Dr. Josh Fisher serves as the Director of Animal Services for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County in North Carolina, and as the Board President of the National Animal Care & Control Association. Josh he is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator, Certified Customer eXperience Executive, and a graduate of the Animal Services Executive Leadership Certification Program. With 20+ years in the veterinary medical/animal welfare industry, Dr. Fisher has held a wide range of roles in private and corporate veterinary hospitals, higher education, and government.

Jen Hobgood is senior state legislative director of the ASPCA’s Government Relations Southern Division. In this role, she oversees the ASPCA’s legislative initiatives in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, and also supports ASPCA’s efforts at the state level throughout the country to expand access to veterinary care such as telemedicine. Prior to joining the ASPCA, Jen was the Florida state director for The Humane Society of the United States, where she worked for twelve years.

Dylan worked as a (human) social worker in the mid-Atlantic after college for a dozen years before needing a break. He relocated to New Mexico in 2000. After a pause to catch his breath, he needed a job with meaning and started as a part-time adoption counselor at the Santa Fe Animal Shelter in 2011, in between stints as a hot air balloon wrangler and personal chef, both of which eventually fell by the wayside so he could focus on animal welfare. Dylan is the Senior Director of Shelter Operations.

After graduating fromIowa State University's College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Emily Swiniarski went througha Shelter Medicine Internship with the University of Florida. She has workedfor a wide variety of organizations including large municipal shelters, smalllimited admission shelters, HQHVSN facilities, and lower cost veterinary careclinics in Washington, DC, and Los Angeles before landing in Chicago as MedicalDirector of Anti-Cruelty.

Dr. Roberta Westbrook is the Chief Animal Welfare & Medical Officer for Houston SPCA. She received her Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri in 2004. As an adjunct professor at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biological Sciences, Dr. Westbrook co-teaches an elective course and facilitates the 4th year, 2-week clinical rotation in Shelter Medicine. She serves her community as the 2024 President of the Harris County Veterinary Medical Association, and a proud board member of The Association of Animal Welfare Advancement.