In The News

Elle Yoko Suzuki, Secretary

Elle was born in Japan and grew up in the Bay Area, spending 10 years in Benicia. She shares her Oakland home with two rescue Shiba Inus, Inari and Enoki. Elle studied Applied Mathematics with an Economics focus at UC Berkeley. As a web applications programmer and animal welfare advocate, Elle joined the board to share her technical, analytical, and problem-solving skills to support HSNB’s mission. She enjoys dancing, reading mysteries, and adventures in Japan.

Brenda Mooney, Director

Brenda is a longtime Vallejo resident whose family moved to Vallejo in 1973 when she was 8 years old. She grew up with not only many dogs and cats; but with chickens, rabbits, and a variety of other animals and she has always been concerned for animal welfare. Currently, four cats are members of her and her husband, Bill’s family. In 2022, Brenda retired from the Valero Benicia Refinery after 33 years. She has volunteered at the HSNB for several years, primarily walking the large dogs and fostering cats. She also has participated in a number of adoption events, and at the Barkitecture\Mardi Paws Fundraisers. As a member of the board, she enjoys helping with HSNB’s mission to provide shelter and compassionate care to animals.

Linda Overton, President

Linda grew up in a suburb of Des Moines, and attended college at Taylor University in Indiana before moving to Washington DC where she started her long-time career with the Federal Government and attended Law School at George Mason University in Arlington, VA. She moved to the Bay Area almost 30 years ago, and has lived in San Francisco, Rohnert Park, and Vallejo. While in Rohnert Park, she and her husband were puppy raisers for Canine Companions for Independence. She has been a longtime supporter of animal rescue organizations and misses greatly her foster-failure black lab Reilly. Linda started at the HSNB as a volunteer dog walker in honor of Reilly and quickly realized her background of fundraising while on her daughter’s school PTG Board could also benefit HSNB. She is honored to join a great team of individuals as a board member.

Joseph A. Hayden, Treasurer

Joseph grew up in the San Francisco East Bay, Italy, Spain, New York City, and southern California, where he is from originally. He went to college and law school in New York and returned to the Bay Area for good in 2007. He and his husband, who does dog boarding, have lived in Vallejo since 2020 with their family that includes four dogs. Professionally Joseph taught computer science as a professor in New York, co-owns a web hosting company with his husband, and works as a technical project manager in the healthcare industry. He also very much seeks to work pro bono and volunteer for causes and communities he passionately believes in. He joined the board in mid-2021.

James Carl Stern

James grew up in Los Angeles, California. After graduating from High School, James enlisted in the U.S. Army where he eventually served with NATO Forces overseas. James is a graduate of the University of Southern California (USC) where he graduated with a degree in International Relations. James spent 25 years as an FBI Agent where he spent time on the FBI San Francisco SWAT Team, was a Polygraph Examiner, and was one of the lead agent investigators on the 9/11terrorist attacks.
James has been an animal lover for his entire life. He loves all dogs and cats, and especially loves Dachshunds doggies. He currently has four dachshunds named Peanut, Butter, Jelly, and Honey. James very much seeks to work as a volunteer for causes and communities he passionately believes in. Animal rescue and support is his lifelong passion. James joined the board in 2022.

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Carol Stillson, Director

Carol moved to Vallejo over 20 years ago but has lived in the bay area for over 40 years. Carol has always had a love of pets and has spent most of her career as a registered veterinary technician. She does what she can to help with all the animals at the HSNB, and leads our medical team efforts to make sure every animal in our protection is getting the best veterinary care needed. She joined the board in late 2020.

Morgan Elgebali

Morgan Elgebali is a Vice President, Director of Five Star Bank. He is a subject matter expert in operational banking for alternative investment firms and start-ups. Before beginning his banking career he spent 15 years working in the restaurant industry in New York City and San Francisco. Morgan earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Baruch College, CUNY, New York, New York. Morgan and his wife, Julie, are originally from New York and moved to the Bay Area in July of 2016. They have two lovely dogs, Echo, a Grey and White Pit Bull and Ozzie, a Brown Chow-Australian Shepherd Mix. In his free time, Morgan enjoy’s racing motorcycles, backpacking and working in his garden. He is passionate about ensuring animal welfare and looks forward to serving his community.

