MAC Board of Directors

MAC Board of Directors

	Sarah Luick, President Sarah Luick is an attorney in Massachusetts state government with a law degree from Suffolk University Law School. Sarah has been a member of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC) since 2001. She has served for many years as a MAC board member and officer. She is currently the MAC board liaison to the PILOT task force. Sarah also serves on the boards of: Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF); New England Anti-Vivisection Society (NEAVS); and, Citizens to End Animal Suffering and Exploitation (CEASE). She is part of the newly formed Animal Law Practice Group of the Massachusetts Bar Association, and has served many times as a judge in the national animal law moot court competition. She is the companion to Lolly, a happy lab-husky mix.
	Stacy LeBaron, Treasurer Stacy has been involved in the animal welfare field since 1994. In 1996 she became president of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society. In 2003 she became a board member of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition and currently serves as their treasurer. In 2008 she restarted another group, the Feline Adoption and Rescue Society and currently serves as their president. She also serves as a trustee for a local foundation. Stacy has a BA from Vassar College in Urban Studies and has done graduate work at the New School for Social Research in New York City and at Boston University. Stacy believes that we can have a humane environment for our companion animals. She lives in Byfield, MA with her husband, Bruce, daughter, Rachel, son, Scott and four cats; Steffi, Spooky, Kachina and Misha.
	Heather Donnelly, Clerk Heather Donnelly has worked in animal welfare since 1994 after completing a BA from UMass Amherst in Communications and Animal Science. She is currently the Assistant to the Director of Adoption Centers for the MSPCA. Her primary focus is event planning, volunteer management and staff training. Heather has been a MAC Board Member since 2006 and is currently the Clerk and Membership Chair.
	Bryn Conklin Bryn Conklin is the Project Coordinator at the MSPCA and manages the volunteer and foster care program. Bryn has been a member of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC) since 2004 and became a member of the board in 2009. During Hurricane Katrina Bryn helped coordinate the reunification efforts to find the owners of the animals taken in by MAC during the disaster. She is also a graduate of the Animals and Public Policy Program at Tufts Veterinary School. She lives with a varying number of foster cats and kittens.
	Marianne Gasbarro Marianne Gasbarro is the shelter manager for the Animal Rescue League of Boston’s (ARLB) headquarters branch that is located in the South End of Boston. She is entering her tenth year with the Animal Rescue League of Boston. Marianne graduated from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a B.S. in animal science. She was elected to the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC) board in 2007. From her job she has chosen to adopt 3 cats and a black Lab, but that is not all she has to care for at home. In her spare time, Marianne and her husband Chris chase after 2 year old identical twin boys!
	Kara Holmquist Kara Holmquist is the director of advocacy for the MSPCA, and has law degree from Suffolk University Law School. Kara has been a member of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition (MAC) since 2001. Her work with MAC has focused on the Advocacy Committee and the "I'm Animal Friendly" license plate program. Kara is on the steering committee of the Humane USA-Massachusetts political action committee (PAC), which seeks to elect humane-minded legislators to office. Kara is a part of the newly formed Animal Law Practice Group of the Massachusetts Bar Association. Kara lives with her dog (Finley), cat (Addy), husband (Kiko) and daughter (Story).
	Rachael Kaplan Rachael Kaplan is the Web Content Manager for the MSPCA and has her BS in Communications from Boston University. Rachael has been a board member of the Massachusetts Animal Coalition since 2009. She lives with her Chihuahua companion, Myles.
	Melanie Lary
	Emanuel Maciel Emanuel “Manny” Maciel has worked in the animal welfare field for 19 years. He has worked for the City of New Bedford for the last 11years, and has been Director of Animal Control for the city for 8 years. In 1999, Manny graduated from the Animal Control Officer Association of Mass Certification Course and became an active member of the organization from the start. He took the position of ACOAM President in 2002 which he still holds. In 2001, Manny became a MAC member and then in 2007 a MAC board member. He is on the board of directors for the Humane Coalition of Greater New Bedford, one of the oldest and first coalitions in Mass. Manny is a field volunteer with such organizations as the Cape Cod Stranding Network, the HSUS National Disaster Animal Response Team, the American Humane Association Red Star Emergency Services Team, and he is a team leader for the Animal Control team of the State of Mass Animal Response Team (SMART). Manny responded with a team of three other Mass Animal Control Officers to hurricane Katrina, spending three weeks in New Orleans and later in January 2006 three weeks in Mississippi assisting with the relief efforts and capture of stray animals. In January 2007, he responded to Colorado to assist a free-farmed pig farm, with over 8000 animals snowbound and unable to get to food. In 2005, Manny was honored by the MSPCA and the Animal Rescue League of Boston as the Animal Control Officer of the Year. In November 2006, he was awarded The Duncan Wright Award by the American Dog Owners Association for outstanding work in the animal community.
	Emily McCobb, DVM MS DACVA Dr. Emily McCobb received her DVM degree from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 2000. In 2001 she completed an internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Angell Memorial Animal Hospital. She then obtained a Master’s degree from the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts, where she focused on issues surrounding racing greyhounds and animal shelter design for stress reduction. After spending a year in small animal private practice, she returned to the Tufts Cumming School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts for a residency in Anesthesiology. She completed her residency and board certification in 2006. She currently works as a staff anesthesiologist at the TCSVM affiliated TuftsVETs hospital in Walpole, MA. She is also a clinical faculty member at TCSVM, teaching at the Center for Animals and directing the Shelter Medicine Program. Dr. McCobb is a member of the IVAPM (International Veterinary Academy of Pain Management), MVMA and a founding member of the New England Veterinary Regional Pain Group. In addition to serving on the board of directors for the Massachusetts Animal Coalition, she is on the board of Second Chance Fund for Animal Welfare and is a member of the Animal Rescue League’s Center for Shelter Dogs advisory board.
	Linda Tolf Linda Tolf has been helping animals for almost twenty years. She is a past president of the Board of Directors of the Baypath Humane Society of Hopkinton and still provides tours of the shelter to Scout Troops and community groups. Linda has been a member of the MAC Board of Directors since 2005. Linda is a graduate of Northeastern University School of Pharmacy and is a practicing registered pharmacist. She is the Pharmacy Manager of the Fallon Clinic Department of Drug Management. Linda shares her home with husband Steve, son Greg, daughter Tracy, and felines Jasmine and Cleo.