Staff and Board

whitney@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 101

kathy@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 110

Kathy enjoys using her bookkeeping skills to support the animals she loves! You’ll often find Paws4ever shelter dogs lounging next to Kathy’s desk in the Admin office. She spends her free time with her grandchildren and her two cattle dogs, Bandit and Lucy. Her dogs keep her entertained with their fun games – as soon as she throws a ball for Bandit, Lucy takes it and drops it further away for Bandit to retrieve! Kathy is famous for her beautiful flower garden and her holiday cookie baking tradition.

emily@paws4ever.org

Emily loves receiving photos and stories of adopted animals in their new homes, and sharing those updates with the community of supporters who made their journeys possible! When she isn’t at work writing true stories about the animals at Paws4ever, she writes and reads a lot of fiction (mostly sci-fi, fantasy, and mysteries). She also enjoys cooking, playing board games, and spending time with her family. Emily’s home is run by her three affectionate and goofy cats – Samwise, Merlin, and Ollivander.

savanna@paws4ever.org

Savanna loves working with others who are passionate about animal welfare and seeing the positive impact Paws4ever has on both the animals and the community! Before joining Paws4ever’s development team, Savanna worked in veterinary support, adoptions, humane education, animal control, and pet-sitting. She is currently working towards a MA in Public Administration and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management. When she isn’t at work, she likes to go for walks, listen to podcasts and audiobooks, play Minecraft, and spend time with her boyfriend and their five cats, Jack, Houdini, Myrtle, Zara, and Ziggy!

julie.handy@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 102

Julie loves knowing that her work helps people and their dogs form a deeper bond. She has been working with shelter pets since 2010, and she’s been a CPDT-KA certified trainer since 2016. When she isn’t training, she enjoys spending time with her family and watching movies – especially horror movies! Julie has two dogs, a senior brown pit mix named Jojo and big goofy white pit mix named Jerome.

Read more about Julie’s Dog Training experience.

Makayla@paws4ever.org

Makayla loves to see the amazing impact that training can have on pets and their people. Makayla has experience working with animals in the shelter environment as well as training pet dogs. She finds it especially rewarding to help dogs with challenging behaviors. She has two dogs, a goofy, talkative cattle / pit mix named Phil and a labradoodle named Lucy who befriends everyone she meets. Makayla enjoys hiking with her fiancé and her dogs. She’s always excited to learning about animals of all kinds, including freshwater snails! 

brian@paws4ever.org

Brian loves to be a part of that moment when dogs and their owners start to understand one another and communicate through fun, positive training. Brian started working with animals as a volunteer in 2018 after the loss of his own beloved dog, Sonny. When Brian isn’t training dogs or working in his other job at Duke University Medical Center in the Radiation Safety Office, he enjoys hiking at parks around the Triangle, collecting comic books, and doing puzzles.

heather@paws4ever.org

Heather loves to see partnerships between dogs and people strengthen. She especially enjoys witnessing the joy and pride of that moment when a dog starts to understand what their human is asking them to do. When Heather isn’t at work, she enjoys doing crafts like macramé and plasma cutting, watching horror movies, hosting theme parties with her husband, and traveling. She stays connected to her Scottish roots and attends the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games every year. Heather has a dog named Hornsby, 2 hens, and a rooster!