Brenda Andresen
Chief Strategy Officer - Stephens & Associates Advertising, Inc & Co-Founder - The Bridge Club & The Bridge Club Pets
A connector, collaborator, and confidante who values sincerity, above all else, Brenda has built her career on the power of mutually beneficial relationships and a commitment to forward thinking. With a history of veterinary industry experience spanning the client, agency, non-profit and sales side of marketing and communications Brenda brings a unique, multi-dimensional approach to leadership. Today, she heads account, content, and creative teams at Stephens & Associates Advertising and provides leadership, development, and strategic direction across the agency and is co-founder of The Bridge Club, the first video conference-based community created to inspire veterinary professionals to connect, engage, learn, and grow. Most recently, Brenda became the new proud co-parent of The Bridge Club Pets, a virtual community connecting pet owners with the expertise of the veterinary profession.
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Chief Strategy Officer - Stephens & Associates Advertising, Inc & Co-Founder - The Bridge Club & The Bridge Club Pets
Mark Cushing
Founding Partner - Animal Policy Group, LLC
A long-time political strategist, lobbyist, corporate executive and former litigator, Mark focuses his advocacy practice on providing high-level strategic advice, state and federal lobbying, and consulting services to clients in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Since 2004 he has specialized in animal health, animal welfare, veterinary and veterinary educational issues. He also serves as Trustees Counsel for Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, TN and Policy Advisor to the Center for Animal Health in Appalachia.
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Founding Partner - Animal Policy Group, LLC
Kurt Green
President & CEO - Vetsource
Kurt serves as President and CEO of Vetsource. Kurt joined the company in 2007 when Sequoyah Technologies, a company he founded in 1999, merged with Vetsource pre-revenue. Prior to founding Sequoyah Technologies, Kurt served as CEO of Cimcase International, as well as holding several management positions with Fortune 100 firms within the information technology industry. When Kurt is not working, he enjoys an active outdoors lifestyle in the Pacific Northwest, including running, hiking, biking, and golf. Kurt has two Miniature Australian Shepherds: Gabriel, a red solid, and Gideon, a red merle.
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President & CEO - Vetsource
Chris Kelly
Channel Strategist - NAVC
Chris Kelly currently serves as the Channel Strategist for the North American Veterinary Community (NAVC) a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education for veterinary professionals. Over the past 30 years Chris has started, built and sold three different businesses, and is currently involved in two start-ups in the animal health industry.
Chris and his team became a part of the NAVC in January of 2017, when they purchased Veterinary Advantage Magazine and its related products, which he founded in 2008. Chris took on the role of group publisher, managing all of the NAVC’s print and digital titles. He and his team successfully launched Today’s Veterinary Business in August of 2017, the leading business publication in the veterinary space. In addition, he and his team brought NAVC’s E-Commerce Summit to the market in 2018, an event that brings together the industry’s e-commerce players, corporate practices, independent practices, manufacturers, distributors and purchasing groups.
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Channel Strategist - NAVC
Cal Lai
Chairman & CEO - MyPetDoc
Cal Lai, Chairman and CEO of Vet24seven, is a serial entrepreneur with experience in building and operating marketing, advertising and ecommerce businesses. He is a recognized expert in technology and internet marketing, and is founder and CEO of three marketing focused technology companies with total market capitalization of approximately $200M at their peaks. Cal has raised more than $50M in capital and has been an officer and director of both public and private companies. Cal has an uncanny ability to spot shifts in technology and communication, creating companies that take advantage of market changes.
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Chairman & CEO - MyPetDoc
Lauren Murphy, PhD
Senior Research Scientist - Pragmatic Brain Science Institute®
Lauren develops creative approaches to help understand consumer behavior and why people sometimes say one thing but do another. She draws on her expertise in emotion processing, decision making, and the neuroscientific bases of behavior to produce meaningful insights and novel research approaches. Lauren brings more than 10 years’ experience in experimental design, data science, and scientific communication to the Pragmatic Brain Science Institute. Lauren received a B.S. in Anthropology from Florida State University and a PhD in Psychology from Emory University.
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Senior Research Scientist - Pragmatic Brain Science Institute®
Matthew Salois, MA, PhD
Chief Economist, Division Director Veterinary Economics Division - AVMA
Dr. Salois came to the AVMA from Elanco Animal Health, where he served as director of global scientific affairs and policy since 2016, and as an economic research and policy adviser from 2014-16. Prior to joining Elanco, he worked as the chief economist for the Florida Department of Citrus and as an assistant professor in economics at the University of Reading in the United Kingdom. Dr. Salois received a doctorate in applied economics in 2008 from the University of Florida.
Key Skills:
• Economic research & data science
• Macroeconomic forecasting
• Leading and managing teams & projects
• Quantitative & qualitative research skills
• Engaging with the media & press
• Labor economics & workforce modeling
• Building cross-functional alignment
• Econometric & predictive analysis
• Written & verbal communication skills
• Data visualization & communication
• Influencing at the C-suite & executive level
He is also a subject matter expert in public policy, economics, agriculture, food, sustainability, farming, animal health and veterinary medicine.