Matt Kennedy

Mr. Kennedy relocated to the Bay Area from Ohio in 1991. He is a General Contractor with a focus on single family residential additions and remodeling. In his spare time, Matt goes camping, does some volunteer work, Chairs the City of Vallejo Design Review Board and goes to the gym. Matt hopes to help the HSNB get some facilities maintenance and upgrades done.

Carlene Coury

Ms. Coury is originally from Pittsburgh, PA and has lived in the Bay Area since the mid-90s. She is a recently retired English professor. Ms. Coury also directs live theatre throughout the Bay Area and has for the last 20 years. Carlene has been involved with the Humane Society of the North Bay for about 15+ years. In the past she has helped with Barkitectures and dog walking. She currently does donation and event outreach and has recently started Cuddle Club. Carlene has volunteered under Peter Wilson, Wendy Bishop, and the current Shelter Manger, Kristen Eddy. Ms. Coury’s first love is animals and their welfare.

Tara Maffeo

In 2023, Tara joined the Advisory Board for HSNB where she brings her experience and expertise to support the organization’s mission to provide shelter and compassionate care to our community’s animals in need. Currently serving as Vice President at Sephora, she brings a diverse background in communications, project management, learning & development, and retail operations. Tara resides in Benicia with her husband and household of rescues, which includes two dogs, a cat, a rabbit, and an ex-racehorse. She has always been passionate about animal rescue and began her journey with HSNB as a dog walker and supporting the management of the volunteer program. Her experience working with HSNB has given her a deep appreciation for the life-saving work that the organization does, and she looks forward to applying her skills to further the reach and success of HSNB’s critical work.

Rebecca Petrella

Rebecca Petrella was born and raised in San Francisco in a family that loved animals. The Siamese cat, “Humbug,” and the Australian Silky Terrier, “Chumley,” were her constant companions and Humbug lived to be more than 19 years old! Rebecca has worn many hats in her career, starting out as a Cosmetologist at nineteen years old, and eventually working her way up to owning and running two hair and nail salons. After more than 10 years of working in the beauty industry, she went back to school to earn her Bachelor of Arts in Health Informatics. She landed a job as an analyst for a large healthcare system and then worked for 20+ years in healthcare quality and risk management, while she also earned her Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration. Rebecca retired in 2020 and is dedicated to being of service to help improve the lives of as many animals as possible. She brings strong analytical and reporting skills to the work to help improve animal welfare and care in our community.
Rebecca and her wife share their Vallejo, California home with two mixed breed rescue dogs: Lucy and Theo. They can be seen most mornings, walking the Bay Area Ridge Trail.

Lisa Nicole Szucs

In 2014, Lisa joined the Humane Society of the North Bay as a volunteer pet photographer. After a single afternoon of photographing adoptable cats and dogs, she was hooked. Since then, Lisa has photographed more than 800 dogs and cats for adoption—as well as a few guinea pigs, rabbits, and a pair of pet ducks. Lisa takes great pride in capturing the unique personality of each animal she is privileged to photograph. This happens by getting to know a subject before she unpacks her camera. After spending some quality kennel time (including belly rubs or ear scratches), she’s ready to raise the lens. The goal of each session is to portray adoptable animals in their best light in hopes of attracting a prospective forever person or family. As a shelter volunteer, the “paycheck” comes when adoption papers are complete and a previously unwanted animal takes the final Freedom Ride out of the shelter gate to a permanent, loving home. Lisa is proud of her past work on the HSNB Board of Directors and Animal Welfare Committee, and she is always excited to work with our outstanding staff and volunteers. She currently serves as a senior mentor on the HSNB Dog Walkers Team and contributes a weekly “Pets of the Week” column to the Benicia Herald. When not at the shelter, Lisa works in employment services and enjoys time with family and friends. She shares a home with four rescue dogs—two pit bulls, a dachshund mix, and a chihuahua—all adopted from HSNB.

