Donald Castellucci, Board Chair, serving as Interim Secretary & Treasurer
Donald serves as Board Chair of PawsCo, where he focuses on long-term sustainability, governance, and strengthening the organization’s ability to serve animals and the people who care for them. His leadership centers on building durable systems, supporting volunteers and staff, and ensuring the organization’s mission remains both impactful and financially resilient. Donald brings more than a decade of experience across nonprofit operations, strategy, and public service. Most recently, he served as Chief Operating Officer and Interim Executive Director of the Pet Sustainability Coalition, leading organizational strategy and operations to advance a more sustainable pet industry for people, pets, and the planet. Donald is currently pursuing his MBA at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he deepens his focus on finance, organizational leadership, and long-term value creation. He lives in Chicago with his wife, Emily, and their rescue dog, Peach, but they still call Colorado “home”. Outside of work and board service, he enjoys endurance running, cross-country skiing, cooking, and a good crossword puzzle.
Tiana Kennedy, Co-Founder, Board Vice Chair
Tiana believes that everyone makes an impact, and that leadership carries a responsibility to ensure that impact is positive. A communications leader, she has spent more than 17 years at Colorado State University and the CSU System, serving in senior leadership roles and currently leading communications, public relations, media engagement, and issues management. In 2013, Tiana founded PawsCo, where she built and led a 300-person organization grounded in strong governance, operational effectiveness, and compassion. She has also served on the Colorado Animal Welfare Association board of directors and led the Colorado Legislative Animal Welfare Caucus. Outside of work and animal welfare, she’s an avid platelet donor, enjoys volunteering and being outdoors. She also serves on the Raise the Future board. Tiana lives in Fort Collins with her husband, Matt, and their three rescue dogs—Buddy, Tofu, and Murray.
Christine Armstrong
Christine is a Vice President of Credit Specialists for Silicon Valley Bank Private Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. With extensive experience in personal and small business lending and credit underwriting, she is passionate about helping people and businesses reach their financial goals. Christine is excited to give back to the animal welfare community and serve on the board. She received her MBA from Daniels School of Business, University of Denver and her B.S. in Business Administration from Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado – Boulder. An animal lover to the core, Christine has two cats (Dexter and Lola – PawsCo alum) and one dog (Rosie). She enjoys spending time with her husband and sons going to the mountains, listening to live music and trying out new restaurants.
Nichole Burnett
Nichole Burnett is currently a commercial real estate attorney at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, where her practice focuses on real estate finance and development. Nichole grew up in Colorado and earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Colorado School of Law where she also served as President of the law school’s student chapter of the Animal Legal Defense Fund. Nichole has been passionate about animal welfare all her life and is dedicated to all areas of improving animal well-being. She is an avid supporter of animal rescue and adoption and cares deeply about finding a place for each individual animal to thrive. In her free time, she enjoys yoga, hiking, reading, and spending time with her three rescue dogs.
Evan Gersh
Mindy Jarvis
Mindy Jarvis is a Colorado native, die-hard Denver Nuggets fan, and the founder and owner of Noble Beast Dog Training. She has a husband, two adult children, a granddaughter, two dogs, two cats, and three chickens—proof that her life is joyfully shaped by both family and animals. With over 17 years of experience, Mindy is a Certified Dog Trainer/Behavior Consultant & Educator who leads the Noble Beast Dog Training Team of professionals serving Metro Denver and surrounding areas. While Noble Beast is known for its excellence in dog/dog social skills, group play dynamics, manners & obedience via private in-home training, and group classes, along with supporting our sensitive reactive dog population – the Noble Beast mission has evolved beyond traditional dog training. At Noble Beast, dogs are seen as mirrors—guiding humans toward greater awareness, communication, and connection. Training is the vehicle; human growth and dogs thriving in their forever homes are the outcome. Using science-based, humane, and relationship-focused methods, Mindy and her team support dogs of all ages, personalities, and challenges, including reactivity, while empowering the humans who love them. Mindy joined the PawsCo Board of Directors in 2023 and is honored to expand her impact in animal rescue and welfare through this meaningful work.
Taylor Johnson
Taylor has been passionate about animal welfare and rescue for as long as she can remember and her time as a rescue volunteer truly fills her soul. When Taylor isn’t volunteering with PawsCo, she works in nonprofit management at a human services organization in Denver. She is a Colorado native and she, her husband Aaron, and their two sons adore their rescue pups Lola and Lincoln (a PawsCo alum!)
Anne Klein
Anne Klein is the Managing Director of Pilot Forward LLC, a sustainability consulting firm. Her career has focused on sustainability strategy development, social and environmental project implementation, fundraising and nonprofit administration. Anne’s experience includes five years at the Pet Sustainability Coalition supporting businesses in the pet industry to implement profitable environmental and social business practices, eight years as VP of Administration and Sustainability at Newton Running, and over 18 years in nonprofits, including senior positions at Harvard Business School and the Children’s Hospital Foundation in Denver. She holds a BA from the University of California at Berkeley and Ed.M. from Harvard University, Graduate School of Education. Anne lives in Lafayette Colorado with her pup Ike. She is a metalsmith, enjoys nordic skiing, hiking and spending time with family and friends.
