Alejandra Raya

Helping Paw Coordinator

Office Staff

Alejandra shares her home with a senior Chihuahua whose guardian could no longer care for her, and two kitty siblings who were rescued in Oregon and flew down to join her pack. She says everyone gets along great and they enjoy sunbathing together in the yard.

Long before joining POMDR in April 2025, Alejandra volunteered for the Mercer Clinic, a non-profit that provides medical care for the pets of homeless people in Sacramento. She also volunteered at the SPCA of Monterey County for a time, helping with maintenance of the adoption center and also at the clinic.

She previously worked at BluePearl Pet Hospital in Monterey, starting as an ICU assistant and then transferring first to the surgery department and then cardiology.

Alejandra obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Animal Science from UC Davis. She became a Registered Veterinary Technician in 2022. She says she is grateful for everything she has learned and all the lives she has helped save.

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Also on the Office Staff.

Carie Broecker Executive Director and Co-founder More about Carie

Office Staff

Carie Broecker

Executive Director and Co-founder

Carie shares her life with two lucky senior dogs: Sneakers and Abbey, both POMDR rescues, and is usually fostering multiple POMDR dogs, too.

Carie co-founded POMDR with Monica Rua in 2009. Upon its inception, she worked full-time running POMDR as Board President, and in 2010 Carie won the American Red Cross Animal Rescue Hero Award for her role in starting POMDR. In 2012, she was hired as Executive Director, POMDR's first paid staff person. Carie was one of the top ten chosen as a CNN Hero in 2022 for her impactful work serving senior people and senior dogs.

Prior to co-founding POMDR, Carie was one of the first volunteers for AFRP in Pacific Grove. She joined the AFRP board in 1999, and served for 12 years as Treasurer and unsalaried Executive Director.

Carie and her husband Scott published Coastal Canine magazine from 2009-2023. Carie's other career achievements include working as a bookkeeper and accountant for several businesses. She also worked as the Client Services Director for the Monterey County AIDS Project, where her work earned her the 1994 Monterey County Outstanding Woman of the Year award.

Carie graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a Bachelor's degree in Sociology, minoring in Business Economics with a concentration in Accounting.

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Cameron Donegan Interim Development Director More about Cameron

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Cameron Donegan

Interim Development Director

Cameron shares her home with two rescued animals: her dog, Pomela Anderson, who came to her from Animal Friends Rescue Project as a medical foster and never left, and a bunny from the SPCA who happily roams the living room.

Cameron started at POMDR as our Clinic Manager on May 11, 2020. In March 2021, she stepped into the role of Operations Manager, overseeing the daily complexities of rescue intake, medical coordination, and program logistics. In May 2024 she became our Behavior and Enrichment Manager, helping to build and strengthen POMDR's dog behavior program to support dogs with more complex needs. After a four-month hiatus, Cameron joined the POMDR Board of Directors.

In 2026, she stepped off the board to serve as POMDR's Interim Development Director, bringing her deep institutional knowledge, long-standing commitment to the organization, and strong relationship-building skills into this critical leadership role. Her experience across operations, behavior, and board service gives her a comprehensive understanding of POMDR's mission, programs, and impact -- an invaluable asset in working with donors, sponsors, and community partners.

Professionally, Cameron trained dolphins and sea lions for the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program in Washington state. She then worked as an Animal Care Specialist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, rescuing and rehabilitating sea otters. Throughout her career, she has developed strengths in leadership, cross-functional collaboration, public engagement, training, and high-stakes decision-making, skills that translate naturally into strategic development work and donor stewardship. Her past volunteer work includes the Seattle Aquarium, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, the Alaska SeaLife Center, and a Humane Society wildlife rehabilitation center, working with animals from harbor seals and sea otter pups to raccoons, raptors, and even a baby long-tailed weasel. Locally, she volunteered with AFRP at the adoption center and as a foster for medical cases.

Cameron graduated from Western Washington University with a Bachelor of Science in Biology. While working for the Navy, she learned to conduct closed-circuit SCUBA diving.

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Allison McKee Executive Assistant, part-time More about Allison

Office Staff

Allison McKee

Executive Assistant, part-time

Allison currently shares her life with two POMDR dogs, Harley and also Maya, adopted after helping capture the frightened escape artist and then falling in love with her. The two lucky pups now enjoy adventures like hiking in Yosemite with Allison and her husband and their young son and daughter.

Allison attributes her love for animals to the fact that she was brought up in a family with a long history of adopting rescue dogs and cats. The family “zoo” also included horses, rats, hamsters and birds. As a kid, Allison volunteered with the SPCA, and, later, with Hope, Horses and Kids, an equine learning program that focuses on helping children, particularly those with special needs, build confidence through working with horses. This experience helped Allison realize that her true passion lay in working with animals and people, rather than in corporate management. Soon after, in May 2015, she joined the staff of POMDR. Allison did indeed find her niche, as after just two years she was promoted to Operations Manager overseeing all aspects of POMDR programs. In August 2021 she was promoted to Deputy Executive Director playing a critical role in POMDR’s succession plan and expansion. In February 2022 she transitioned to a part-time role as an Executive Assistant so she could spend more time at home with her son.

Allison’s career includes a decade in retail management with Starbucks Coffee Company, and experience working as an Educational Outreach Coordinator for the Los Padres Forest Association. She is also passionate about international politics, travel and meeting new people (and their dogs).

Allison holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from San Francisco State University.

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Caitlin Lupien Operations Manager More about Caitlin

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Caitlin Lupien

Operations Manager

Caitlin's sidekick is a 12-year-old Yorkshire Terrier named Jack.

