January 7, 2025.
From the desk of the Director of Operations, Jill Henke –
We have a ton of new staff changes, additions and promotions that we wanted to share with all of you!
New Positions & Promotions
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Animal Care Director– Amanda Loellke was promoted from the Foster & Adoption Manager role to the newly created Animal Care Director role. Amanda will now oversee the Animal Care Team and operations in her new role as well as the Foster and Adoption programs.
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Foster & Adoption Manager– Danielle Williams was promoted from the Placement Specialist role to the Foster & Adoption Manager role. Danielle will now be overseeing the day-to-day foster and adoption program operations.
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Operations Manager– Kristi Parker was promoted from the Customer Service Manager role to the Operations Manager role. Kristi will be assisting with the management of the GOODS program as well as general building operations.
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Shelter Behavior & Enrichment Specialist– David Stram was hired as our first Shelter Behavior & Enrichment Specialist. David is an Animal Care supervisor and has led the re-implementation of regular playgroups at the shelter. David also serves an integral role on the At-Risk Committee and now provides in-house foster and adoption training and behavior support.
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Lead Animal Care Specialist- Anna Kerr was promoted to Lead Animal Care Specialist when the Shelter Manager position was vacated. Anna is an Animal Care supervisor and in her role is responsible for training all new Animal Care team members and interns. Anna also serves as an integral role on the At-Risk Committee, is responsible for Yellow & Orange Paw volunteer training and the overall management and flow to animal care at GPG.
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Animal Care Specialist II– Melissa Donaldson was promoted to Animal Care Specialist II after working in Animal Care for 2 years. Melissa is a cleaning machine, has a high level of dog and cat handling skills, has become a playgroup guru and is such an asset to the Animal Care Team.
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Intake & Diversion Specialist- Mandi Williams was promoted from the Customer Service Specialist role to the newly created Intake & Diversion Specialist position which directly reports to Sara Cordevant. Mandi will be assisting with intake support, community outreach, the find to foster program, return-to-owner (RTO)
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Customer Service Specialist/Warehouse & Stocking Specialist– Cynthia Grant was promoted from part-time Warehouse & Stocking Specialist to full-time to now include assisting the Customer Service team.
New Hires
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Nicole Dyer-Helmts joined us as an Animal Care Specialist in August.
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Becky Galloway joined us in December as the Customer Service Specialist backfilling Mandi Williams position.
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Carly Flippin joined us as an Animal Care Specialist in December.
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Clover Rodriguez joined us as an Animal Care Specialist in December.
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Haley Womick joined us in November as our Events and Development Specialist.
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Candance MxGregor is our new full-time Vet Tech starting on 1/7/25!
Welcome everyone, great to have you on board at Gateway Pet Guardians!!