Staff and Board

Staff

Administrative Staff

Whitney Zoghby

Whitney Zoghby

Executive Director

whitney@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 101

Whitney loves to see the impact that Paws4ever has on the animals who come through our doors, the humans who love them, and the community as a whole. Before joining Paws4ever, Whitney worked in the animal health industry for 10 years and held leadership roles with an animal welfare nonprofit. She enjoys problem-solving and helping others develop. When she isn’t at work, Whitney loves spending time with her family, baking, and hiking. She has a 9 year old German Shepherd mix, Beamer, who is named after a VT football coach!
Kathy McVay

Kathy McVay

Business Manager

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.

Savanna LaPrad

Savanna LaPrad

Development Manager

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!

Sarah Ellen Kelly

Sarah Ellen Kelly

Volunteer Manager

SarahEllen@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 105

Sarah Ellen’s favorite part of her job is getting to help animals as well as meeting and training fellow animal lovers. Before joining the Paws4ever team, Sarah Ellen worked for over a decade in project management for a small clinical trials company. She was also a Paws4ever volunteer! In her free time, she enjoys reading, taking bubble baths, pedal kayaking, and taking pottery classes, even if she’s still mastering the art. Sarah Ellen shares her home with two furry companions: Maggie, a vocal and affectionate 15-year-old cat, and Jasper, a 10-year-old neurotic Weimaraner.

Jasmine Wilson

Jasmine Wilson

Communications Manager

Jasmine@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 109

Jasmine’s favorite thing about Paws4ever is how their services and pets contribute to people’s mental health, daily quality of life, and unite people of all backgrounds in our community. Before joining Paws4ever, Jasmine worked for nonprofits in the Chapel Hill/Durham area, specializing in communications and marketing. She grew up in the country of Burlington where her family had chickens, turkeys, goats, Koi fish, dogs, and cats. Her current pet is a black and white cow-print Chihuahua named Noggin. He wears a red dragon wing harness and fits in her purse! Jasmine is a cruelty-free makeup and skincare enthusiast, she loves going to concerts, and reading suspenseful books. She is very passionate about building community, serving as an advocate for resource access and continued support, and some of her most prized memories are seeing the smiles of families she has helped in her career. 

Adoption Center919.241.8438 ext. 103

Sara Shellman

Sara Shellman

Adoption Center Manager

sara@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 115

Sara has more than 25 years of experience working with animals. She has worked with many types of animals in zoos, veterinary clinics, exotic care, and wildlife rehab since 1996, and has focused specifically on animal sheltering since 2008. The most rewarding parts of her job are supporting pet owners, supporting our animal care staff, and learning and applying the latest best practices in the field. She also has an obsession with kittens. When Sara isn’t at work, she enjoys long walks, hiking, attending motorcycle races, and hanging out with her pets. She has an 11 year old bully breed dog named Biggs (who wins the award for the coolest dog ever), and three cats, Girlfriend, Buddy, and Rosemary.

Vanessa Morrison

Vanessa Morrison

Animal Care Supervisor

Vanessa@paws4ever.org

 

Vanessa loves meeting and learning from all of the people and animals she works with at Paws4ever. A true lover of learning, Vanessa has a master’s degree in education, loves learning about science and nature, and enjoys puzzles of all kinds. When she’s not at work, Vanessa spends time outdoors with her family. She likes gardening and feeding hummingbirds. She has a loving English Mastiff named Iris and a sweet Sphinx cat named Osiris, for whom she sews kitty sweaters.
 
 
 
Aurora Waddell

Aurora Waddell

Adoption Coordinator

aurora@paws4ever.org

Aurora joined Paws4ever as Adoption Coordinator in May of 2024. She absolutely loves admiring nature, reading, making art/crafts, and playing video games/DND. Some of her favorite books are the Inheritance Cycle and Dune, and she loves listening to Heilung and Of The Trees. Her current pets are a couple of sparkling gouramis, freshwater shrimp, lots of plants, a beautiful long-haired black cat named Durza (named from the Eragon book series) and her life-long best friend, her dog Ginger. She grew up with everything from a corn snake, to goats, chickens, a horse, rats, and has even helped care for manatees and howler monkeys in Belize! She loves Paws4ever for the opportunity to merge her desires to make both animals’ and people’s lives better.

