WELFARE

I am a woman of many interests. With a Bachelor s degree in Social Work-Child Welfare and a Master s degree in Elementary Education, I have worn many hats. I am a Child Care Worker, Child Abuse and Neglect Investigator, Foster Care Worker, Court Reporter, Elementary School Teacher for 15 years, Librarian, Media Specialist, and finally a Substitute Teacher. I am the mother of two beautiful children. My children are adopted and were born in China. I am a penny pincher, an avid yard sale visitor, and a coupon user. I love to read and write in my spare time. I enjoy movies, antiques, cooking, crafting, but most of all, I love being a wife and mother. I enjoy spending time with my family and friends.

Economist, animal-welfare advocate, a father and a husband.

Jayn Bigler has over 15 years of combined experience reporting for, editing and publishing weekly newspapers and specialty publications. She was the founding editor and publisher of a regional newspaper covering sporting dogs, horses, other companion animals, conservation, animal welfare and other issues that pet and horse owners face. She also worked as an editor for a publication that covered polo, show jumping and dressage. In addition to her Associated Content articles, she is a contributing writer for Illinois Outdoor News. Jayn also serves as a volunteer search-and-rescue K-9 handler with her canine partner, Trooper, a German Shepherd trailing dog. They are certified as a trailing team by the North American Police Work Dog Association. She and Trooper assist in teaching hunter-safety-education classes from the perspective of search and rescue.

Lucy Cunningham Mathews is an experienced horse woman with a deep love and concern for animals and their welfare. In addition to writing, Lucy has worked as a veterinary assistant, licensed wildlife rehabilitator, boarding kennel technician, and museum board member and docent. Lucy also has a passion for 19th century history. She spent three years on the board of directors of an 1846 stage couch inn turned museum, until she felt it time to step down due to illness. Lucy also enjoyed giving tours of the museum in period correct civil war era dress, in which she used her own seamstress skills to fashion for herself from scratch. Chronic illness has caused Ms Cunningham-Mathews to take a step back from the more active life she once led, and has opened up a new and challenging chapter in her life, one in which she now has the time to be more focused on expressing her skills, knowledge and experience within her writings. Lucy also enjoys spending time knitting, crocheting, sewing and crafting.

Having been sexually abused by the pastor of his Church for six years, Kenneth F. Joe Sr. considers himself a survivor and not a victim. After settling the case with the Archdiocese of Chicago in June 2006, Kenneth tells his story now as inspiration and hope for those who have found themselves betrayed by their Church and struggle to move forward. Author of From Abused to Protector: "Claiming Your Life After Your Church Sexually Abuses You" A Story of Hope, Forgiveness and Triumph Kenneth F. Joe Sr., is the Chief Administrator for the Georgia Department of Family & Children Services (DFCS), former Director of Integrated Family Support for the Georgia Department of Human Resources (DHR), former DFCS Regional Director/Administrator of Fulton County (Atlanta), the largest public Child Welfare System in Ga. and the former DFCS Director of Richmond County (Augusta, second largest city in Ga). He was the Interim-Executive Director and the Chief Operating Officer of Chicago Child Care Society, the oldest Child Welfare agency in the state of Illinois. He has worked in Child Welfare for 20 years.

Over the course of 20 years I have provided communications services to non-profit organizations, mid-size businesses and major corporations, including writing, media relations and community outreach initiatives. Business sectors include non-profit, technology, healthcare and professional services. I have a special interest in helping animal welfare organizations succeed in their rescue and adoption efforts on behalf of dogs, cats and other animals in need. For more than a dozen years my communications work and hands-on care have benefited rescued dogs, and particularly greyhounds, in California. I personally have adopted both cats and dogs for the past 20 years. Recently I have helped smaller organizations develop communications programs in line with their business objectives by providing fundamental content (including positioning statements, key messaging, copy), tools and processes to help them succeed. This includes incorporating social and digital media into their communications mix as part of their overall programs. My expertise also includes serving as media spokesperson, providing media training and handling crisis communications.

