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The Board of Directors and the Advisory Board know that most effective way to end the senseless killing of innocent animals is to ensure everyone has access to free or low-cost spay and neuter services.

Board of Directors

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Phil Storin

Executive Director and Treasurer

Phil worked in various accounting and financial roles over a 40-year career including corporate controller and chief financial officer for both publicly traded and privately held companies. He was the volunteer CFO of Austin Pets Alive! for three years and has volunteered at Wags Hope and Healing and Highland Lakes Canine Rescue. Presently he is a SCORE Austin business mentor to small business owners and is a student mentor at Lake Travis Elementary School.

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Rochelle Storin

Founder and Director

Rochelle is a "professional" volunteer. For over 25 years while being gainfully employed in the marketing and advertising industry, she was a volunteer for Any Baby Can for 5 years, a delivery person for Meals on Wheels for 15 years, and a CASA volunteer for 11 years. She was a board member of the Town Lake Trail Foundation, Lake Travis Chamber of Commerce and Westlake Chamber of Commerce. She also volunteered at Austin Pets Alive!, Wags Hope & Healing and Highland Lakes Canine Rescue. Presently she's on the board of the Greater Lakeway Service League, she volunteers at Baylor Scott & White, Lakeway and is a student mentor at Hudson Bend Middle School. She believes that spaying or neutering one dog or cat will save the lives of many. 

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Jay Svinicki

Director

Jay holds a Ph.D. in psychology/computer science. He worked seven years as an assistant professor, including five years at the University of Texas, followed by 27 years in senior management positions in which he was responsible for the design and development of educational and other software applications and systems. He also authored a number of educational publications and manuals. Jay is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Greater Lakeway Service League and is a longtime supporter of the Austin Humane Society as well as Austin Pets Alive and looks forward to helping local animals live a better life.

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René Albee

Director

René enjoyed a twenty-year career in education beginning with volunteer work at a school for emotionally disturbed youth, through two years with Teach For America and ending with fifteen years at Austin Community College. Her penchant for serving the habitually underserved spills into her appetite for volunteer work as well. Ever the educator, she is driven to putter at tweaking all systems she encounters, always looking for a way to improve efficiency and broaden reach. She is enthusiastic about participating with LT SNAP to reduce animal shelter intake and euthanasia practices in the Lake Travis Area.

Advisory Council

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Susann Friedricks

President

PetPALS

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Amanda Bruce

DVM

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Susann joined PetPALS in 2012 as a recovery volunteer. In 2014 she joined the Board as Vice-President, moving up to President in 2016. Susann’s professional career spanned 35 years in executive positions for sales and marketing at Honeywell, Sun Microsystems, Pervasive Software and Cadence Design Systems. PetPALS is the Friedricks family nonprofit of choice, as they are fully dedicated to the cause!

Dr. Bruce travels the world providing spay and neuter services to those animals who need it the most. In 2009, she opened the first brick and mortar spay and neuter clinic in Minnesota. Amanda has trained with Humane Alliance, Emancipet and Sophia Yin’s Low-Stress Handling. She is passionate about delivering high-quality veterinary care, particularly spay and neuter, to underserved communities. She is also a veterinarian at PetPALS.

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Crystal DeGroot

Executive Director

Wags Hope & Healing

Crystal joined the Wags team during our Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts managing their field operation in Woodsboro, Texas. Before joining Wags, Crystal was an U.S. Army Diesel Mechanic for 8 years and worked along side the ASPCA in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina rescuing animals from the flood waters. She is also a veterinary technician at PetPALS. 

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