 
 
 
Sammy Burns

Sammy Burns

Animal Care Tech

sammy@paws4ever.org

 

Sammy’s favorite part of working at Paws4ever is helping animals find homes and giving them care and comfort during their stay. Before working at Paws4ever, she cared for dogs at a doggy daycare. Sammy has one cat named Puma, two guinea pigs named Penelope and Aria, and seven rats named Lup, Newt, Nymph, Mercy, Jolyne, Ermes, and FF. Puma enjoys watching the rats. When Sammy isn’t at work, she enjoys playing video games, especially Stardew Valley, playing DnD with her friends, or hanging out with her pets.
 
 
Jordan Ragan

Jordan Ragan

Animal Care Tech

jordan@paws4ever.org

Jordan loves welcoming and getting to know each new animal that comes through our doors. When he isn’t at work, he enjoys spending time with friends and family. He is an American history buff, and he loves all things Disney! He has a German Shepherd Husky mix named Lobo, who is a 95 lb. lap dog. 
 
 
 
Olivia Thompson

Olivia Thompson

Animal Care Tech

olivia@paws4ever.org

Olivia’s favorite part about working at Paws4ever is helping people find their new best friends and seeing animals find their forever homes. Olivia has a sassy 12-year-old maltipoo named Mattie who’s been her loyal companion since childhood, two black cats named Marceline and Boo (formerly Tiana at Paws4ever), a Guinea pig named Bruce, and an American quarter horse named Ash. Outside of work, Olivia spends her time riding Ash at the barn and showing him on weekends. She also loves online shopping for her cats and enjoying her favorite movies, tv shows, and video games, including Monsters Inc, Community, and Minecraft!
 
 

Dog Training Program 919.241.8438 ext. 102

Brian Gibbs, CPDT-KA

Brian Gibbs, CPDT-KA

Dog Training Instructor

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.

Read more about Brian’s Dog Training experience.
Heather Daniel, CPDT-KA

Heather Daniel, CPDT-KA

Dog Training Instructor

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!

Read more about Heather’s Dog Training experience.

ReSale Store – 919.245.0445

Terri Shue

Terri Shue

ReSale Store Manager

terri@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 107

Terri has a background in animal care, and she started out at Paws4ever as an Animal Care Tech. She loves knowing that she works for an organization that has such a deep passion for animals’ well-being. In her free time, she enjoys hanging out with her family and her dogs. She has two beagles, Jake and Piper. Jake loves coming with her to the ReSale Store, and he has his own set of fans. When customers come in, the first thing they say is “Hey Jake!”

Board of Directors

Sally Schatz (President)

Director of Development, Duke Health (Retired)

Katie Stember (Vice President)

Director for Experiential Learning, UNC Chapel Hill Graduate School
Katie Stember Photography

Irene Faust (Secretary)

Retired Physician

 

Eleanor Armstrong (Treasurer)

Agency Director of Armstrong Homecare

Jill Grant (Member At Large)

Contracted Clinical/Forensic Psychologist
Retired, Federal Bureau of Prisons

Jaye J. Kreller

Real Estate Broker, Inhabit Real Estate

Kendall H. Page

Attorney at Law

Perry Dowd

Sue Sopa

Senior Executive Director for Engagement, Duke Health Alumni and Development

Valarie Zeithaml

Professor, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School (Retired)

Carla Julian

Public Health Nursing Director, Orange County Health Department

Rob Johnson

Home Mortgage Consultant, Union Home Mortgage

Daphna Schwartz 

Finance Director, City of Mebane.
 

Michael Gazala

Consultant, Fidelity Center for Applied Technology
 
 

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