About Us

Carole is an experienced animal welfare advocate who served as Executive Director of Palo Alto Humane Society from 2008 to 2022. She developed many innovative programs, including the Ambassadors of Compassion Story Writing Contest, Adoptables Art, and the Telly Award-winning children’s film It’s A Dog’s Day.

Carole co-founded the California Humane Coalition to respond to proposed California legislation affecting stray cat populations. She also co-founded the Stanford Cat Network, a spay-neuter program for feral cats on the Stanford University campus.

To promote humane education in the California schools, she created the teaching program Mow Wow Animals and partnered with former Assembly Member (and now Congress Member) Kevin Mullin to sponsor ACR 144, which emphasizes character development and teaching about kindness to animals.

Carole co-created the speaker series “Humane Planet: Thought Leaders for a Sustainable World” and is developing HumaneKind Speakers, a new platform for discussing innovative ideas in animal welfare.

Contact: Carole@ProjectHumaneKind.org

Jennifer is a lifelong horse lover and trainer as well as a riding coach. After graduating from University of Pennsylvania, she went on to earn a BS and PG Certificate in Equine Science and recently completed a PG Diploma in Clinical Animal Behavior from the Royal (Dick) Veterinary School in Edinburgh, Scotland.

She has completed Prosocial Academy’s Certified Humane Education Specialist program and Stanford University’s Applied Compassion Training certificate program through the Stanford School of Medicine.

In addition to training horses and other animals for decades, Jennifer has taught a high school course on animal welfare and behavior, led the 4-H Equine Project, and taught homeschool courses on equine science.

She piloted and co-led the Project Cornerstone curriculum at a Palo Alto elementary school for eight years. She currently coaches the Stanford Western Equestrian Team and provides behavior and training services for companion animals, while attempting to pen her first book. 

Contact: Jennifer@ProjectHumaneKind.org

Julie is a humane educator with a focus on animal advocacy and youth programs. She brings her passion for education, and her dedication to modeling the values of empathy and kindness toward animals, to her role at Project HumaneKind.

She is a member of the humane education team at Peninsula Humane Society, where she works on youth programs and community outreach. She has served on the board of various educational nonprofit organizations and volunteers with Jasper Ridge Farm to provide animal-assisted therapeutic programs for adults and children.

Julie has completed Stanford University’s Applied Compassion Training certificate program through the Stanford School of Medicine and Prosocial Academy’s Certified Humane Education Specialist program.

Contact: Julie@ProjectHumaneKind.org

Leonor is an experienced humane educator proficient in teaching and developing educational materials in English and Spanish. From 2011 to 2022 she served at Palo Alto Humane Society as Education Manager and bilingual spokesperson at community meetings and on local radio programs. Her curriculum development includes programs such as Club Creature for elementary students and Kids and  Kitties Too, reading to shelter cats and kittens and learning about caring for them for students of all ages.

She has created Spanish-language content for Mow Wow Animals and other educational materials. She continues to advise students of all ages in special projects—holding pet food and other kinds of drives to benefit animals, creating toys and blankets for rescued animals, interviewing animal advocates, developing videos and other Web-based content, carrying out Eagle Scout projects, forming animal advocacy clubs, and writing research reports and stories about animals.

Leonor helps community cats through local TNR (trap-neuter-return) and rescue programs. She also volunteers at Silicon Valley Animal Control Authority to help cats and to teach students about them. Two former community cats share her home and are included in her lesson plans.

Contact: Leonor@ProjectHumaneKind.org

Susanna Michaels, M.Ed., is an education/arts consultant for nonprofit organizations in California and Michigan. She has more than 25 years of teaching experience in both private and public schools. She has conducted numerous dance residencies, both nationally and abroad, and co-founded the statewide organization, Michigan Dance Council. During the past seven years, Susanna was employed as an education consultant for Palo Alto Humane Society. She is co-producer of the Telly Award-winning video It’s A Dog’s Day and has contributed to the Mow Wow Animals teaching curriculum and a film about animals and art.

A senior at Saint Francis High School, Kasper is passionate about animal welfare. In memory of and inspired by Magic, his beloved German Shepherd, he has volunteered for various animal training and rescue organizations. He founded the Animal Advocacy Club as a middle schooler at the International School of the Peninsula (now Silicon Valley International School), where he: piloted a new curriculum with the Palo Alto Humane Society’s (PAHS) education staff; directed and worked on projects that advocate for animal rights including research, education, and fundraising; and published reports for PAHS on topics ranging from responsible pet ownership to unethical breeding.

Kasper currently serves on the Saint Francis Animal Welfare Club board, helping coordinate guest speaker events and various campus activities. For his Eagle Scout project, he collected and shipped over 800 essential rescue items (leashes, blankets, collars, and bowls) to aid the displaced and abandoned dogs in Ukraine due to the ongoing war.