Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference
2025 Speakers.
Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference takes great pride in hosting a lineup of speakers who represent diverse perspectives and embody progressive ideals. Our commitment to fostering inclusivity and promoting innovative thinking has led us to curate a speaker roster that spans a wide range of backgrounds, expertise, and experiences.
You can expect to engage with thought leaders who are at the forefront of their field, driving positive change and challenging conventional norms. These speakers will share their insights, knowledge, and groundbreaking ideas, inspiring attendees to embrace new ways of thinking and working.
By bringing together voices from various walks of life, we aim to create an environment where attendees can learn, connect, and collaborate in a spirit of openness and respect. We firmly believe that a diverse and progressive conference not only enriches our collective understanding but also empowers individuals to drive meaningful impact in their communities and beyond.
Dr. Abbie Atteberry, MS, CAWA, Elite FFCP
Dr. Abbie is a veterinarian on the National Shelter Medicine team at Best Friends Animal Society with extensive experience leading teams at nonprofit animal shelters, sanctuaries, and veterinary clinics. She has a passion for motivating others through a servant-based leadership approach and cultivating growth and positive interpersonal relationships. In addition to organizational leadership, she has a strong professional interest in animal behavior, psychopharmaceuticals, and shelter operations, including how to increase equity in the field of animal welfare.
Prior to joining Best Friends, Abbie served as the Executive Director for the animal shelter of St. Louis, Missouri where she led the organization to achieve record-setting accomplishments, such as a 168% increase in dog adoptions, reducing the number of days onsite for dogs by 70%, moving over 200 large dogs to foster in 8 weeks, and more! Her commitment to animal welfare is also exemplified through her work founding the Missouri Coalition of Animal Care Organizations and Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference, ensuring all animal welfare organizations in Missouri have access to the information and relationships they need to succeed. Before working in animal sheltering, Abbie previously served as the Executive Director of National Tiger Sanctuary. In this role, she focused on elevating the standard of care for the animals and implementing new educational initiatives and a wildlife rehabilitation program. She also served on the founding committees for the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, which was the first collaborative effort between animal sanctuaries to end the exploitation of big cats in the US.
Outside of animal welfare, Abbie enjoys seeing live music, trying new things, and spending time with those she loves.
Kim Brown
Kim is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) and has been working in animal welfare for 15 years. She volunteered as a foster for 6 years prior to working in the field and continues to foster. Her experience with animal welfare organizations ranges from foster based, limited admission, managed intake, and open admission with a government contract.
Kim has a MA in Non-profit Administration and a BA in Human Resource Management. She also spent eight years in the US Army Reserves as a Combat Medic.
Selena Brown, MA, CPDT-CBCC
Selena Brown, MA, CPDT-CBCC, Fear Free Certified Trainer. She is currently working on an MS in Animal Behavior and Welfare at Virginia Tech. Over the years, she has spent time as a shelter volunteer, lead kennel technician, behavior foster, private trainer, and shelter behavior professional. Before diving into animal welfare full-time, Selena taught German and English to learners of all ages and received her MA in Germanic Languages and Literatures from the University of Pennsylvania. Selena is part of the CORE and BEAR education and grading teams, and the in-person workshop team, and is passionate about bringing quality behavior information to the sheltering world. She lives in eastern Tennessee with her husband, Austin, two goofy dogs, Xena and Nyx, and two rambunctious cats, Juno and Archer. Selena enjoys playing recreational sports and drinking coffee.
Audra Brownlee
Lifelong animal owner, I was that kid who brought EVERYTHING home and had to befriend every animal I met. My daytime job is in technology in education. A passion for animals and love of technology has put me in a position to be beneficial to my shelter through social media. I began walking dogs for my local shelter, then over time ended up building the Google Account and handling the social media and many other aspects of the shelter.
Summer Dolder
Summer Dolder has over a decade of experience leading shelter operations and community engagement programming for some of the largest open intake shelters in the country. She holds an MSW from the University of Denver and a BSW from Winthrop University. Her career in animal welfare started as a cat volunteer at her local city shelter in New York City.
