Jodi Lytle Buckman, CAWA, recently joined the Dumb Friends League as the Vice President of Veterinary Services. Jodi has worked in animal sheltering and welfare for over 30 years at the local, regional, and national levels, including working for 9 years with the ASPCA on national partnerships and grantmaking, and leading animal shelters in Maine, Minnesota, and Ohio. She achieved the Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) designation in 2006.

Jan McHugh-Smith, CAWA is the CEO of the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, an open-admission organization that serves 7,000 animals annually.  Jan’s animal welfare experience over the past 35 years includes being President & CEO of the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region, President of the San Francisco SPCA; and Director of Eagle County Animal Control, Eagle CO.  Jan is the Chair of Shelter Animal’s Count, creating a national database for shelter statistics and Chair of Coloradan’s Protecting Animal Welfare. She is the past Chair of the Association for the Advancement of Animal Welfare and served as Chair of CATalyst Council which works to raise the level of care and welfare for cats.

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. 

Stephanie Filer has worked in senior leadership positions at non-profits for nearly 20 years, leading high-performing communications, development, and operations teams. Her advocacy efforts at the state and local level have led to countless changes in animal welfare legislation, including overturning multiple decades-old breed  specific /discriminatory ordinances across Iowa.

After nearly 12 years at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, in August 2021 she joined Shelter Animals Count as Executive Director to further advance animal welfare across the country through data-enabled insights. Her professional and civic achievements have earned her Forty Under 40 recognition and the first annual Stephanie Filer Community Impact Award, among many other awards and honors.

Dr. Brian DiGangi is Senior Director of Shelter Medicine at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. After earning his DVM at the University of Florida in 2006, Dr. DiGangi completed a rotating internship in small animal medicine, surgery, and critical care, a residency in Shelter Animal Medicine, and received his MS in Veterinary Medical Sciences in 2010. He has published research on canine heartworm disease, veterinary field clinics, feline adoption, pregnancy detection and immunology. He is board certified in both Canine and Feline Practice and Shelter Medicine Practice by the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the American Heartworm Society, and served two terms as President of the Association of Shelter Veterinarians from 2015-2016. Prior to joining the ASPCA, Dr. DiGangi was a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Florida.

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. 

Nina Stively is the Director of Loudoun County Animal Services in northern Virginia, an independent government agency that includes the county animal shelter and a team of sworn humane law enforcement officers. Nina is a Certified Animal Cruelty Investigator, a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator, and an Animal Control Officer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

Dr. Byron Greenberg is a licensed clinical psychologist who holds graduate degrees from Loma Linda University and Johns Hopkins University.  His focus as a clinician has been in the area of high stress professionals such as law enforcement and other first responders, nurses, and teachers.  He therefore works with people who are suffering from depression, anxiety, relationship concerns, addictions, crisis, and adjustment to trauma.  His approach is a blend of cognitive behavioral therapy and psychodynamic psychotherapy. He is focused on the personal experience of his clients, the way they interpret those experiences and how those interpretations effect their relationships with others and themselves. Dr. Greenberg has been licensed in the Commonwealth as a psychologist since January of 2001. He is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Virginia State University.