Sarah Aguilar is the Director for Santa Barbara County Animal Services, serving a 6,000 pets annually and a half million people over 2,700 square miles. Prior to her current role, Aguilar served as the Senior Director of Operations at Austin Pets Alive! in Austin, Texas, where she played a pivotal role in advancing lifesaving initiatives. Before that, she served as the National Foster Programs Manager at Greater Good Charities and as the Deputy Director for Pima Animal Care Center in Tucson, Arizona. Aguilar's journey in animal welfare began as the Foster Care Coordinator for Ventura County Animal Services, placing over 3,000 pets annually into foster.

Meshia Burrell has more than 25 years of human resources experience with non-profits in health care and broadcasting with 15 of those years being in animal welfare at Anti-Cruelty. Meshia holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Management with a concentration in Human Resources, PHR (Professional Human Resources) certification, SHRM – CP (Society of Human Resources Certified Professional) certification and is a certified Caliper Expert. She continues to work hard to strengthening connectivity and engagement at all levels and develop successful leaders through various HR initiatives.

Aiko Okamoto is originally from Yokohama, Japan, and began her career as a Digital Movie Editing Suite Coordinator at Sony PCL in Tokyo3.  Aiko joined the Humane Society of Charlotte in 2008 as an Administrative Assistant.  She was instrumental in establishing the Development Department’s CRM system and helped oversee all activities that were managed by the Executive Director. In 2010, Aiko had the opportunity to step into a lead management role and began overseeing all of HSC’s financial activities. She is now the Chief Administrative Officer overseeing five different shelter departments including Finance, HR, Volunteer programs, Facility and IT. Aiko is a Senior Professional in Human Resources, SPHR and a Certified Nonprofit Accounting Professional, CNAP.

Jillian Sergio is the Executive Director at Companion Animal Alliance, the open admission shelter in Baton Rouge, LA. Jillian started her animal welfare career at CAA, overseeing the adoptions, rescue, transport, and volunteer departments before moving to a Shelter Manager position in rural Colorado.

Katherine Shenar is the executive vice president for The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement. She has 30 years of experience in animal welfare, including serving as CEO for two animal welfare organizations and holding leadership roles with four others. Katherine became a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) in 2020.