Kelly Duer
As Senior Shelter Solutions Specialist for Maddie’s Fund, Kelly's focus is on helping shelters and rescue organizations keep people and pets together and maximize pet welfare through the implementation of robust foster care programs. Her role includes creating and providing training for organizations and their foster coordinators, writing, assisting with research on foster care and consulting with shelters. Her work with foster care and marketing has been featured in many national publications, websites and networks, including Animal Sheltering magazine, the Huffington Post, Best Friends magazine, BarkPost, Catster Magazine, iheartdogs.com and HuffPost Live.
Tori Fugate
Tori Fugate joined Shelter Animals Count as Director of Communications in September 2024, bringing over a decade of expertise in animal welfare and communications. Throughout her award-winning career, Tori has been responsible for managing comprehensive marketing strategies, public relations, social media platforms, events, and education initiatives across various sectors. She has developed and executed multi-channel marketing plans, overseen web management, and led media relations efforts, achieving national recognition in media outlets such as People Magazine, The Dodo, CNN, ABC World News, CBS News, USA Today, Queer Eye, and The Rachael Ray Show. Her contributions have consistently driven visibility and engagement for the organizations she’s worked with, elevating their missions to new levels.
Tori previously held the position of Chief Communications Officer at KC Pet Project, where she played an instrumental role in shaping the organization’s brand after it took over the Kansas City, MO, animal shelter in 2012. Tori currently serves on the Marketing and Communications Committee for the National Animal Care and Control Association (NACA) and is frequently invited to speak on various topics at both national and local conferences. In her role at Shelter Animals Count, she continues to apply her communications expertise, with a focus on audience engagement, data-driven strategies, and sharing the stories of what is happening in shelters and rescues across the country.
Elizabeth Galbreath
Elizabeth Galbreath is a people developer, connection builder, and agricultural ambassador. She grew up on a dairy farm in Maryland and has worked in various sectors within the industry since graduating from Virginia Tech in 2017. She has experience in sales, marketing, program management, and people development. She gave a TEDxVirginiaTech Talk in 2015 and has spoken to thousands of people about professional development and becoming their best selves. Elizabeth is committed to being a reliable, authentic spokeswoman for agriculture and developing others to become their best selves through Cultivate Growth Co.
Brittany Gault
Brittany Gault is a Texas native now calling the Mississippi Delta home. With nearly 20 years of experience in animal welfare and advocacy, Brittany has passionately championed causes such as ending dog fighting in southern Arizona, and raising global awareness for cetacean conservation. Before transitioning to the nonprofit sector, Brittany enjoyed a successful career in Corporate America, where she developed record-breaking retention strategies and played a key role in helping a software startup achieve its first profit through strategic client communications and product support development. These experiences have significantly shaped her leadership and approach at CARES Clarksdale, where she continues to drive growth and impact.
Jill Henke
Jill Henke has been working and volunteering in animal welfare since 2006, fostering over 500 dogs (mostly bully breeds) and cats. Jill quit her corporate sales career in 2017 and began her career at Gateway Pet Guardians (GPG) in 2017. Jill currently serves as the director of operations at GPG, which is the largest pet resource center in the St. Louis region. Jill oversees all animal care; fostering, adoptions, and intake; and diversion and community programming. Jill is passionate about implementing progressive programming with a focus on reducing unnecessary euthanasia and increasing programming aimed at keeping pets with their people. On a personal note, Jill is passionate about social justice issues, cheesy reality dating shows, and anything related to brunching. Jill has three dogs of her own, Gus, Bessie, and Howie, as well as two cats, Jada and Lincoln.
April Huntsman
April Huntsman, CAWA, is a seasoned animal welfare leader driving innovative solutions to save lives. As Senior Director of Animal Welfare at Adopt a Pet, she leverages technology and data to optimize animal welfare operations, maximize adoptions, and improve the adoption experience. With over 20 years of experience at organizations like Maricopa County Animal Care & Control, Salt Lake County Animal Service, Best Friends Animal Society, and Michelson Found Animals, April has a proven track record of improving animal welfare. She is passionate about using technology to create a brighter future for animals. She lives in Southern Utah with her beloved Chihuahuas.
