr. Pequito’s first contact with the animal welfare field was soon after graduation, when he volunteered at the local municipal shelter. There, he was involved in the creation of the spay/neuter and TNR programs, helping reduce pet overpopulation and euthanasia.

In his free time Dr. Pequito travels and helps animal welfare organizations all around the world. His "spaycations" have taken him to cool places like Chernobyl in Ukraine, the Native American Reservations in Montana, the Black Sea in Romania, the Equator Line in the beautiful African island of São Tomé, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and Mexico.

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. She has always wanted to pursue a full-time career in the nonprofit industry, which brought her to Greater Good Charities.

Sydney spends her weekends volunteering at a community garden and cooking and baking for friends. She resides in Los Angeles with her partner, Evan, and their rescue dog, Ricky.

After graduating with a B.S. in Animal Biotechnology and Conservation from Delaware Valley University in 2008, Kim joined the team at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center and has worked in all aspects of sheltering including animal care, medical, transport, disaster response and community programs. In 2014 she realized her passion for marketing and fundraising thanks to a special shelter dog named Zephyr. Since then she has managed all aspects of development from grant writing to fundraising events to leading a robust direct marketing program. Having been on the receiving end of several lifesaving grants from Greater Good, she is excited to join this amazing team to help create good in the world.

Kim lives in central New Jersey with her husband, son and two beloved rescue cats Emilio and Walker.

Born and raised in South Africa, Leigh now lives in the mountains of Western North Carolina with her wife, four cats and dog, Jake. She started her career in Animal Welfare 5 years ago as a Humane Officer in San Diego, responding to thousands of calls for service, including hundreds of cruelty cases, wildlife recues and the occasional wildland fire evacuations. She developed her humane trapping and animal handling skills as the Coordinator of San Diego's Community Cat Program as well as time spent volunteering for GGC's Good Fix Program.

Laura grew up in Larchmont NY, graduated from SUNY in Albany with a BA in psychology and minors in criminal justice and business.  She started out working at a dog daycare, then as a veterinary assistant at a busy ER animal hospital in upstate NY where she realized she wanted to become a veterinary technician. Laura moved to CO in 2004 to attend Bel-Rea and worked at the Denver Dumb Friends League as an animal care technician until she graduated in 2006 and moved to a Certified Veterinary Technician position at DDFL. 

Laura began volunteering on spay/neuter trips with ViDAS in 2008 and became an integral part of the ViDAS team.  She tried to attend as many clinics as she could fit in each year until now accepting the job as Director of Good Fix where we can put all of her skills to work!  Laura is excited to help communities all over the world manage their pet overpopulation troubles with Good Fix.  

Laura lives in Aurora, Colorado with her husband, and their 3 dogs and 1 cat (pretty much all foster failures). In her free time they like to do yoga, acro yoga, hike, play indoor soccer, paddle board and travel.

Maria Aranda comes to Greater Good Charities with over 15 years of experience in all areas of human resources and will be taking over all daily HR duties including full cycle recruiting, benefits administration and the application of our policies and procedures. 

Maria grew up in Southern California and moved to Arizona in 1997. She currently resides in Sahuarita, AZ with her better half David , son and two German shepherds. Maria loves to travel and the outdoors.. Her daughter and son in law reside in San Diego (military and soon moving to Florida) which she visits all the time. Her three grandchildren keep her busy. 

Sue Vilsack started with Rescue Bank in late 2011, soon becoming the National Programs and Logistics Director. She works with name brand manufacturers and manages the process for transporting the donations they offer to our regional distribution centers. She oversees our processes for registering recipient groups and assuring equitable distribution of donated product.

Sue has been rescuing mastiffs and other large breeds since the 90’s, focusing recently on raising funds for other mastiff rescues across the US. Her experience includes work as a corporate paralegal, volunteering as a Girl Scout leader, building a service business in Florida, helping run a motorcycle shop, and providing accounting and administration services for small business owners.

Sue enjoys reading, gardening (spending hours planting beautiful flowers and then forgetting to water them), sea shelling and garage sales. She currently resides in Kingwood, Texas with several mastiffs and continues her search for that elusive natural cleaner that removes drool from walls.

Afton lives with her 2 dogs, a 13 year old Maltese mix named Turd Ferguson, 4 year old Golden Retriever mix named Remi and large orange tabby cat named Tyson. Tyson is about 20lbs and would give Garfield a run for his money. Afton loves all sports and the outdoors. Her hobbies include snowboarding, kayaking and hiking.