About Matthew Salois, MA, PhD
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Chief Economist, Division Director Veterinary Economics Division - AVMA
Thomas Schwarztrauber
Director of Category Leadership & Strategic Planning - Nestlé Purina North America
Tom is a Sade fan who also does global category management & corporate strategic planning (all in that order). His varied career started in the early 90s, where he specialized in health care & workers compensation finance, then transitioned in the mid-nineties commercial lending and category management for GMAC, where he managed all car dealerships in Arkansas and Mississippi. In the early 2000s he joined Nestle Purina, where for the last ten years in particular he has focused on the rapid changes occurring in shopper behavior, the omnichannel retail landscape, macroeconomic shifts, and technological advancements. He has been keynote speaker at numerous conferences, with the subject almost always being the future of retail.
Tom currently works with C-Suite executives spanning the globe, including retailers and private equity firms throughout Australia & New Zealand, continental Europe, and in particular, pet specialist & eComm retailers within the U.S. and Canada.
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Director of Category Leadership & Strategic Planning - Nestlé Purina North America
Peter Scott, MBA, APR, CAE
Chief Executive Officer (AAO) / Executive Director (AAOF) - American Academy of Optometry
Peter Scott is a proven leader with over 20 years’ experience of growing associations and teams with a specialization in product development, digital transformation, public relations, experiential design, and organizational strategy/innovation. His ability to merge creative strategy, business acumen, and governance has earned him the ear of those at some of the world’s largest organizations including Microsoft, Wyndham, Mars, Kraft, the Federal Reserve Bank, Procter & Gamble, Target, PWC, Deloitte, Nielsen, The Canadian House of Commons, and Saudi Arabian Capital Markets Authority. Peter gained recognition for his efforts by receiving the Brand Hall Excellence in eLearning Award, multiple Forbes Best of Web, Webby Awards, as well as the Technology and Learning Magazine's Award of Excellence.
About Peter Scott, MBA, APR, CAE
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Chief Executive Officer (AAO) / Executive Director (AAOF) - American Academy of Optometry
Susan Sholtis
President - PetIQ
Ms. Sholtis joined PetIQ as our President in October 2018. Most recently, she served as a Global Marketing Head in the Health Division at Reckitt Benckiser from 2017 until her appointment as President of PetIQ in September 2018; previously Ms. Sholtis served on PetIQ’s board of directors from March 2018 until September 2018. From 2016 to 2017, Ms. Sholtis served as Head of North America Commercial Operations at Merial and was responsible for transitioning North America operations to Merial’s new owner, Boehringer Ingelheim. Prior to that, from 2006 to 2016, Ms. Sholtis served in a number of positions at Mead Johnson Nutrition, most recently as Head of Global Marketing. Previously, Ms. Sholtis also spent eight years at Merial beginning in 1996 where she most recently had global responsibility for managing two of the largest brands in animal healthcare, FRONTLINE® and HEARTGARD®. Ms. Sholtis earned a Bachelor’s degree from Butler University and a Masters of Business Administration from Emory University.
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President - PetIQ
David Sprinkle
Research Director - Packaged Facts & MarketResearch.com Publishing
David Sprinkle is the research director for Packaged Facts, which publishes syndicated research on U.S. consumer markets, including industry-leading reports on the pet industry. He manages Packaged Facts’ consumer survey and webinar programs, contributes a monthly consumer insights column to Petfood Industry, and provides articles or interviews to pet industry media such as PETS International, PFI (Pet Food Institute) Monitor, and SupplySide Animal Nutrition Insights. He regularly gives conference presentations at APPA’a Global Pet Expo and Petfood Industry’s Petfood Forum/Innovation Workshop., and presents at industry events such as VMX, VetHealth Global, China International Pet Show, National Pet Industry Trade Show (Canada), and PIJAC Pet Industry Leadership Conference.
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Research Director - Packaged Facts & MarketResearch.com Publishing
Bruce Truman
Vice President Sales & Marketing - BabelBark
Bruce L. Truman is a companion animal health business executive specializing in PetTech. His areas of expertise include veterinary telehealth, business development, companion animal healthcare informatics and emerging digital technologies.
He is Vice President for BabelBark and serves in an advisory board capacity for the following PetTech companies: NAVC Retriever, a veterinary recruiting app; SimplyDONEsocial, a veterinary social media platform and FIDU, a primary care to boarded specialist telehealth solution. He is a founding member of VVCA - the Veterinary Virtual Care Association. Bruce is a past president of VetPartners.org, a member of the CATalyst Council board and serves as a member of the Association for Veterinary Informatics (AVI) interoperability taskforce.
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Vice President Sales & Marketing - BabelBark
Jennifer Welser, DVM, DACVO
Chief Medical & Quality Officer - Mars Veterinary Health
Dr. Jennifer Welser serves as Chief Medical Officer and Quality Officer for Mars Veterinary Health, which encompasses Banfield, VCA and BluePearl in the U.S., as well as AniCura and Linnaeus in Europe. In her role, Dr. Welser leads the Medical Affairs function across the organization and works in close partnership with the chief medical officers of each practice to grow access to high-quality, innovative veterinary care and support Mars Petcare’s purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.