Dr. Jo Jarred
Dr. Jarred is the Medical Director & Veterinarian for Orange County Animal Services in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Dr. Jarred graduated from North Carolina State University in 2017 with a focus in Zoological Medicine. After working in private practice for three years, Dr. Jarred transitioned to shelter medicine in 2020. Dr. Jarred completed a Master of Science in Shelter Medicine through the University of Florida in 2023 and now works as an adjunct professor for the university as well as performing relief work in emergency clinics. Dr. Jarred is currently participating in the ASPCA's Practitioner Pathway Mentorship Program with the goal of becoming boarded in Shelter Medicine. Dr. Jarred’s interest lies with the care of non-traditional species in a shelter setting, bridging the gap between animal shelter organizations and veterinary professionals, and increasing efficiency of sheltering operations.
Sarah Javier
With over two decades of impactful leadership, Sarah has led the APA since 2016, driving significant growth and expanding its reach to serve over 10,000 pets annually. Under her leadership, the APA has doubled in size, strengthened community programs, and enhanced access to vital pet services. Sarah is also highly experienced in media relations, effectively managing the APA’s public communications and crisis response. Sarah is the Board President for the Coalition for Pet Progress in St. Louis and is a member of the board for the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement.
Rob LaRoy
Rob LaRoy wandered into animal welfare in October 2018 when he became Executive Director of the Humane Society of Elkhart County. He has more than 30-years’ experience in nonprofit management with both Big Brothers Big Sisters and the YMCA. Under his leadership the revenues of HSEC have increased from $800,000 to $4.9 million in six years, while building an endowment of $4.8 million.
Rob credits his time with BBBS with knowing how to “meet people where they are”. People come to us with difficulties in their lives that require a little extra patience. It is our job to show compassionate care to individuals as well as the animals the organization serves.
He has held numerous leadership positions on a statewide basis with both BBBS and during his 14 years with the YMCA including president of the State Association of Big Brothers Big Sisters in Michigan and chairman of the state association of YMCAs in Tennessee. He currently serves as the secretary of the Indiana Coalition of Animal Welfare Professionals.
He has received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Adrian College and his Masters degree in Nonprofit Management from Grace College.
He is married and has five children, ages 28, 21, 20, and 18 year-old twins. He and his wife, Tracy, are also the proud “hoomans” to three dogs, a 6-year old golden doodle named Bo Shembarkler, a 3-year old German Shepherd named Riley, and currently are a hospice foster for a small mutt with cancer.
Amanda Loellke
Amanda Loellke is a dedicated animal welfare professional with a passion for breaking barriers and increasing lifesaving efforts. She began her journey in January 2020 as an Animal Care Specialist and quickly expanded her expertise by working across multiple departments, including adoptions and foster management. Now serving as the Animal Care Director, Amanda oversees both the placement and animal care teams, driving innovative strategies to get more animals into loving homes. With hands-on experience and a deep commitment to progressive adoption practices, she is a champion for inclusive, barrier-free placements that prioritize both animal well-being and community engagement.
Mikayla Moore, KPA-CTP, SBA
Mikayla Moore is a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP) and Shelter Behavior Affiliate (SBA) through IAABC. She currently works for Pasadena Humane as a behavioral health technician, where she assesses risk, implements behavior modification plans, and tries to pet as many kittens as possible. Mikayla is also Fear Free Shelter certified, a Living and Learning with Animals graduate, First Aid and CPR certified, and dabbles in dog sports. Mikayla got her professional start in animal behavior and welfare at a positive reinforcement-based dog daycare in Southern California in 2014. However, it was her first shelter dog that made her realize that the complexities of behavior were more interesting than dog sports. Since then, she’s been seeking out continuing education to develop mechanical skills (clickers, leashes, oh my) as well as behavioral knowledge to enhance the lives of animals and their human caretakers. MIkayla is on the SPA in-person handling workshop and grading teams and is the primary content writer for the SPA newsletter. In a vague attempt to keep a work-life balance, Mikayla reads over 100 books a year and chauffeurs her Vizsla to dog sport lessons.
