Speaker Hall of Fame

Nathan Marafioti

Dirk Beeckman

Dr Lenore Bacek, DVM

Audrey Wystrach DVM

Brendan Lynch

Jonathan Wainberg

Lashonda Geffrard

Lashonda Geffrard's name is synonymous with passion, dedication, and innovation. As the driving force behind Black Pet Business Network, The Paw Shop, and Paws of Hope Florida. Lashonda is a force to be reckoned with, a true trailblazer in the world of entrepreneurship, and animal welfare. Her boundless love for animals and her drive to create a more inclusive and thriving pet industry has catapulted her into the realm of expert pet industry speaking and influence.

With an unwavering commitment to positively impacting the pet industry as a whole, Beyond her speaking engagements, Lashonda's impact on the pet industry extends to her role as a popular columnist for various industry publications. Her thought-provoking articles delve into the depths of the industry and shed light on emerging trends.

Miles Thorson

Valerie Bertle

Gina Fortunato

Gina Fortunato is a seasoned sales executive and leader with over 12 years of experience in the animal health industry. She is currently spearheading Veterinary Services and New Business Development at Independence Pet Group, focusing on increasing insured pets across North America. Gina is passionate about coaching and developing others to achieve their full potential, as well as fostering networking and cross-collaboration within the industry.

Gina holds a Master of Business Administration from Baldwin Wallace College and has enriched her leadership acumen through programs at the Wharton School of Business.

Professional Affiliations and Contributions: Gina plays an active role in shaping the pet industry. She currently serves as the Chair of CATalyst Council and has held leadership positions such as Past President of VetPartners and immediate Past President of Happy Trails Farm Animal Sanctuary. Her ongoing commitment to these organizations reflects her dedication to improving animal welfare and healthcare access.

Personal Passion and Advocacy: With a personal menagerie including 2 horses, three indoor cats, and 2 insured barn cats, Gina has firsthand experience of the benefits of pet insurance. She is deeply committed to helping pet owners access essential care for their beloved animals.

Outside Interests: In her leisure time, Gina thrives on competition both locally and internationally in the sport of dragon boating, showcasing her dedication to teamwork and achievement beyond the professional realm.

Melissa Mitchner

Melissa Mitchner is Founder and CEO of The Bark Shoppe, a premier pet care company based in New York. The Bark Shoppe's flagship location and mobile grooming services build a strong sense of community with groomers, pet owners, and their pets. As an advocate for alternative education, Melissa created The New York Institute of Pet Grooming. Her mission is to provide high quality in-person and digital education and certification programs for those who aspire to join and thrive in the pet grooming industry.

Melissa has over a decade of leadership experience in supply chain management, making her a relatable and knowledgeable leader and educator in any setting. She loves what she does and is committed to bringing much needed diversity and inclusion to the pet care industry. She believes that technology, better working practices, and innovative business models make the world a great place, and she is excited about the future of the pet grooming industry.

Zach Rattner

Zach Rattner, the Chief Technology Officer and co-founder at Yembo, is a software engineer with over 15 years of experience. He has a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech. Yembo is the leader in AI-powered virtual surveys with over 2 million videos inspected and customers in over 20 countries.

Zach's previous projects include building a flashcard studying tool that scaled to over a million users and serving as the software lead for Qualcomm's internal innovation program, Qualcomm ImpaQt.

• Top AI voice on LinkedIn
• Top 2% of contributors on Stack Overflow
• 23 granted US patents with several more pending 

Dorota Rymaszewska

Co-founder and CEO of hiPets, a startup dedicated to bridging the supply-demand gap in veterinary care. hiPets is a SaaS scheduling system for veterinary clinics that features an inbuilt AI pet diagnostic tool, enhancing clinic capacity by 15% - same hands, same time, less stress. A serial entrepreneur and certified business trainer, she holds a PhD in Microelectronics and an MBA in Business Psychology. Dorota brings 24 years of expertise in sales and management from global firms, with a successful track record of managing culturally diverse teams across five continents.

Johnny Tran

Miles Swammi

Miles Swammi is Sr. Principal - Business Development for 301 Inc.  Miles is a 12-year veteran at General Mills, serving in finance roles in Private Equity investments, R&D, Sales, and most recently leading venture strategy for Disruptive Growth.  Miles is a fan of pets, with a particular bias for Pomeranians.