Rebecca is a native Texan who has lived in Dallas the last 25 years. She grew up with pets and became an active advocate in 2000. She is founder and President of Companions For Life, a non-profit organization providing humane education and shelter outreach services. Companions For Life educates children about responsible pet ownership and respect for animals through private and public partnerships. Companions For Life also provides local animal rescue groups and shelter staff with industry-related educational and networking opportunities, free educational resources, and programs designed specifically for them. Rebecca also services as Rescue Liaison for the City of Dallas Animal Shelter Commission, an advisory board appointed by the City Council to advise Dallas Animal Services. Rebecca lent her expertise toward development of the volunteer program at the animal shelter and expanding the City's educational initiatives, and helped develop new partnerships between the shelter and local animal rescue groups. Rebecca also helped spearhead efforts to pass the 2008 amendments to the City of Dallas animal code. A former Vice President of Feral Friends Community Cat Alliance, Rebecca was instrumental in creating both the Race To Reduce Litters spay/neuter program for feral cats and the Lost Cat Recovery program. Rebecca currently serves on the Advisory Boards of three local animal welfare organizations: Paws In The City, Cat Matchers, and Dallas Animal Advocates, and was the recipient of the 2009 Paws In The City St. Francis of Assisi award for contributions to the animal welfare community. She is a member of the Association of Professional Humane Educators and is certified in disaster response by the Humane Society of the United. She worked with Animal Rescue New Orleans and Alley Cat Allies rescuing cats after Hurricane Katrina.

Erin Hull, a native of the Fort Wayne, Indiana area, is a married mother of 3 girls. She is an avid coupon clipper and volunteer for local animal welfare groups. She also supports other charitable groups in the city. Erin is always looking for something to do with the family and knows a lot about local happenings. Contact Erin at aprettykitty84@yahoo.com.

Hello. My name is Roy, and I am a Senior English Journalism Major with a Minor in Music at the University of New Hampshire. I am currently active in the UNH Student Organizations: Association of Students United by Music (ASUM) and Animal Welfare Alliance. I am passionate about writing and take a certain pride in using words to tell stories, articulate emotion, and express artistic value within the English language. My plans for Journalism include, but are not limited to, covering the vast realm of music in its writing, production, performance, and impact on people and society. Also, I live a healthy vegan lifestyle. I am actively engaged in many aspects of vegan health, diet, and fitness.

Brenda is a thoughtful and easy to relate with business development and marketing oriented social media content and collaboration writer. Her articles and posts display observation and opinion from her twenty year executive business experience and intelligence incorporating substance and humor. She excels at social media content & collaboration. Brenda provides professional content in the business and political sectors as her primary focus. In addition she provides more personal content in the animal welfare sector and spirituality sector. She contributes for Internet based media outlets; blog networking; corporate & industry websites, newsletters, and annual reports; and non-profit charitable foundation websites & newsletters. She collaborates on website user experience evaluations & strategy; social media buzz creation; social media universe creation strategy; and social media marketing campaign strategy. She has been an exec at some of the foremost national information technology corporations. As the VP of Data Services for Homestore.com, she developed a data mining division to meet the growing strategy needs of this industry leader and to allow inter-divisional and inter-company data acquisition and product coordination. She was for several years Dir of Bus Dev for Transamerica Intellitech, the real estate data subsidiary of Transamerica Corp. Brenda developed the consistently most profitable division, the national data licensing division, and managed the acquisition and merger area for TI. Her client list includes start-up regional and national companies as well as industry directing, predominant national corporations; a majority of the various state and local government agencies in the US; and association owned or member owned companies that are non-profit or for-profit. She is also the founder of the animal welfare/family resource program the Spirit of Sedona Outreach.

Zawn Villines is a Featured Contributor in Women's Health and Dating & Relationships for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. She volunteered as a full time rape crisis counselor for many years, and brings an interest in trauma, women's psychology, and rape prevention to Associated Content. She worked as a nanny for the better part of a decade and is interested in child welfare, parenting, special needs children, and how social issues affect children. She is proud parent to a variety of dysfunctional rescued animals, and has worked in wildlife rehabilitation as well as at various animal shelters and the humane society. Her degree is in philosophy and she's currently having a quarterlife crisis about what to do next. If you'd like to help fund this quarterlife crisis, she is available for freelance work. Her hobbies include encouraging her dog not to eat money and sending complaint letters to philosophers. She lives with a very tolerant boyfriend.