Gennyfer Santel

Gennyfer joined the HSNB Board in 2023 and brings with her extensive professional experience in advertising, marketing, communications, and event coordination. From an early age, she was known to prefer the company of animals over people and believes passionately in HSNB’s mission to “…strengthen the lifelong commitment between animals and people.” Gennyfer is a longtime resident of Vallejo, where she resides with her husband, David, and their four adopted canine family members Max (16), Sam (13), Ted (3), and Rocky (3). In addition to her commitment to HSNB, she is also a trained animal disaster service worker (A-DSW) volunteer with the Solano Community Animal Response Team (CART). 

Nancy Hoffman

Nancy Hoffman is a geriatric neuropsychologist who has lived in Vallejo for eight years. She is involved in feral cat TNR and has eight formerly feral cats of her own. She also has three elderly dogs from Muttville. She joined the board because her colleagues promised not to let her bring home any more animals. She is hoping to be able to help this community through her work on the board.

Claire Svedberg, Co-Vice President

Serving as the shelter trainer, Claire started volunteering in animal rescue at 11 years old. Not long after, she got her first job at a veterinary hospital, where she worked as an assistant vet tech for 5 years. She attended university in Washington DC to, receiving a BA in French, Spanish, and Italian. In DC she became a professional dog walker and has continued the practice for almost a decade. Claire traveled to Peru and Guatemala to volunteer in organizations that rescue, rehabilitate, and adopt out street dogs. At the rescue in Guatemala, she was undertaken as an apprentice by the founder of the rescue and master dog trainer, Linda Green. She has since been a professional positive reinforcement dog trainer for 5 years.

Ena Portuguez, Director

Ena was born in Nicaragua but grew up in the SF Bay Area.  She holds a BS in Human Resources Management and is pursuing a Masters in Organizational Leadership.  She works as a Human Resources Manager in the North Bay and is the dog mom of a fur baby named Toby. Prior to her career in Human Resources, Ena worked for the East Bay SPCA and San Francisco SPCA as a vet assistant and adoption counselor and volunteered as a foster parent for cats and dogs. She has been an ethical vegan for over 10 years and has a passion for placing shelter animals in forever homes. She joined the board in early 2022.

Linette Atterbury, Director

Linette has been a Silicon Valley marketing executive for 25 years and is currently a director at PayPal. She credits her love for animals in making her a more compassionate and kind human. She advocates for homeless pets, senior dogs, and puppy mill survivors. Linette first got involved with the Humane Society of the North Bay by successfully chairing the 2019 Mardi Paws Fundraising event. She joined the board in October of that same year. She currently leads the marketing communications and fundraising for the shelter. Linette and her husband Brad, enjoy spending time with their pack of four HSNB alumnae — LuLu, Trixie, GiGi & Tessa.

Sara Cohen, Director

Sara moved to Vallejo in 2018 and got involved with HSNB at the beginning of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Professionally, Sara currently oversees the National Recruitment and Advertising Campaign for the U.S. Secret Service. Because she started to work from home, Sara began fostering dogs and fell in love with HSNB. Sara, along with her husband Philip, have fostered 7 dogs over the past year. With her background in non-profit development, Sara realized she could do more for HSNB and joined the board in late 2020.

Anthony Marschak, Director

Anthony Marschak is a designer, craftsman and entrepreneur. Exploring the possibilities of renewable materials led to the formation of Modern Bamboo Inc. and subsequently Original Timber Company, a pioneer in the reclamation of urban lumber . Having produced multiple award-winning lines of furniture, products and accessories, his work is influenced by ecology, minimalism, functionality, and an appreciation for both modern manufacturing techniques and timeless craftsmanship.Specialties: Business Development, Design, Branding, New Product Development, Teaching