IAABC Staff

The IAABC staff provides the organization and our IAABC members with support and assistance.

• More about Marjie

  Marjie Alonso, CDBC, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP

  Executive Director

  She was a professional dog trainer and behavior consultant and owner of City Dog Training in Somerville, MA. FULL BIO

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  Marjie Alonso, CDBC, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP

  She was a professional dog trainer and behavior consultant and owner of City Dog Training in Somerville, MA. for decades, during which time she also served as Training Director, and then behavioral consultant for the New England Dog Training Club, the oldest AKC club in the US, and as a member of the America Humane Association's Advisory Board for Companion Animal Behavior and Training.

  Marjie is the co-founder of the Somerville Foundation for Animals, which hosts the Somerville Dog Festival each year.Marjie is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants; a Certified Training Partner of Karen Pryor Academy; a Certified Pet Dog Trainer, Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) of the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers; an AKC Canine Good Citizen evaluator, and a Professional Member of the Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT)

• More about Mychelle

  Mychelle Blake, MSW, CDBC

  Project Manager

  Mychelle Blake provides technical support for the IAABC’s online courses, the IAABC conference websites and the IAABC Journal. FULL BIO

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  Mychelle Blake, MSW, CDBC

  Mychelle Blake provides technical support for the IAABC’s online courses, the IAABC conference websites and the IAABC Journal. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) through IAABC. She is a regular contributor for the Pet Health Network since 2014 and also writes on dog, cat, gaming, online technology, web design and social media topics for Love to Know.com. She served for many years as editor for both the IAABC and the APDT journals, as well as working for several years for the APDT. Along with her role at IAABC, she serves as the Web News Content Editor/Social Media Coordinator for the United States Dog Agility Association. She runs her own web design, online content creation and social media company, www.firelinkonline.com, which specializes in helping animal behavior consultants and non-profits/associations with building their online presence.

  Mychelle also has over 13 years' experience working in animal sheltering both as a staff member and a volunteer. She has a Masters of Social Welfare from UCLA with a specialty in community organizing, development and planning and a Bachelors in Political Science from New York University. She is a member of the Dog Writers Association of America and the Cat Writers Association. Mychelle lives in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with her three dogs Kaylee, Jack and Odie and her Betta fish Ornstein and Smough.

• More about Sarah

  Sarah Filipiak CDBC, BSJ

  Director, Communications and Member Services

  Sarah Filipiak coordinates member services for the IAABC. FULL BIO

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  Sarah Filipiak CDBC, BSJ

  Sarah Filipiak coordinates member services for the IAABC. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant (CDBC) through IAABC. Sarah is a past president of and served a five-year term on the board of the IAABC, where she also serves on the Education Committee and offers a Beginning Behavior Consulting mentorship. She has been a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers since 2001, and teaches the APDT's popular course, "Dog Training 101: What Every Dog Trainer Should Know."

  Sarah raised and trained European-line German Shepherd Dogs for more than 12 years, and has competed in disc, agility, AKC and UKC obedience and rally. In 2010, she obtained her first whippet, Fanfare's Crazy Train RA BN RL1 CGC. She holds a bachelor's degree in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University.

• More about Dae

  Dae Grodin

  Social Media Director

  Dae is the owner and trainer of Dog-Abilities, a professional dog training business, servicing the Northern KY and Cincinnati areas since 2011. FULL BIO

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  Dae Grodin

  Dae is the owner and trainer of Dog-Abilities, a professional dog training business, servicing the Northern KY and Cincinnati areas since 2011. She offers private training, behavior consults, group classes, 4H Dog Club classes, board and trains, and dog walking services. Dae is also a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA) and a Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA CTP). She also belongs to various dog training organizations, including IAABC, APDT, and PPG.

  Dae’s dog training journey began 17 years ago when she decided to train her first puppy, a Boxer. Together, they learned the power of positive reinforcement training. While in college, Dae became increasingly interested in animal behavior, taking college classes, reading various books and articles on the subject. After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a major in psychology, she decided to pursue both her passions for psychology and animal training. This led her to working in boarding, training, and daycare facilities, where she gained knowledge under other positive, skilled, reward based trainers, as well as honing observational skills and hands-on experience with many different dogs.