I have been a freelance writer for 50 years. My favorite topic is dogs, but I may write about anything that interests me. I was the head of dog rescue for four years and have owned dogs all my life. I am a former child welfare caseworker. I'm married and have two adult children. I live in PA with my husband, and we ride motorcycle daily, weather permitting. By way of background behind being a "featured pets contributor," my daughter and I headed a non profit, all-breed, dog rescue for 4 years, with the help of 4 dog trainers, 5 foster homes, several vets and the help of many other breed rescue organizations. We re-homed 120 dogs, which we personally had temperament-tested and evaluated before placing them in their new homes. We did home evaluations, vet checks and follow ups. We had all dogs meet with their new families, including other dogs, before adoption. I never met a dog I didn't like, but relinquishing owners and "unrealistic" adopters were sometimes a problem. My goal in life, on behalf of dogs, is to match people with compatible dogs by offering reliable information about dogs and helping people to understand dogs as companion animals.

I am a single mother of two children, who was recently diagnosed with Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Popyneuropathy. I also like to write poetry about a wide range of topics. I also write extensively about social issues such as the welfare system and how it affected my family on a personal level. I advocate for the fair and humane treatment of public assistance recipients (they are people too), and Im involved in several local community outreach projects.

I am a newlywed who spent 10 years working on Capitol Hill and running a small consulting business dedicated to child and family welfare. I am now a freelance writer, making the transition into working from home in order to raise a family.

Born of poor parents from the Philippines and migrated to Australia in 1983 and successfully completed a Degree in Bachelor Of Social Science major in Welfare Studies as a Mature-Age student from James Cook University in Townsville Queensland Australia.

Just a middle aged vegetarian widow with a life long love of animals and a peaceful campaigner for animal rights and welfare

I am a freelance writer with experience of writing on a wide range of topics. My favourite topics to write about are animals and animal welfare.

I currently live in Mallorca, Spain and am a very active 74 year old. Interested in anything to do with providing everyone with a prolonged, active and enjoyable life. Also animal welfare is very much an interest, I regularly pet sit for animals in their own home whilst th

Recently married, Nicci shares a love of animals and animal welfare inspired by her two dogs, Bebe and Frankie. She also has a passion for sexy shoes, celeb gossip, cooking and good food.

i was born in the tropical sea side town of mombasa,kenya.i grew up partly in mombasa and partly in nairobi,which is the capital city of kenya.after completing my O levels i travelled to the united kingdom where i studied social welfare & counselling for a year.i lived in le

I am a professional Social Worker licensed at a Masters level and working toward independent licensure. I am currently working as a medical social worker but have worked in child welfare, domestic violence, and mental health fields. I also have background in martial arts and

Licensed social worker & freelance writer specializing in child welfare, healthcare, life coaching, case management and the social work profession including ethical considerations as well as utilizing social work skills in business, public relations and the social work author and/or educator.

I am a photographer, and a writer, focused on the arts and human welfare.

I am a professional in the field of social services and have worked at administrative and direct services level. With this background I am very knowledgible with childcare practices and child welfare safety issues. I am also an artist.

I am a married 36 year old health care professional. I have 19 and 18 yr. old daughters. I love my family very much. I also love my two dogs. I enjoy writing and reading. I am also very interested in animal welfare and rights.

I've spent time in academic, nonprofit, and corporate arenas, and gained expertise in diverse areas including neuroscience, Six Sigma (process excellence), Jewish community, animal welfare, & pet health/nutrition. Learn more at peoplepetsplanet.net.

I'm a full-time real estate agent in Connecticut and a former corporate marketing communications manager. I write for my own blog, berealct.wordpress.com and for an animal welfare group. I have a newborn, am married and have three dogs.

I have been in the field of social work for 6 years and am currently licensing foster homes. Extensive knowledge in parenting, child welfare, assessing, foster care,and report writing.

I'm on the Board of Directors for the Avian Welfare Coalition & have four educational parrot-related websites. My articles are also on other animal-related sites including Petfinder.com. I provided a technical edit for 3 parrot books from Wiley.

BA psych./ M.Div Pastoral Ministry/ PhD (ABD) social work/community services. Social worker supervisor for 5 years in child welfare, following 10 years pastoral experience as a Senior pastor/counselor. Currently freelance photographer, clinical consultant.