Marta Pierpoint moved to Montana over twenty years ago, leaving her San Francisco law practice to join Triaxsys Research LLC as a partner.  After serving as Vice President to Triaxsys for three years, Ms. Pierpoint switched gears to fuel a passion for education, serving on the Missoula International School Board for successive terms until joining the school as the Director of Advancement.  During that time Ms. Pierpoint also served as a board member and board chair for the Humane Society of Western Montana (HSWM) where she now works as Executive Director. HSWM places over 1,300 animals a year and serves far more through low cost medical care in the immediate community, outreach to rural areas and many behavior programs. HSWM has 26 employees and an annual budget of over 1.5 million.

In her role as executive director of BTAA, Mandy created a supportive culture that honors the human-animal bond. She sees a world where people are inherently good and where animal welfare advocates work upstream to help people care for their animals. She believes in giving humans the benefit of the doubt, removing the “shame barrier”, and shifting organizations away from transactional approaches to ones committed to supporting both sides of the human-animal bond.

Tricia Sebes is the Senior Director and team lead of the ASPCA’s Northern Tier Shelter Initiative. Prior to her work at the ASPCA, she held leadership roles at McKamey Animal Center and Humane Educational Society in Chattanooga, TN. She graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a Bachelor of Science in Human Services Management and is a Certified Welfare Administrator through The Association of Animal Welfare Advancement. Tricia serves as board secretary for a high-volume high-quality spay/neuter clinic in Chattanooga.

Karen S. Walsh, CAWA, LVMT, CFE, is the Senior Director of Animal Relocation for the ASPCA and the former executive director of the McKamey Animal Center in Chattanooga, TN. She graduated from Blue Ridge in Virginia with a degree in veterinary technology and has achieved designations as a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator and a Certified Compassion Fatigue Educator. Karen has held leadership positions in both veterinary and animal welfare organizations and was appointed to serve on the Tennessee state Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners. 

Jim Tedford accepted his dream job when he joined The Association as President & CEO in June of 2015.  But Jim is no stranger to the organization.  He has been a member for more than 30 years and served as our Board Chairman some twenty years ago.  Jim has been actively engaged in the animal welfare movement for more than 39 years having served as CEO for animal sheltering organizations in New York, Louisiana and Tennessee.  He served as a regional director for The Humane Society of the United States and then spent six years providing direct response marketing services to animal welfare organizations. Jim presents frequently at national and regional conferences on various animal welfare issues, organizational development and not-for-profit management.