For the past 10 years, Jon spent his time as a Salesforce Consultant focused on helping nonprofits. Prior to that, he spent 13 years as a Salesforce Administrator for a social services nonprofit. He derives personal fulfillment by leveraging his IT expertise to contribute to meaningful causes—and he will be amplifying the good with his work here at GGC!

Outside of work, Jon enjoys learning music and practicing electric guitar. Born and raised in Flint, Michigan, Jon now resides happily in Washington State with spouse Susan and the charismatic rescue pup Lucy.

At Rescue Bank, Kathy’s role in Logistics is to arrange for trucks to pick up goods from our donor warehouses and deliver them to our Ambassadors. She is responsible for scheduling disaster response trucks and also manages the Pedigree Shelter program, providing pet food from our donors to area shelters. Prior to joining Greater Good Charities’ Rescue Bank, she worked in the Telephone Electronics and Oil and Gas industries in accounting and logistics. Kathy is a passionate animal lover. She has worked with local rescues to foster animals and transport them to rescues. She has never met an animal that she has not fallen in love with. Kathy is the proud owner of rescue dogs Springer, Reddick, Tucker, and Tebow!

Carl joined the GreaterGood.org team as a staff accountant in 2020. He is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and has called Tucson, Arizona home for the last 13 years. He and his wife Angela are the “hooman” caretakers of a cat named Lola and a dog named Bandit. In his free time, he enjoys watching sports and playing/listening to music.

Debra Parsons was involved in financial analysis and statistics for more than 20 years in the corporate world.  She frequently took leave from her position to assist with animal issues, before moving into animal welfare as a second career. 

As the ED of a local animal shelter for several years, Deb and her team built it into a sustainable nationally recognized operation. All while being involved in disaster relief, particularly in 2004’s Hurricane Charley, Francis, Ivan and Jeanne.   

In the aftermath of Katrina, Deb served as the Disaster Shelter Manager for HSUS in Hattiesburg, Mississippi and coordinated with the FL EOC for damage assessment after Hurricane Wilma. Her 15-year management career at HSUS spanned many areas.  As VP of the Animal Care Centers, Deb worked with corporate and individual donors and in writing grants to help build sustainable revenue streams.   She worked on database systems for animal census, asset management, data migration, budgets and accounting, as well as program development and funding. Many of you may remember Deb working for HSUS where she ran the South Florida Wildlife Center.

Deb’s career has included designing product for companies, sourcing, and developing relationships with vendors and factories and companies to owning several businesses of her own.   She spent the last ten years with GreaterGood.com as a buyer of off the shelf products as well as ground up product.  Her favorite category of buying was pet and has established many long term and close relationships with those in the pet industry.  She also sourced/bought many of the IKD/BB items that were asked for by the GGC team.  

Debs first experience with GGC was helping out with a RescueRebuild in Michigan.  Watching the transformation and the community outreach the program had her hooked as a lifelong supporter of GGC.  She has also participated in some of the GoodFlights – her and Brian unloading crates and helping any way they could.  

Jen is a seasoned non-profit professional, serving in animal welfare for more than 10 years, before joining Greater Good Charitites. Her experience spans soliciting, cultivating and stewarding a vast portfolio, as well as establishing processes and operations that strive to achieve ongoing efficient workflows.

Prior to her transition to non-profit work, she spent years in advertising and marketing agencies serving an array of clients and industries.

In her free time, she spends enjoys cooking, attending concerts and being outdoors walking, hiking or paddle boarding. She serves as the VP of Fundraising for her son’s elementary school in an effort to expand the offerings available to the students. After growing up in the Midwest and spending nearly a decade in Southern California, she permanently resides in Denver, Colorado with her son, Atticus, and their Navajo Nation rescue pup, Navi.

Before joining the Greater Good Charities team, Chris was the Director of Operations for a large animal shelter in Texas.

His career in non-profit management evolved from a background in industrial sales and business process outsourcing, where continuous improvement of systems and procedures was essential for achieving successful outcomes.

Chris was born and raised in San Antonio, TX, where he currently resides with his wife, daughter, two dogs, and “a few” snakes. An outdoor enthusiast, musician, and self-proclaimed nerd, he finds relaxation in nature, music, and an epic story.