  Since 2004, Dae has been involved with APDT conference as Conference Staff and Task Force, and most notably received the Ian Dunbar Member of the Year Award in 2015. Currently, Dae is the Social Media Director for IAABC, running their Instagram accounts @iaabcpets (#petsbehavingwell) and @iaabcbehavior, as well as the Facebook Pets Behaving Well group. Each month, submissions are taken for the Pets Behaving Well Contest, showcasing animals of all species behaving well. Winners receive a $25 Amazon gift card.

  Dae lives with 3 dogs—a Husky/German Shepherd Dog mix, a Parson Russell Terrier, a Border Terrier, a house bunny, and foster Pitbull. Dae’s dogs actively work in search and rescue, therapy dog and crisis response work, nose work, barn hunt, agility, and trick training. When she is not working with dogs, she enjoys hiking and photography.

• More about Adrienne

  Adrienne Hovey

  Editor, IAABC Journal

  Adrienne Hovey is the owner of Fresh Start Writing... FULL BIO

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  Adrienne Hovey

  Adrienne Hovey is the owner of Fresh Start Writing, a consulting business dedicated to helping pet professionals put their best foot forward when it comes to the written word. She also serves social media manager for Pets in Motion, Inc., in Wayne, Pa.

  Adrienne has an undergraduate degree in biology from Mount Holyoke College, and spent five years as a veterinary radiology and nuclear medicine technician at Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston. After relocating to Philadelphia, she realized that animal behavior was her passion. She attended a four-month canine training and behavior program in Texas and then returned home to Philadelphia intending to start her own training business. However, she quickly realized that writing and editing for dog trainers was her true calling. She served as managing editor, and then editor-in-chief, of the APDT Chronicle of the Dog from 2010 to 2015, and when she left there, she founded Fresh Start.

  Adrienne shares her home with two cats, Satchmo and Neville, who make her laugh every day. Their sidekick is the world's most concerned Lab, Cruzan, who loves to swim and chase a ball, but wishes thunderstorms, fireworks, and the haunted couch in the living room would just go away. When she isn't working or walking a dog, Adrienne enjoys crossword puzzles, sudoku, and conversations that start with "Let me tell you about this amazing story I heard on a podcast last week..."

• More about Adria

  Adria Karlsson, MAT, EdS

  Content Editor, IAABC Journal

  Adria Karlsson, MAT, EdS, is an Applied Behavior Analyst and Certified Dog and Cat Behavior Consultant working out of Cambridge, MA. FULL BIO

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  Adria Karlsson, MAT, EdS

  Adria Karlsson, MAT, EdS, is an Applied Behavior Analyst and Certified Dog and Cat Behavior Consultant working out of Cambridge, MA. Her company, Dog Willing and Purrfectly Able, offers dog and cat consulting to local clientele. While her main focus professionally is on dogs and cats, she finds the behavior of any species of animal, particularly humans, endlessly fascinating.

  After completing her masters, Adria originally pursued a career teaching children. While working in classrooms and one-on-one as a tutor for children with language-based learning disabilities, a dog entered her life. Shortly thereafter, her deep-seated interest in animal behavior began to grow. After working extensively with local trainers, volunteering and working at the MSPCA, and completing her second masters in applied behavior analysis, she opened up her own consulting business. Currently, besides consulting, Adria works as a mentor for the Principles and Practice Course, a contributor to the Darwin’s Dog project, sits on the board of Darwin’s Ark, and is the content editor for the IAABC journal.

  She currently lives surrounded by a horde of animals in need of training, including four young sons, two dogs, two cats, two gerbils, and a endlessly patient husband.

• More about Chris

  Chris Lee

  Director, Digital Communications and Web Development

  Chris has been a professional web developer for over 19 years. FULL BIO

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  Chris Lee

  Chris has been a professional web developer for over 19 years. He brings a vast and diverse background of design creativity, usability, and digital media into the web application medium. He regularly works with application development, software development, cloud, Microsoft .NET Framework, VB.NET, C#, jQuery, JSON, ASP.NET, HTML5, XML, CSS, video production and editing, database design, and electronic newsletter automation.