Yona Rappaport, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, CSB-D
Yona Rappaport, KPA-CTP, CPDT-KA, CSB-D, got her start working with dogs at Metro Dog Daycare and Boarding. She excelled as a playgroup handler, off-leash group walker, trainer-in-training, staff trainer, client liaison, and ultimately became the facilities manager before transitioning to contract work as a behavior professional at Contra Costa Animal Services, then to Pasadena Humane Society where she currently works. There, she discovered her love of working in a shelter setting. Having the chance to focus on improving her ability to read body language and mechanical skills through various programs and attaining two certifications, she has had the pleasure of handling and working with thousands of dogs over the past ten years. One of her favorite activities is teaching volunteer classes and volunteers with Shelter Playgroup Alliance to continue coaching volunteers and shelter staff while still focusing on furthering her education. Yona is the owner and operator of Science at Play Dog Training, Behavior and Gear. She is passionate about learning and sharing her knowledge of effective, ethical training with clients and their dogs. Along with selling typical dog leashes, she designs and tests specialty equipment for use in a number of settings such as shelter specific leashes designed to reduce stress on dogs and increase safety for handlers in a kennel setting. Yona is on the SPA in-person handling workshop team, the grading team, the CORE and BEAR content teams, and manages the SPA social media presence. Yona shares her home with her partner Michael, two birds Chicle and Dilla; and Aurora, her cat. Yona’s hobbies include crafting and sewing.
Stacy Rogers
Stacy Rogers began her career in animal welfare in 2001 as an animal care technician at Almost Home Humane Society. After scooping her way to the top at AHHS, she moved to Best Friends in 2018 as the regional director of the Midwest and Great Plains. In this role, she works with shelters over a 15-state region to assist with increasing lifesaving to achieve and sustain no kill. Jill Henke has been working and volunteering in animal welfare since 2006, fostering over 600 dogs (mostly bully breeds) and cats. Jill quit her corporate sales career in 2017 and began her career at Gateway Pet Guardians. Jill currently serves as the director of operations at GPG, which is the largest pet resource center in the St. Louis region. Jill oversees all animal care, foster and adoption, intake, diversion, and community programming. Jill is passionate about implementing progressive programming with a focus on reducing unnecessary euthanasia and increasing programming aimed at keeping pets with their people.
Eric Thompson
Eric Thompson is a graduate of Kansas University with a B.G.S. in Environmental Science and graduated from the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center with his Police commission. Currently Eric is working as the Executive Director for Animal Incident Management (AIM) with Bissell Pet Foundation. Eric also serves as Senior Director for the ASAR Training and Response platform which provides animal rescue technicians and specialist training along with subject-matter-expert workshops and response. Eric serves as Past-President of the National Alliance for Animal and Agriculture Emergency Programs (NASAAEP – www.thenasaaep.com); and Eric participated on the National Advisory Council subcommittee for the Planning for Animal Wellness (PAW) Act to review and update national guidelines for animals in disasters. Eric is working with several agencies and States as a consultant to incorporate animal-related operations into existing Emergency Support Functions. For more information on the Animal Incident Management (AIM) group and ASAR please see https://www.animalincidentmanagement.com and www.asartraining.com.
Mara Velez, MA, CPDT-KA
Mara Velez, MA, CPDT-KA, is the Executive Director of the Shelter Playgroup Alliance and is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer. Mara has worked as a behavior and training consultant at both open- and limited admission shelters where she designed, developed, and implemented behavior program structures, including volunteer training, behavior evaluations, canine enrichment, and playgroups.
Mara splits her time between the Shelter Playgroup Alliance and corporate clients who engage her for her expertise on leadership, coaching, and learning and development.
Mara holds both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology and completed all the course work for a doctorate in education. In addition to completing several animal behavior and training-related programs, Mara continually develops her skills and knowledge of canines by attending seminars and reading science-based canine literature. To date, she has completed over 3,000 hours of continuing education.
Mara shares her home with three dogs: Ivy, Pluto, and Bruce Lee. Her current favorite hobby is being back in graduate school at Virginia Tech in the on-line master’s degree in Agricultural and Life Sciences (OMALS) with an emphasis in Applied Animal Behavior and Welfare, and she’s learning how to dive so she can swim with the fishes.
Alisha Vianello
Alisha is an experienced Human Resources and Animal Welfare Leadership professional. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Workforce Education and Development and a Master's of Interdisciplinary Studies focused on Nonprofit Management, Animal Services Leadership and Public Relations. Alisha is a proud graduate of the Best Friends Animal Society Executive Leadership Certification Program. She is currently the Executive Director of Gateway Pet Guardians in East St. Louis, IL (just across the river from St. Louis!).
Nick Walton
Nick Walton is the National Shelter Support Senior Manager for Best Friends Animal Society and works with officers and shelters nationwide to implement progressive, community-focused practices that support lifesaving within the shelter, as well as increase officer safety and efficiency.