Cheryl is joining Greater Good Charities as the Manager, Pet Programs (Rescue Bank). Cheryl recently served as the Deputy Director for HSUS’ Equine Protection Department over the last 8+ years.  In addition to the day-to-day management of the department, she managed the equine emergency grant project, which provides small, emergency grants to equine rescues and law enforcement agencies. She also managed the Homes for Horses Coalition, which is comprised of over 500 equine rescues around the country who are dedicated to ending all forms of equine abuse. She volunteered for other HSUS programs that provided support to rescues, shelters and sanctuaries, such as Spayathon, SpayTogether, Plan 4 Progress and various disaster response efforts.

During her 25-year animal welfare career, Cheryl has worked for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and HSUS. Her experience ranges from lobbying for policy reform on the state, federal and international level to responding to disasters and mass strandings.

While she is passionate about ending animal abuse and relieving suffering wherever it exists, the issue that she is the most passionate about is ending Canada’s commercial seal hunt. For over 8 years, she documented the hunt, analyzed the footage for violations of the Marine Mammal Regulations and provided the evidence to Canadian officials.

Cheryl currently lives in Virginia with her Australian Shepherd named Gizmo and a large, indoor Rex rabbit named Carrot Cake. She serves on the Wildlife Rescue League’s Marketing & Outreach Committee and volunteers to transport injured and orphaned wildlife.

No bio available.

An animal lover to the max. In fact, if you ever can’t find her during a Rescue Rebuild build, go check the cat room. Chances are, you will find her there. At every shelter that Rescue Rebuild renovates, she plays this fun game where she finds a dog that she wants to take home and vows that if it hasn’t found a furever family by the time the build is over, she will fill out the adoption papers herself. Luckily, for her own sake and the sanity of her roommate, this has worked out in her favor so far. Learning all the tools, toys, and construction projects as she goes, she has already become the expert at chain link and is the only one in the group who is allowed to teach the volunteers!

Casey started volunteering with Rescue Rebuild in 2103 when he was a freshman in college. Ever since he has been making it a point to go on a few builds every year. To date, he has been on 12 trips and has adopted 3 pups from shelters on the way: Lilly, Daisy, and Flint. Casey graduated from Delaware Valley University in 2017 with a B.S. in Conservation and Wildlife Management. Before coming on with Greater Good Charities, he worked as a Park Ranger after college and did wildlife mitigation in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ray started with Rescue Rebuild after their move from Alberta, Canada where they owned a roofing company and now a Video Editor. Ray and their lovely partner have two dogs and a cat. They enjoy adventuring with their partner, music, reading, spending time with friends, and riding their motorcycle.

Patrick joined the Rescue Rebuild team in early 2020 with a diverse work history but more importantly, a love for animals! He graduated in 2017 from East Stroudsburg University with a degree in Business Management and also has a background working with a general contractor, along with some logistics planning experience. He is excited to adapt and grow these skills into doing something meaningful for animals! Outside of work, Patrick loves to find solitude hiking and he hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2018. He is always looking for new backpacking opportunities!

Troy became part of our team in 2021 and brings a ton of animal and construction experience with him. He worked in animal welfare in Tennessee for 8 years, is trained in animal search and rescue and has been swinging a hammer for 20 years!  He is excited to put his unique background to work in a job that takes advantage of both.  Troy lives in TN with his family and officially wins the award for most animals on our team!

Dog or Cat person: Both… and why isn’t cow an option?! 

Animals at home: 5 dogs,4 cats,3 cows,2 horses,2 ponies, 2 goats, 2 guinea pigs, 20 chickens 

Favorite RR Memory: When I realized that I was going to get to do two things that I love together: building things and helping animals!

Crystal is a self-proclaimed bird nerd and outdoor enthusiast and comes to us with a crazy cool scientific background. She has spent the last 16 years as a Senior Research Specialist at the University of Arizona Genetics Core where she worked on many cool projects.

Morgan was born and raised in Oklahoma and has been involved in animal welfare for the past 5 years.  She began volunteering for ViDAS in 2017, where she fell in love with high quality/high volume (HQHV) spay and neuter. This experience led her to a role as the Executive Director at a large shelter in her home state, where she developed and implemented a HQHV spay neuter program, managed animal transport flights, and assisted in multiple cruelty cases. 

Morgan enjoys the outdoors and spending time with friends and family. She currently resides in Stillwater, Oklahoma with her dog Rosie, her cat, Oscar Martinez, and her boyfriend, Jared.  