Dr. Welser, who most recently served as the CMO for BluePearl Veterinary Partners, has led a successful career as a veterinary specialty practitioner, practice owner and medical leader. She has been with BluePearl since 2006 and helped establish the organization’s clinician-driven culture and develop the medical leadership team and operations, as well as evolve and grow the residency and internship program at BluePearl.
Dr. Welser received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Michigan State University. She then became a board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist in 1999 after completing a rotating internship at Auburn University and an ophthalmology residency at Animal Eye Associates in Illinois. Before joining BluePearl, Dr. Welser practiced as an ophthalmologist at Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston and owned a successful practice in California.
Previous Organizations
• BluePearl Veterinary Partners, CMO and Co-Medical Director and Staff Ophthalmologist
• UnoDose Partners, LLP, CMO and Co-Founder
• Veterinary Eye Specialists, Owner
• Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Angell Memorial Animal Hospital, Boston, Staff Ophthalmologist
Education
• Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine, DVM
• Animal Eye Associates, DACVO – Private practice-based veterinary ophthalmology residency and comparative component with University of Illinois, Chicago
• Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, Rotating Small Animal Internship
• University of Vermont, BA Biology & French
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Chief Medical & Quality Officer - Mars Veterinary Health
Marcie Whichard
Vice President of Professional & Community Relations - NAVC
Marcie Whichard has been in retail corporate management for over 30 years. She was most recently the Vice President, Industry and Public Affairs for Petco Animal Supplies, Inc. A seasoned professional with broad U.S. and global experience, including internal & external corporate communications, community outreach, crisis management, message development, brand management, advocacy, ally development, and budget accountability. Specializing in the areas of industry and public affairs, branding, government affairs and issues management.
Previously Marcie was the Vice President for Animal Care, Education and Compliance. In this capacity she provided the overall leadership and strategy for all animal care issues and concerns, developed and executed strategies to improve and maintain consistency in the care, health and sale of animals and implemented standards for the company in conjunction with animal welfare standards and regulatory requirements. She facilitated the Independent Animal Care Advisory Council made up of world renowned experts in animal health, welfare and ethics. Marcie also led Petco’s Think Adoption First initiative to find loving homes for adoptable animals.
Prior to leading the animal care initiatives at Petco, Marcie was the Vice President of Operations for the West Coast with P&L responsibility for $870M in annual sales revenue from 300 retail units. In this role she co-developed company business imperatives to align with company strategy. She also planned and executed new store openings and remodels, including analysis of new markets, selection of real estate, and forecasting sales and budgets.
Marcie sits on the Board of Directors for the Petco Foundation and Pet Partners. In her spare time Marcie enjoys sailing, traveling and gardening with her husband, Allen.
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Vice President of Professional & Community Relations - NAVC
Georgia Wraight
Executive Vice President & President of Global Technology Solutions - Covetrus
Covetrus
Georgia Wraight, based in the U.S., leads Covetrus' technology solutions teams around the globe. She drives the innovation, development and extension of our tech-enabled platform of complementary products and services. This platform supports the business side of veterinary practices, enabling the practice to retain more time to practice medicine and care for their clients and their animals. Prior to her current position, Georgia served as president and COO for Vets First Choice, which merged with Henry Schein Animal Health in 2019 to create Covetrus. Georgia has more than 20 years’ experience in finance and operations at multi-national companies like the The Rockport Group, Ernst & Young, Walt Disney and the BBC. During her tenure as COO for The Rockport Group, she developed the operational strategy for global expansion and led the global “carve out” from Adidas.
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Executive Vice President & President of Global Technology Solutions - Covetrus
Covetrus
Audrey Wystrach, DVM
Founder & CEO - OneVet
Dr. Audrey Wystrach has spent her 25 year career transforming pet care, developing, building and operating hospital models. She has been dedicated to creating hospitals that are human-centered and technology-powered. Serving on teams dedicated to delighting customers with more engaged and transparent care. She is a champion of utilizing innovation and creative work flows to improve efficiencies and empower teams to provide exceptional and memorable customer experiences.
Audrey is a speaker and industry leader in telemedicine. As a founding board member of the Veterinary Virtual Care Association she is working to enhance the delivery of veterinary medicine through the utilization of virtual care and digital tools.
She is the Co-founder and CEO of One Vet, her second start up in the veterinary services market. As co-founder and former COO of ZippiVet Pet Hospitals, she built a brand that reflected a high degree of empathy, connectivity and transparency. An avid proponent of collaboration and teamwork, Dr. Wystrach has a proven track record of building and training teams around a cohesive growth strategy and clear leadership vision.
She received her DVM from Colorado State University and completed undergraduate studies at the University of Arizona. She is married to her husband of 25 years and a mother of three children that have been actively involved in showing livestock, livestock judging, team roping and volleyball.
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Founder & CEO - OneVet
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