Nick started his journey in animal welfare at a pet boarding facility where he was the designated “poop scooper”, and shortly thereafter transitioned to a dog-trainer role within the facility. This naturally led him to devote the next few years of his life to becoming a professional dog trainer in the metro-Atlanta area. While working in Atlanta, he would regularly drive by dogs that needed some help and this led him to Fulton County Animal Services.
Nick committed himself to a community-oriented approach to animal welfare enforcement with the goal of changing how the community viewed animal services and its officers. Commonly referred to as the “dog food man” within the inner city of Atlanta, Nick was instrumental in developing trust within the community and becoming a welcome sight throughout underserved areas of the city. Prioritizing this philosophy, as well as utilizing resources such as Pets For Life, allowed Nick to save more lives by keeping pets in their homes and out of the shelter. As a Field Training Officer, he would train new employees on the philosophy of community-engagement, further solidifying this mindset into the culture of FCAS.
Working in Fulton County afforded Nick many diverse experiences as an ACO and resulted in his instrumental role in a number of large-scale cruelty cases from voodoo cases to circus animal cruelty. The lifesaving techniques that Nick developed and championed at Fulton County Animal Services represent the next step for animal control field services: a proactive solution-based approach to animal issues with an emphasis on building a supportive and safe community.
Carol Whaley
Carol Whaley has dedicated over two decades to the animal protection sector, blending hands-on care with a commitment to systemic change. At the Animal Rescue League, she launched the Foster Finder program, Return to Field initiative and spearheaded a large-scale targeted TNVR (Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return) project in Pittsburgh, building coalitions among local shelters and community groups to address the city's community cat crisis. During her tenure at Animal Friends, Carol expanded vital programs, including a citywide spay/neuter initiative that grew from 3,000 to 10,000 procedures annually. She played a key role in opening the Animal Wellness Center in 2017 and developing its first community wellness programs. Her advocacy work has led to significant legislative victories, including the creation of the Humane Legislation Committee and the Compassionate Communities program, which works to implement humane policies across local municipalities.
Mike Wheeler
Mike Wheeler is the Director of Community Services for Cabot Arkansas. Over the last 15 years he has been dedicated to animal welfare and public safety while reducing euthanasia and promoting the human animal bond in Cabot, Arkansas. Under Mike’s management of his city’s open admission shelter and animal control operations, he has fostered a culture of helping people and animals which has brought about 23 community programs that focused on improving the lives of every person and every pet in his community through strengthening the human animal bond and keeping families together. This philosophy of returning/keeping animals with their families has reduced his annual intake from 3,357 animals in 2019 to 905 animals in 2024 with a euthanasia rate of 1%, counting every animal the organization touched in 2024. With his belief that healthy pets are essential to a humane community the programs he created helped 5809 families in his community to provide care for their pets in 2024.
His passion for animal welfare and public policy has driven him to a position on the Vice-President of the National Animal Care and Control Association (NACA), Treasurer (Past President) of the Arkansas State Animal Control Association (ASACA) the Executive Management Committee for the Human Animal Support Services (HASS) and many national advisory panels. In this capacity he helps form best practices, trains animal welfare professionals, assists animal service departments and government officials cross the country to become better representatives within their communities while providing a higher standard for animal welfare and public safety in those communities.
Based on Mike’s success in Cabot, Arkansas he has been requested to speak at many national and international conferences over the last 5 years some of which include the Australian National Animal Welfare Conference as the Keynote speaker, the Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo as a speaker and panelist, the Best Friends National Conference as a speaker, and numerous state level animal welfare & control association conferences.
Mike’s philosophy is one that is based on continued learning in an ever-changing world. As well as learning daily from human and animal welfare leaders across this country Mike holds a Master’s in Business Administration with a minor in Public Administration and as well as a degree in Criminal Justice.
Schedule
Clear your schedule, and join your colleagues from all over the Midwest to learn and network! See the full conference schedule here.
Speakers
Expert speakers are traveling from across the country to present at MASC! See the full line-up here!
Travel
Travel around Columbia is easy and affordable! Find hotel, flight, and parking details here.
“We enjoyed all of the things we learned. We made new friends. Great event for animal people to meet and be educated.”
— MASC 2019 Conference Attendee