  He is also a specialist in the use of HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript responsive design technologies for web portal applications and corporate intranets, as well as mobile apps on iPhone and Android. He also regularly serves as a technical consultant for clients looking to incorporate additional web and newsletter strategies into their online presence. Chris regularly conducts lectures at seminars around the world and advises corporations on adopting a standards-based architecture for their web applications.

  Chris resides in Atlanta, Georgia, with his wife, two children, and one amazing Shetland sheepdog.

• More about Jesse

  Jesse Miller, Ph.D SBA

  Managing Editor, IAABC Journal
  Representative, Advertising and Promotion

  Jesse Miller, Ph.D SBA is the managing editor of the IAABC journal, lead author of the monthly newsletter, and Chair of advertising and promotions. FULL BIO

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  Jesse Miller, Ph.D SBA

  Jesse Miller, Ph.D SBA is the managing editor of the IAABC journal, lead author of the monthly newsletter, and Chair of advertising and promotions.

  He lives in San Francisco with his partner and a rather demanding chihuahua, where he volunteers at the SFSPCA and writes in his spare time.

  His favorite thing about working for IAABC is the chance to bring together people with unique and interesting perspectives on animal behavior.

• More about Angela

  Angela Wentz

  Bookkeeper, IAABC

  I have been with IAABC since 2008 managing their QuickBooks. FULL BIO

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  Angela Wentz

  I have been with IAABC since 2008 managing their QuickBooks. AMW Bookkeepers started in 2008 and this is one of the first accounts that was taken on. Being an independent contractor as a bookkeeper has a lot of advantages but the one that stands out the most are the people you work with.

  The relationship with IAABC has grown over the years from just managing membership payments to watching the association enter the world wide web with their first website and how that changed my roll with them.

  New responsibilities have been added over the years; bill pay for vendors and staff, issue of refunds, annual budget reviews, profit and loss reports. As the association continues to grow nationally and internationally, I look forward to new and exciting changes.

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Here I get support, information and training on current, evidence-based knowledge. IAABC provides free webinars and content to earn member CEUs and also a lot of great stuff for further education like mentorships and online courses that I can highly recommend! A great community of international consultants offers great exchange on each relevant topic to support each others helping animals, their owners or even organisations that take care of animals of different species.

Sylvia Czarnecki Horse Behavior Consultant

This group of amazing Professionals enveloped me in such an accepting atmosphere, which provided and continues to provide, resources and skills, to lift me up to the challenges we all face in this profession. As a new member I feel they have produced a nurturing atmosphere for someone like me to succeed.

Ann Dahlen Laughing Mutts LLC

IAABC has been an invaluable learning tool for both myself and staff. As a shelter professional, the webinars provide relevant and up to date information to be used in multiple formats. The online convenience allows for continuing education, minus the travel.The mentorship programs are nothing short of amazing, including the pricing . This organization is always looking forward and growing.

Amy Schindler IAABC Shelter Affiliate Member

I am proud and honored to be certified by, a member of, and educator for the IAABC. I consider the organization to be the industry standard for well-rounded, quality, ethical animal behavior information that is disseminated in a supportive, effective, collaborative environment. The IAABC works very hard to produce not only quantity of educational resources, but also quality.

Katenna Jones Jones Animal Behavior

As a member, I get to network with experts in my field all over the world. This allows me to expand my knowledge in cat behavior as well as shelter behavior. As the feline behavior manager in an open intake shelter, this opportunity to learn from the best has allowed me to ensure the mental health and behavior needs are met for the cats in our care. The IAABC is the "go to" place for people all over the world to find experts in animal behavior. As a certified member my profile is available for the public to view. Since I earned my certification, I've seen my private business almost triple.

Lisa Stemcosky Feline Behavior Manager

I am very impressed with the educational opportunities offered by IAABC. Members get free streaming webinars (many of them lectures from their conferences) with CEUs that count towards re-certification. There are a broad range of topics by presenters from a variety of backgrounds. Continuing education is important to me and IAABC offers many opportunities for continuing education.

Joanne Oliva-Purdy, Ph.D. Feline Behavior Manager

For those dedicated to the enrichment of animal lives through professional pursuit or academia the IAABC is an invaluable asset

Shannan Skitch IAABC Supporting Member