Stephanie Garcia Gonzalez, a versatile Registered Veterinary Technician at SAGE Redwood City, has diverse experience in specialty departments like Neurology, Internal Medicine, and Surgery. Beyond her veterinary role, she assists a local real estate agent with administrative and marketing tasks. Formerly a Practice Manager in a Bay Area clinic, Stephanie, aware of the financial challenges in animal care, aspires to earn an MBA to bridge business knowledge and her passion for animals. She holds a Bachelor's in Business Management from Cal State East Bay.

Dan O’Brien, one of the founding partners of Michael Patrick Partners in San Francisco, with a rich 42-year design career filled with numerous awards. Celebrated by prestigious organizations like ADDY, GDUSA, and Graphis, Dan has also shared his expertise by teaching advanced design at San José State University. He has served on the boards of Rebuilding Together Peninsula and the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford. Now retired, Dan enjoys spending his time golfing, playing tennis, and traveling with his wife Patricia and their two adorable Vizslas, Blue and Louie.

Katrina Warburton brings 20+ years of experience in Go-To-Market, and Strategy and Operations roles at Consumer and Enterprise SaaS software companies like Adobe, Intel and McAfee and most recently at VMware as the VP of Marketing, Strategy & Operations.

Katrina is an alumni of Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, where she earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree (she is also a proud Aussie). A lifelong animal lover, she loves spending time with her 3 fur kids and you'll rarely find her without her "polar bear" sidekick. She is excited to leverage her professional experience to serve as Board President for SAGE Compassion for Animals, a cause close to her heart and one she is deeply passionate about.

Dr. Lissa Richardson is a specialist in small animal surgery. She recently retired from regular clinical practice and as specialty medical director at Sage Veterinary Centers in Concord, CA. Even in retirement, she is dedicated to helping pets and their people access veterinary care and has been a founding board member of SageC4A.

She is active in the community by training police dog handlers and lecturing the public on pet wilderness first aid. She loves talking to students of all ages at schools, community colleges and at Sage.

Dr. Richardson earned her DVM at Colorado State University. She completed an internship and a 3-year surgical residency at the Animal Medical Center in New York City. She taught at UC Davis school of veterinary medicine for two years before joining Veterinary Surgical Associates (now Sage) 30 years ago. She has been a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons since 1996.

Renée Fernandez-Lipp, a sustainability professional with 25+ years of experience, focuses on energy efficiency, water conservation, and waste diversion. Currently leading public safety and emergency response programs at Pacific Gas & Electric, she brings expertise from both public and private sectors. Renée, holding an MBA from Golden Gate University and a Mechanical Engineering degree from CSU, Long Beach, is dedicated to animal welfare, volunteering with local shelters and rescues.

Stephanie Boldt, transitioned from a 17-year career as an International Lead flight attendant for United Airlines. Inspired by her Weimaraner, Beaureguard, and her own health journey in 2007, Stephanie pursued veterinary medicine. Holding an Associate of Science in Veterinary Technology from Foothill College, she brings her unique skills to guide pets and their owners through emergencies, combining her EMT training with a Bachelor's degree in Humanities from Southern Oregon University.

As principal of Carsen Consulting, Susan Carsen brings more than 30 years of experience providing nonprofit management and fundraising counsel to a broad spectrum of clients, including those in health care, culture and the arts, education and human services.

A UC Davis graduate, Susan has served on the boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals Golden Gate Chapter and the Horse Park at Woodside, and for 20 years as a volunteer caretaker for the Barron Park Donkeys. A lifelong animal lover, Susan goes to the office each day with Etta, a working Australian Shepherd who loves her job, and together they come home to Dickon, a literary tuxedo cat. Neither Etta nor Dickon are certain yet as to how they feel about the equine, Hank, who will joining the family this fall.

Dennis has over three decades of experience as a financial executive in the venture capital, private equity, investment and real estate industries. Since 2011, Dennis has been a senior executive at Foresite Capital, a healthcare venture capital firm, as Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, with a degree in economics, Dennis also has an MBA from Santa Clara University.

Besides his work with SageC4A, Dennis has been active in the nonprofit sector for over twenty-five years as Board President of two significant Bay Area agencies, one providing mental health services to adults and another providing transportation and nutrition services to seniors. Dennis brings significant leadership, governance and fundraising experience to SageC4A.

Julie, a UC Berkeley and UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine alumna, became a board-certified surgeon in 1997 and co-owner of the practice which became SAGE Veterinary Centers in 1999. With an MBA from Saint Mary’s College, she managed SAGE Veterinary Centers, serving as Managing Partner and Medical Director until 2018. As a SAGE Board Member and Chief Strategy Officer, she guided growth until she retired in 2022. Julie is the American College of Veterinary Surgeons Treasurer, and the chair of the American Veterinary Medical Associations Veterinary Economic Strategy Committee. In 2024, she was appointed to the Dean’s Leadership Council at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.  She founded Sage Compassion for Animals in 2019, leading as Executive Director for four years and now contributing to the Board of Directors.

Melissa Hollatz is currently a continuing fellow at Stanford University’s Distinguished Career Institute (DCI) program.  She served as a partner at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati for over 25 years.  She practiced corporate and securities law with a particular emphasis on mergers and acquisitions and a focus on public and private company corporate governance.  Melissa has both a BA and a JD from Stanford University.

Melissa is deeply invested in pro bono work.  She co-chaired the firm’s pro bono committee for almost a decade.  She  currently sits on the boards of The Law Foundation of Silicon Valley and Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence in addition to Sage Compassion for Animals.

She has a border collie mix named Bruno who is a bit much, two cats, and two horses, all of whom are better than she deserves.