Abby Volin founded Opening Doors, which advocates for tenants with pet-related housing issues and helps housing providers manage pets on properties. She is a nationally recognized expert on animal accommodation law and frequently holds lectures for landlords, attorneys, animal welfare advocates, and healthcare providers. Prior to starting Opening Doors, Abby worked as a policy specialist at The Humane Society of the United States and began her career as a litigator. Abby earned her JD from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and BA from Tufts University. She has volunteered with numerous shelters and rescue groups throughout the years and fostered countless pets (much to the chagrin of the resident cats).

Abby joins Mandy to discuss how to can help keep families together.

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Todd Cramer is the former President & CEO at the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society (MHHS) in New York’s Capital District. Prior to joining MHHS, he was the Senior Vice President of Community Engagement & Chief of Staff at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center in New Jersey. Todd has also served as the Senior Program Manager, Adoptions at PetSmart Charities and Director of Community Initiatives at the ASPCA. During his time at St. Hubert’s Animal Welfare Center, Todd led the Pets Are Welcome, pet friendly housing initiative, pilot program working to encourage rental property owners to go beyond just allowing pet residents and make them truly welcome by eliminating breed, type and size restrictions and providing the tools necessary for pet guardians and their pets to live successfully in rental communities. Under his leadership, the Mohawk Hudson Humane Society successfully partnered with the Sunrise Management & Consultants to create Pets Are Welcome communities. Todd has written for Animal Sheltering Magazine and has been a popular speaker delivering workshops on animal welfare topics at regional and national conferences including Best Friend’s National Conference and the Humane Society of the United States Animal Care Expo.

Heather Schechter, Director of Marketing and Business Development, is responsible for identifying and developing new business opportunities and building and expanding the public presence of the company and its clients. She oversees the marketing of multiple apartment communities, including branding, advertising, public relations, and communications functions. Heather brings to Sunrise her experience in marketing in Albany and New York City. She is currently the Past President and Membership Chair of the Capital Region Public Relations Society of America. Heather is Accredited in Public Relations and a licensed New York State Real Estate Salesperson. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from Columbia College and a Master of Science degree in Education from the Sage Colleges.

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Shannon Glenn started with My Pit Bull is Family in 2014 and quickly became an expert in housing policy and surrender prevention for the animal welfare community. She has an extensive professional background in grassroots campaigns, voter outreach, community outreach, fundraising, homeless advocacy and policy creation. Shannon holds a Master’s in Advocacy and Political Leadership where she centered her degree program around drafting policies to end housing and insurance discrimination for families with large dogs. She lives in Minneapolis, MN with her partner, Anthony, their two dogs Charlotte and Wilbur and cat Max. Shannon currently is the Shelter Supervisor for the only pet friendly emergency homeless shelter in the state of Minnesota. You can usually find Shannon spending her free time updating our database, volunteering at Minneapolis Animal Care and Control, or enjoying the outdoors with her family.  

Shannon joins Mandy to discuss breed discrimination and barriers to accessible housing.

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Cameron Moore oversees shelter engagement for the Million Cat Challenge, a joint project of Maddie’s Fund^®, the Maddie’s^® Shelter Medicine Program at the Univerity of Florida, the UC Davis Koret Shelter Medicine Program, and the ASPCA^® designed to save the lives of 1 million more shelter cats over five years.

Cameron appears to have been born to be part of the Million Cat mission, and been guided by its Five Key Initiatives at every stage of her professional life — even before the Challenge existed.

Cameron joins Mandy to discuss cat intake at shelters and how to reduce cat euthanasia.

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