Board Bios
Hilary Hager, President
Hilary is President of the board and Chair of the Professional Development Committee. She has served on the board since 2007. Hilary is the Director of the National Volunteer Center at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), based from her home office here in Washington. Her role is to design and implement organizational structure for volunteer engagement at HSUS, to serve as internal consultant to the various programs to ensure they are in alignment with best practices in volunteer management, and to provide resources and training to managers of volunteers in the larger animal protection community. Prior to joining The HSUS in 2011, Hilary spent over ten years working in companion animal shelters, first at PAWS in Lynnwood, and then at Everett Animal Services, managing volunteer and other various programs and serving in leadership roles. Hilary holds a Master’s in Nonprofit Leadership from Seattle University and volunteers in wildlife rehabilitation. She lives in Everett with her husband, dog Barley, and cats Cheddar and Hambone.
Kay Joubert, Vice President
Kay is Vice President of the board and Chair of the Legislative Committee. Kay is currently the Director of Companion Animal Services at PAWS and has been with the organization in various capacities since 1995. Kay has a degree from Washington State University in Political Science and enjoyed using her education during the 1999-2001 Washington State legislative sessions, where her primary focus was passage of a bill that allows animal shelters to offer spay/neuter services to low-income clients. Kay has also served on the Boards of the Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project and Homeward Pets. Kay and her husband Bryan currently live in Stanwood with their dog, Reilly, and two cats, Nero and Stormy.
Lorrie Kalmbach-Ehlers, Treasurer
Lorrie began her work with the Federation by serving on the Legislative Committee and joined the board in September of 2011. Lorrie has a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Biology from the University of Washington and has conducted research for the Department of Defense and co-produced a publication that appeared in Northwest Naturalist. In addition, she has been employed by many nonprofit organizations, including Kitsap Humane Society, where she has shared her animal talents as adoption counselor, foster parent and volunteer, Salish Sea Expeditions as Director of Outreach and Operations, and the first Executive Director of Northwest Spay & Neuter Center, an organization dedicated to providing the community with low cost, high quality, high volume spay/neuter services. Lorrie’s volunteer endeavors also include co-founding BullsEye Dog Rescue in 2004, of which she is currently the Board President. A small farm in Port Orchard is where she calls home with her three permanent resident dogs and an ongoing rotation of foster puppies, a cat, two goats, one 40 year old tortoise, four horses, a flock of chickens, a young boy and girl that love them all dearly, not to mention her very patient husband.
Don Jordan, Secretary
Don is the Executive Director of Seattle Animal Shelter and has served on the board of The Federation since 1997. He is currently Chair of the Board Development Committee. Don has been in the animal welfare field for 22 years and is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA). He was recruited by the City of Seattle in 1990 as a Humane Law Enforcement Officer shortly after graduating from Washington State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology. Don was in charge of Enforcement and Field Services prior to his promotion as Executive Director in 1996. Today, Seattle Animal Shelter is one of the most progressive government funded animal welfare programs in this country, providing over 20 different volunteer programs for 600 volunteers and over 300 foster families. Don has served as a board member from 2001-2006 with the National Companion Animal Advisory Group for the Humane Society of the United States, is a consultant with the HSUS Animal Services Consultation Program, and was past president of the Seattle Management Association. A resident of Snohomish, Washington, Don has been happily married to his college sweetheart for 18 years and has three children and two dogs, “Mickey” & “Minnie.”
Sara Archer
Sara has served on the board since June 2011 and is Chair of the Membership and Marketing Committee. After 15 years as a healthcare fundraising executive in Colorado, Texas and Washington, Sara chose to combine her abilities with her passion for animal welfare in January 2006 by accepting a position as Executive Director of Blue Mountain Humane Society in Walla Walla, WA. Sara is a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) with experience in capital campaigns and special event planning as well as non-profit board development. She and her husband Peter share their home with two mixed-breed dogs, Jet Li and Sami Sue, and two rescue cats, Winchester and Little Leaning Larry.
Gail Mackie
Gail has served as Executive Director at SpokAnimal C.A.R.E. in Spokane since 1986. She has served for many years on the Federation Board of Directors and has also served on the Board of the Washington Animal Control Association (WACA). In her spare time, she raises Lipizzan horses, manages rental properties, and tries to keep up as chauffer of a 14-year-old athlete.
Bonne VeVea
Bonne founded MEOW Cat Rescue in 1997 and continues to serve as Executive Director. In 2011, she became a Co-Founding Board Member of Community Cat Coalition, an organization whose mission is to educate, mentor and support the public in improving the quality of life for free roaming cats. Bonne was awarded the 2013 Humane Animal Welfare Award by the Washington State Veterinary Medical Association (WSVMA) in recognition for her “strong compassion, dedication to and advocacy for felines and personal attention to their medical care.” Ever a champion of the UnderCat, her family includes nine cats, some with special needs. She lives in Redmond with her long-suffering husband of 30 years. Bonne coined MEOW’s motto, “all nine lives are precious” and lives that motto each day.
Kathleen Olson
Kathleen is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator who has been in nonprofit management for 25 years, the past eight at the Humane Society for Tacoma and Pierce County. She was Executive Director of The Point Defiance Zoological Society 2001-06. She has served on a variety of non-profit boards. She is currently serving as: Washington State Fair Foundation Board Director; Board Vice President of Agape Adoptions and Tacoma 8 Rotary Club Board of Directors.
jme Thomas
jme has been the full-time volunteer Executive Director of Motley Zoo Animal Rescue since inception in 2009. Motley Zoo was voted Favorite Local Charity in 2013 in KING 5’s Best of Western Washington poll, and has won several other awards, including a new transport vehicle from Toyota’s 100 Cars for Good. jme has dedicated her life to elevating the status of animals in society and has fostered over 900 animals. She is eager to help make Washington a Grade A state for animal welfare.
Laura Clark
Laura has worked at the Whatcom Humane Society for 15+ years and has been the executive director since 2009. She describes her job as the “best job in the world.” Laura has extensive experience in animal sheltering, animal control, fundraising, volunteer management, community outreach, capital campaigns and program/budget development. Laura is currently the co-chair of the Federation’s legislative committee and has a strong desire and commitment to work on improving legislation that protects domestic, wild and farm animals on a local, state and federal level. Laura lives in rural Whatcom County and shares her home with her husband, dogs, cats and chickens.
Tami McReynolds
Bio coming soon!
