MMPC Learniverse - Shelter Med LIVE - Decisions, Decisions: Sharing Shelter Leadership (On-Demand)

Jennifer Bennett joined the Koret Shelter Medicine Program as the new Director of Shelter Medicine Access to Care in late 2024. She is a 2008 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and soon after she began practicing in her hometown regions of rural Northern California. She spent 5 years in small animal, emergency and farm animal medicine before joining Lake County Animal Care & Control as its first Medical Director in 2013. After realizing the life-saving impact that a shelter veterinarian can have on a community, she has remained dedicated to the field of shelter medicine. She has worked with a wide variety of municipal and private organizations, developing shelter medicine and surgery programs, consulting with humane organizations, participating in community outreach clinics, and working with large-scale humane law enforcement seizures and legal cases. Dr. Bennett most recently served as the Medical Director for the City of Seattle from 2017-2022 and the Chief Veterinary Officer for the Humane Society of Tacoma & Pierce County from 2022-2024. She served on the California HOD, the Washington State VMA, and was WSVMA President from 2021-2022, and has been serving on the AVMA Animal Welfare Committee since 2023. Dr. Bennett is passionate about supporting and mentoring shelter veterinarians and students, creating low barrier access to care programs, and identifying and removing bottlenecks in shelter programs to improve capacity for care.

Dr. Doyle is the Director of Veterinary Medicine and Community Initiatives at the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (MSPCA). Dr. Doyle has previously held senior leadership roles at the ASPCA and the Animal Rescue League of Boston. She is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator and board certified in Shelter Medicine Practice through the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners. Dr. Doyle also serves as adjunct faculty at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University and as a leadership coach in the JYO-Maddie’s Leadership Program.

Dr. Norris runs the Community Veterinary Clinic (CVC) at the Humane Society of Sonoma County with her RVT wife Melina Stambolis. The CVC is a busy sliding-scale veterinary clinic providing surgery, dentistry and “urgent” medical care for the animals of income qualifying families. Prior to the CVC, Ada’s clinical experience was in rural private practice in Oregon. She earned her DVM at Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine - working closely with the Maddie’s Shelter Medicine Program her entire time there and spending summers on the road with RAVS, whose high quality teaching/service program has been increasing Access to Veterinary Care before we were talking about it.