Before joining the POMDR staff in November 2019, Caitlin volunteered for multiple wildlife rehabilitation facilities and an educational nature center in the Sacramento area. She also volunteered locally with the Sea Otter Research and Conservation program at the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Golden Oldies Cat Rescue as their volunteer coordinator and has served on the board of directors. Caitlin is currently involved with multiple rabbit rescue groups across California. Previously, she has worked in education with special needs students and as a middle school science teacher, at the SPCA of Monterey County as a barn specialist, and as a wildlife biologist for an environmental consulting company.

Caitlin originally started with POMDR as a Kennel Attendant but took on the role of Adoptions Coordinator in July 2021 and in May 2024, Caitlin moved into the Operations Manager role.

She graduated from CSU Monterey Bay with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and a Single Subject Science Teaching Credential.

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Andrew Zielinski Marketing and Communications Manager More about Andrew

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Andrew Zielinski

Marketing and Communications Manager

Andrew shares his home with his rescued dog, Sydney, a sweet Golden Retriever/Australian Shepherd/Labrador Retriever mix.

He has always had multiple rescued pups in his home, so he was excited to join the POMDR staff in February 2024 to promote the work we do with dogs.

Andrew has worked at a digital advertising agency and also has worked as a freelance web and graphic designer, a social media coordinator, and a UI/UX (user interface and user experience) designer for websites.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Product Design at the University of Oregon, where he was on the Dean's List at the Allied Arts and Architecture School. While in a design class there, he received a monetary Lighting Design Award.

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Shanel Parolini Helping Paw Manager More about Shanel

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Shanel Parolini

Helping Paw Manager

Shanel shares her home with Cody, an Akita/Malamute/Shepherd mix rescued from the forest in Shasta/Trinity County, where he was born the runt of a litter.

Shanel has spent many years retrieving loose dogs and saving abandoned kittens. She started volunteering with animals in 2017 for the SPCA of Monterey County veterinary clinic. There she learned basic small animal veterinary skills and participated in all day spay/neuter clinics. She joined the staff of POMDR in June 2023.

Before following her dream of working with animals, Shanel spent over 15 years in the hospitality sector in bartending and managing roles in Monterey, where she was born and raised. For five straight years, she participated in the Culinary Classique d'Elegance, a fundraiser to benefit Meals on Wheels of Monterey Peninsula. Upon switching careers, she was fortunate to gain experience in veterinary intensive care and emergency at Blue Pearl Pet Hospital. As a surgery assistant there, she was responsible for performing CT scans, among other tasks.

One of her proudest accomplishments was contributing to a project for Stanford marine research, scanning the marlin tail and producing images that had never before been obtained. Also on her list of achievements is having won first place in a bartending competition held by the Monterey County Hospitality Association!

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Emily Termotto Adoptions Coordinator More about Emily

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Emily Termotto

Adoptions Coordinator

Emily shares her home with five rescued animals: three cats, a bunny, and a small Border Collie mix named Fig, adopted from POMDR, who may think he's a cat himself. He loves to snuggle with his housemates and particularly loves one of the cats, who is black and white like him and about his size. He is a very good boy!

Emily started with POMDR as an occasional transport volunteer. When she took on a volunteer shift at our front desk, she gained hands on experience and insight into POMDR's mission. She enjoyed meeting some of the dogs in our program and the people who came into the office for help. She still volunteers at the SPCA wildlife rehabilitation center as well as with the UC Davis Oiled Wildlife Care Network and the Audubon Society's local chapter.

Before joining POMDR's staff in August 2024, Emily was a client care specialist and veterinary assistant at the SPCA for Monterey County, and she still has a passion for veterinary medicine. She also works as a dog walker and pet sitter in her spare time and has loved getting to know local dogs and their families over the years.

Emily received her Bachelors and Masters degrees in International Relations with a Middle Eastern focus from New York University. She used her degree to work in the non-profit policy sector and at a law firm before pivoting to work with animals. Since then, she has taken many upper-division science courses to supplement her veterinary medicine career.

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Elizabeth Ramsay Volunteer Coordinator More about Elizabeth

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Elizabeth Ramsay

Volunteer Coordinator

Elizabeth shares her home and just about all her adventures with her rescued senior Black Lab mix, Roo. Roo even joins her on aquatic explorations, eating seaweed and playing with fish!

Before joining POMDR in August 2024, she volunteered at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Student Oceanography Club teaching middle school students how to conduct ocean research projects. She also volunteered on career days at local middle and high schools. In summer 2023, she presented during Sea Otter Awareness Week about the importance of kelp restoration in restoring our California coastal regions.

Professionally, Elizabeth is a phycologist (seaweed biologist) and aquatic biologist, having spent most of her career studying plants and fish in both freshwater and ocean environments. She has worked as a scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, in academia, and at several environmental consulting firms.

Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Science in Marine Science from Cal State University Monterey Bay and a Masters in Science in Marine Science from Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, and has attained certification in science diving. She recently joined other scientists, legislators, community members, business owners and others to discuss a pathway forward to making Monterey the first regenerative economy in the United States, and was highlighted for her work in kelp forest restoration.

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Hannah Wakefield Interim Dog Behavior and Enrichment Coordinator More about Hannah

Office Staff

Hannah Wakefield

Interim Dog Behavior and Enrichment Coordinator

Hannah shares her home with a Pug/Labrador mix named Fried Calamari, adopted from the SPCA of Monterey County.

She tells us that every animal she has ever raised was rescued. This includes the animals she currently lives with: two cats, a California desert tortoise, and of course the aforementioned Pugador, Fried Calamari.

Before joining the POMDR staff in January 2026, Hannah worked in dog boarding and daycare facilities in Monterey and throughout the East Bay area.

She holds an Associate's Degree in Social Sciences from Monterey Peninsula College.

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