Susan Kohut
Susan is a Development Director at RMI, where she builds strategic partnerships with philanthropic foundations to secure principal gifts in support of climate and clean energy solutions. Her career spans more than 20 years in nonprofit fundraising and leadership, including eight years as Senior Advancement Director at the Sierra Club, where she led principal and major gift efforts supporting climate, conservation, and wildlife protection. A lifelong animal advocate, Susan has a soft spot for senior and special needs animals. She has been involved in rescue work since childhood and has decades of volunteer experience supporting animal welfare organizations through home checks, animal transport, and fostering special-needs dogs. She is honored to support PawsCo’s mission and bring her deep fundraising expertise, strategic insight, and lifelong commitment to animal rescue to the board, helping strengthen the organization’s capacity to save and rehabilitate more animals across Colorado. Susan lives in Denver with her husband and their three rescue dogs: Norman, a senior basset hound; Eloise, a senior Great Dane; and Steuben, an English bulldog affectionately known as “Tuba.”
Caitie Maxwell
Caitie is proud to serve on the PawsCo Board, combining a life long love of dogs with a strong desire to give back to the rescue community. She has a B.A. in Business from Southwestern University and a M.A. in Nonprofit Management from Case Western University. She has over fifteen years of fundraising experience within the nonprofit sector, currently serving as the Senior Director of Development at the Denver Center for Performing Arts. She lives in Idaho Springs with her husband, son and two rescue dogs Layla and Deshka.
Amanda Nugent
Amanda is a senior integrated marketing communications professional with over fifteen years of experience in frontline fundraising, data analytics, annual giving, and volunteer board management for causes she cares about. She currently serves as the Senior Director of Development at the University of Colorado Boulder supporting the campus research institutes. Her prior work includes an emphasis on higher education fundraising at institutions such as Dartmouth College, Georgetown University, and the George Washington University. Amanda is a graduate of the University of Delaware and Georgetown University. She lives in Arvada with her husband, kids, rescue dog Penny, and cat Mowgli.
Abbey O’Neal
Julie Ratner
Julie is the owner and senior attorney at Care Law Colorado, LLC focusing on estate planning, probate and trust administration with a focus on elder law. Julie did grant writing for nonprofits prior to entering DU Law School in 2005. Since graduating, she has continued her work with nonprofits serving on boards and volunteering for Project Safeguard and Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center. She was most recently on the boards of Mt. St. Vincent and St. Joe’s board foundation. Julie and her husband, Dave Ratner, are passionate about rescuing dogs and believe that with enough love and training, any dog can become a great addition to the family. After focusing the last ten years on volunteering for our community’s most vulnerable humans, Julie is excited to put her talents and gifts to support our community’s most vulnerable four-legged beings. Julie and her husband now live in the mountains, with their dog Tele and spend as much time as they can with their grown children and 3 year old granddaughter.
Aimee St. Peter
Aimee is a multi-business founder and commercial growth expert who specializes in data-driven strategy and authentic storytelling. As the leader of GrowthGenius, she partners with diverse clients to drive organizational change and measurable results. Her background includes a decade of leadership at Danaher (Hach), where she led marketing strategy and was recognized for her focus on coaching and collaborative leadership. Driven by a lifelong passion for animals, Aimee is dedicated to advocating for those who cannot speak for themselves. She is a lifelong animal lover who is passionate about using her creative energy to make a real impact for pets in need. Aimee lives in Thornton with her boyfriend and two dogs—Frankie the Pug and Pax the Great Dane.
ADVISORY BOARD
Brett & Dawn Anderson Special Advisor to the President and Chancellor of Colorado State University and Vice President for University Advancement from 2009-2017, Brett Anderson is a 1987 alumnus of Colorado State University. He returned to his alma mater after a successful business career at global business and technology company Accenture. Anderson was the global managing partner of Accenture’s Communications and HighTech Customer Relationship Management practice and former managing partner of the Denver office of Accenture. He joined Accenture in 1987 and was named a partner in 1999 and retired from Accenture in 2008. While at Accenture, he had oversight for more than 5,000 people and $2 billion in operations. Among his responsibilities were profit and loss for the division, ensuring the growth and development of the global CHT CRM practice and professionals, developing and overseeing relationships with strategic ventures and alliances, and serving as an advisory senior executive to several global strategic accounts and C-level executives.
Anderson is a native of Colorado growing up in Fort Collins and now lives in Littleton, Colorado. He and his wife Dawn enjoy skiing, golfing, running and traveling, and spending time with their new puppy Sadie.