Driven by compassion, Martyna started her professional journey with an Internship for a Danish NGO committed to improving the educational opportunities for children and facilitating a sustainable impact in Nepal. Her vocation subsequently led her to an International NGO, where as a Program and Fundraising Manager she strove to provide Therapeutic Camps and Programs for seriously ill children. Since Russia launched a full-scale military invasion into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Martyna has been actively supporting Ukrainian refugees and coordinating an Intervention Point at the border crossing in Dorohusk (Poland), successfully expanding activities to support internally displaced people in Ukraine as well. She also recently completed postgraduate studies in Humanitarian Assistance at the University of Warsaw.

From a young age, Martyna was passionate about animals and their welfare. Her family home was always open for stray animals who would get spayed/neutered and cared for until homes were found. Currently, she is the pet parent of 5 rescued cats and one rescued dog.

Alex is from and currently resides in Miami, Florida and is a graduate of Florida International University. He has always loved helping out his communities in Miami and the Dominican
Republic. He is (rightfully) obsessed with his dog Bubby, who he adopted from the Miami Dade Animal Shelter. In his free time he enjoys working out, surfing, and hiking.

Sabrina started working with Rescue Rebuild in November of 2023. She always knew she wanted to work with animals and pursued her passion through many different avenues. Throughout college, she worked at an animal shelter in PA, worked as an animal care technician in her college’s small animal science center, and interned at a zoo in their education and animal care departments. In 2021 she graduated from Delaware Valley University with a B.S in Zoo Science. After, she spent some time working in the laboratory animal science field but knew she wanted to get back into the non-profit space where she could make a difference in the lives of both animals and people! Now, at Rescue Rebuild, she is excited to put her multifaceted animal knowledge to use while learning new skills! She is currently living in CT with her many pets and spends her free time caring for them, going on hikes with her dog, and hanging out with friends and family.

Sue joins Greater Good Charities with a true eye for storytelling developed from years of experience working as a photographer, photo editor, and digital asset manager. She has had a thrilling time working for various entities in education, publishing, entertainment, and online media. However, Sue felt the most meaningful work when she volunteered for non-profit organizations with causes that aligned with her values, like Greater Good Charities.

Sue is California born and raised, and lives in the Los Angeles County suburbs with her husband Mike. When not online, she can be found bird watching wild green parrots in her backyard, exploring different neighborhoods, and playing tennis every weekend.

Unsurprisingly, Angelena loves words. She earned her BA in English from Hanover College and then went on to receive an MA in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Arkansas. When she isn’t working on copywriting assignments, she still loves to sit around comparing translations of Beowulf. She has written for several nonprofits and is happy to combine her love of writing with her love of nature (and all who inhabit it) at Greater Good Charities. 

Though originally from Indiana, Angelena now resides in Little Rock with her partner, Andrew, and their two cats, Hemingway and Edgar. New to the South, Angelena can frequently be found sunburnt. She loves reading, making puppets, and debating Top 10 music lists.

Cassidy Vernon is from Tucson, Arizona. She recently graduated from the University of Arizona law school. During her time there she enjoyed advocating for and defending people’s rights. She developed a passion for helping people and is excited to bring that passion and work to Greater Good.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, yoga, traveling, and a good book.

Ashley graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in African American Diaspora Studies and a minor in Communications. She is in San Marcos, Texas where she lives with her husband and our four pets. Simba (6) who is a pit bull mix, two domestic short haired cats Mushu (4), Mowgli (3), and a Mississippi Map turtle named Squirt (15). In her spare time she enjoys writing, party planning, and traveling. She is super excited to get started and make a difference at Greater Good Charities.

Renée is a Tucson native with a B.A. in Psychology.  As an intern and part-time employee of GGC, she developed a passion for all things digital media while managing donor interaction through our social channels, curating video content, and writing copy for our advertising partners. She loves pets, and while she doesn’t have any of her own, Renée is a petsitter to many in the GGC family!  

Outside of GGC, Renée volunteers as a peer educator with El Rio Health Center’s Reproductive Health Access Project (RHAP). RHAP offers free and confidential sexual health services to youth aged 14-24, as well as gender-affirming undergarments for trans and gender-nonconforming youth in Arizona.

Kelly has worked in animal welfare for over 16 years, from sitting on animal shelter Board of Directors,  and managing open and limited intake shelters. She began volunteering with HQHVSN in 2015 and it quickly became a passion. Kelly resides on a small hobby farm in Colorado, with her son and over 50 rescue animals including dogs, cows, horses, goats, chickens, cats, bunnies and a donkey.