Tai Conley

Nancy Hassel

Nancy Hassel is the founder and President of American Pet Professionals, an award winning business networking, educational and multimedia organization for the pet industry since 2009.  Leading over 125 in-person educational networking events, seminars, fundraisers and online events for pet industry professionals. A Public Relations specialist for the pet industry, Nancy works with pet companies in many aspects of PR, event planning, media relations and training for pet professionals.  Nancy also co-hosts the boutique B2B trade-show, NYC Re-Tails & Sales Pet Expo, with Dana Humphrey every spring.  Also, Nancy is a speaker at various pet industry conferences, a writer for pet trade and consumer magazines, blogger, avid photographer, and was a TV producer and production coordinator for 10+ years.  Nancy created a Responsible Dog Ownership program and taught over 2,500 pet parents in a 5-year period. Recently awarded the 2018 Women of Influence by Pet Age Magazine and her American Pet Professionals was voted Best Networking organization three years in a row by LI Press newspaper.  Nancy resides on Long Island, NY and is the proud pet parent of Cody, a rescued American Pit Bull Terrier. 

Connect socially: @AmericanPetPros on Twitter and Instagram

Garth Jordan

Mike Hutton

Brooke DeLuise

Andrew Petz

Andrew is currently serving as the head of Gold Medal Ventures, the growth equity investment arm of General Mills. In 12 years at the company, Andrew has led portfolio shaping efforts across the globe with execution responsibility that spans from emerging brands up to large scale transformational transactions. Prior to General Mills, Andrew spent time in private equity and investment banking.

Julia Sosa

Julia Sosa is an Experience & Design leader whose lifelong love of animals led to her passion and focus in the pet care and veterinary industries. As a founding member and Chief Experience Officer of Pumpkin, one of the fastest-growing pet insurance companies in the United States, Julia leads user research, experience strategy, and product and brand design for their pet owner and veterinary partnerships. Julia is an active member of the rescue and shelter community, a devoted foster and adoption counselor for the NYC Animal Care Center, and works as an advisor and volunteer for multiple pet welfare organizations. She is the proud pet mom to 2 small dogs, 2 very large cats, and over 92+ foster kittens (and counting).

Boo Larsen

Andrew Ganjavian

Architecturally trained and creatively entrepreneurial by nature, Ali Ganjavian has co-founded a design-driven business that collaborates with Fortune 500 companies globally, as well as a consumer lifestyle brand that creates innovative products designed to enhance rest and well-being in everyday life. A passion for pushing boundaries and a lifelong love for animals, has led Ali to build his latest venture, Moggie, a data company dedicated to improving the lives of cats and making a positive impact in animal health.

Joe Watson

Jordan Van Walsen

Mariel Devesa

Mariel Devesa has over 15 years of transformative experience across legacy and startup companies both domestically and internationally.  She has developed and lead multiple industry first initiatives and is renowned for her knack for innovation and forging strategic partnerships.  She currently leads Strategic Partnerships for Independence Pet Holdings and calls Los Angeles home.

Rachel Sheppard

Matthew Bubear

Matthew Bubear is CEO and Chief Vision Officer of CASCO Pet, a leading manufacturer of world class animal habitats and veterinary kennelling. A disruptive innovator and entrepreneur, he has over 30 years of experience – with his passion for animal wellness at the heart of everything he does. Outside of expanding the company’s operations and seeing its products and services winning awards, Matthew enjoys competitive cycling, rewilding and advocating for environmental causes.

Katy Briggs

In her role as Managing Director, Katy is focused on guiding brand strategy and uncovering consumer insights that lead to big ideas.  Katy's career has been driven by developing a keen understanding of the human behavior that drives purchasing decisions. She has worked with world-class brands like Hallmark, Build-A-Bear Workshop, Helzberg Diamonds and Kohl’s. At her core, Katy is a problem solver and a storyteller. As a strong collaborator and thoughtful writer, Katy leads teams through the strategic process to simplify the complex and deliver succinct brand systems.

Dr Susan Bohrer

Dr. Azza Kennedy

Richard Kestenbaum

Richard is a co-founder and Partner of Triangle Capital and has been an investment banker for over 35 years. Richard has a great deal of experience advising clients in merchandising businesses, particularly in the Retail & Consumer sector. Richard is an often-quoted expert on the retail and merchandising industries. He is a Contributor to Forbes.com where he writes a regular blog about trends in retail and consumer product businesses. He also appears regularly in print and other media as well as industry panels and speaking programs.

Before co-founding Triangle, Richard was a Managing Director at a boutique investment banking firm called Financo, Inc. While at Financo, Richard was responsible for a majority of the firm’s apparel industry transactions. Prior to joining Financo, Richard was a Partner and First Vice President at Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc. At Drexel, Richard was responsible for a group of 14 professionals doing middle-market mergers and acquisitions around the world.

Richard is the co-author of three books on finance and computer programming. He is formerly an Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Business at the graduate program of the Stern School of Business at York University.

Richard received a BS in Accounting from New York University and an MBA with a concentration in Finance from Harvard University. Richard is married and lives in New York.

Click here to read Richard’s blog and follow him on Forbes.com.

Robyn D'Elia

Charles Lozow

Steven Garlock

Mildred Munjanganja

Julie Nelson