Our People.

Sarah Aguilar

Sarah Aguilar is the Director of Santa Barbara County Animal Services, overseeing three shelters that serve more than 6,000 pets annually across 2,700 square miles. A data-driven and community-focused leader, she previously held leadership roles at Austin Pets Alive!, Greater Good Charities, and Pima Animal Care Center, and began her career building a high-impact foster program in Ventura County. Living in Missouri for a few years created a real bond with the region that she couldn't leave behind. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys restoring her 1949 Chevy pickup, tending to her ever-growing indoor greenhouse, and spending time on the California coast with her family and three beloved dogs.  

Kim Brown

Kim Brown has worked in the animal welfare field for ten years. She is the Director of Operations for the APA Adoption Center in St. Louis, MO. Kim started volunteering fostering animals and has been fostering for fifteen years. Kim has a MA in Non-profit Administration and a BA in Human Resource Management. Prior to working in animal welfare she worked in the nonprofit sector. She also spent eight years in the US Army Reserves as a Combat Medic. Kim has two daughters, who are also animal and nature lovers, as well as two dogs (B and Pepper) and two cats (Larry and Barry). 

Joyce Higginbotham

Joyce York Higginbotham is a Missouri native who has been passionate about animal welfare since the age of 8, when she rescued a stray kitten and found it a home. Over the past fifteen years she has volunteered for several St. Louis area dog rescues and is especially devoted to fostering pregnant moms and neonatal puppies. She helped create Is Today My Day dog rescue in 2017, served as their first President, and is still active with them as a foster and assistant to the Treasurer. After attending the Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference in 2019, she knew she wanted the vision of a statewide Coalition for shelters and rescues to become a reality, and joined the Coalition team. She earned a B.S. degree in political science from the University of Central Missouri in 1983 and a J.D. from Washington University in 1986, and has been in private practice as an estate planning attorney in St. Louis for more than 30 years.

Dr. Abbie Knudsen Atteberry, MS, CAWA, Elite FFCP

Abbie is the President and Cofounder of the Missouri Coalition of Animal Care Organizations and Midwest Animal Sheltering Conference. She has a passion for motivating others through a servant-based leadership approach and cultivating growth and positive interpersonal relationships. In addition to organizational leadership, she is pursuing board certification in shelter medicine and behavior, with a special interest in how to increase equity in the animal welfare field.

Abbie is a veterinarian on the National Shelter Medicine team at Best Friends Animal Society, where she supports organizes in reaching their goals. Prior to joining Best Friends, Abbie served as the Executive Director for the animal shelter of St. Louis, Missouri where she led the organization to achieve record-setting accomplishments, such as a 168% increase in dog adoptions, reducing the number of days onsite for dogs by 70%, moving over 200 large dogs to foster in 8 weeks, and more! Before working in animal sheltering, Abbie previously served as the Executive Director of National Tiger Sanctuary. In this role, she focused on elevating the standard of care for the animals and implementing new educational initiatives and a wildlife rehabilitation program. She also served on the founding committees for the Big Cat Sanctuary Alliance, which was the first collaborative effort between animal sanctuaries to end the exploitation of big cats in the US.

Outside of animal welfare, Abbie enjoys seeing live music, trying new things, and spending time with those she loves.

Alicia Mason

I'm the Operations Coordinator at Shepherd of the Hills Humane Society in Branson, MO. I have been in the animal care industry since graduating from Memphis State University in 1986.  Having worked in several areas of animal welfare, I can understand the many different points of view. My career started as a kennel tech at Orange County Animal Control in Chapel Hill, NC. There, I helped run some of the first Feline Leukemia Tests in a shelter environment before vaccinating for the virus. I then went on to become the hospital manager at Murphy Road Animal Clinic in Nashville, TN. This all lead to my current position with the S.H.H.S. where I have been employed since its establishment 12 years ago. As a community we have come so far in protecting and providing for the animals in our care. I am so proud to be a part of this organization and can't wait to see the positive impact we have on the animals of Missouri.

Cole Wakefield

Cole Wakefield is an animal welfare leader, strategist, and educator with nearly a decade of experience building practical, humane systems in rural and under-resourced communities. He currently serves as Executive Director of Good Shepherd Humane Society in rural Arkansas and is a founder and co-facilitator of Rural Humane, a national initiative focused on rural-tested approaches to animal welfare. Cole is a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator (CAWA) and holds a Master’s degree in Management and Leadership. He is a Maddie’s® Leadership Fellow and a graduate of the Southern Utah University / BFAS Executive Leadership Certificate program.

Katie Willis

I am married to a wonderful man, named Robert. We have several furry animals with four legs, but no two legged children. I am the Director of the St. Charles County Pet Adoption Center. I have held this position since 2016. Previously, I was the Veterinary Technician for the shelter since the year 2000. I received my BS in Biology in 2000. I became a Registered Veterinary Technician in the state of Missouri in 2011. I love my job and I love helping animals in my community. We are proud of our food pantry, low cost spay and neuter and helping with Trap-Neuter-Return programs to lessen the amount of animals coming in and managed intake. I also help lead a large foster program as well. I could not do this without my awesome workers and volunteers. I am working on my Master’s in Veterinary Public Health through the University of Missouri-Columbia. I am married to an awesome guy that loves animals as much as I do. We enjoy camping, going four wheeling in our Jeep and taking care of our zoo. We have 5 dogs, 3 cats, 3 rabbits, 12 chickens, several barn cats, 2 ferrets and out Koi fish. In my spare time, I know funny, I love quilting, reading, and hanging out with friends. I also a member of the Methodist Church and am heavily involved in the United Methodist Women. UMW is a group that helps women, children and youth and is socially active in helping these groups.