Staff and Board
Staff
Administrative Staff
![Whitney Zoghby](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/whitney-crop-3-med..jpg)
Whitney Zoghby
Executive Director
whitney@paws4ever.org
919.241.8438 ext. 101
![Kathy McVay](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/kathy_web.jpg)
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](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/savanna-scaled.jpg)
Savanna LaPrad
Development Manager
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](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/sarah-ellenpic.png)
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](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/IMG_5618-3.jpeg)
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 Center – 919.241.8438 ext. 103
![Sara Shellman](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/sarastaff.png)
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](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/vanessa-.jpg)
Vanessa Morrison
Animal Care Supervisor
![Aurora Waddell](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/aurorastaffpic.png)
Aurora Waddell
Adoption Coordinator
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](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/sammystaffphotosq.jpg)
Sammy Burns
Animal Care Tech
![Jordan Ragan](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Jordan-Ragan-scaled.jpg)
Jordan Ragan
Animal Care Tech
![Olivia Thompson](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/olivia-new-staff-photo-scaled.jpg)
Olivia Thompson
Animal Care Tech
Dog Training Program – 919.241.8438 ext. 102
![Brian Gibbs, CPDT-KA](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Brian-and-Tess.jpg)
Brian Gibbs, CPDT-KA
Dog Training Instructor
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 Daniel, CPDT-KA](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/0913222152c_2-scaled.jpg)
Heather Daniel, CPDT-KA
Dog Training Instructor
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](https://paws4ever.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/terri_edited.jpg)
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)
Jaye J. Kreller
Kendall H. Page
Perry Dowd
Sue Sopa
Senior Executive Director for Engagement, Duke Health Alumni and Development
Valarie Zeithaml
Professor, UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School (Retired)