Jennifer Bassman Rogers hails from the great Hawkeye state of Iowa. Animals have always been a part of her family. She grew up caring for family pets that included dogs, fish, gerbils, a hamster, and three siblings. After graduating with degrees in Journalism and Psychology from Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, Jennifer worked for The Dallas Morning News. To get her animal fix, Jennifer began petsitting for friends. When she rescued her Corgi-mix, Claire Bear, from the streets of Clarendon, Texas, she was hooked on rescuing animals and animal welfare. Jennifer has owned businesses in the pet care industry for 15 years, a marketing/creative firm that focuses on small business needs, and speaks/teaches workshops about marketing small businesses and keeping your sanity as a business owner. Jennifer has worked with various rescue organizations helping dogs find forever homes, as well as, volunteering to bring awareness to local animal welfare issues. Jennifer currently resides in Dallas with her husband, Mark, and her four incredibly spoiled rescue dogs – Claire, Cooper, Herbie, and Ranger.

Shelby Bobosky has been with THLN since 2011 in both the Vice President and Legislative Co-Chair roles, and her leadership has taken the organization through two successful legislative sessions. Under her watch, THLN successfully passed both the Anti-Gassing Law (SB 360 passed in 2013) and the Mandatory Canine Encounter Training Law (HB 593 passed in 2015). Ms. Bobosky attended the University of Kentucky for her undergraduate degree, earning a double major in History and Spanish in 1996. She then attended the University of Tulsa Law School and spent a year as a visiting law student at Northwestern University School of Law graduating in 1999. In 1999, Ms. Bobosky moved from Chicago, Illinois to Dallas, Texas, to begin her law practice. For the past sixteen years, Ms. Bobosky has continued practicing general civil litigation until recently when she decided to do only pro bono work putting in hundreds of hours for THLN as well as assisting animal welfare advocates and rescues when possible. Ms. Bobosky was heavily involved in the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, co-chairing the Animal Welfare Committee for four years and raising thousands of dollars for local 501(c)(3) rescues during her terms. Ms. Bobosky has been Vice President and Board Member with THLN since January 2011. Ms. Bobosky served as the Co-Legislative Chairman for THLN in the 2013 and 2015 sessions. She has traveled thousands of miles with THLN in order to promote its mission. Ms. Bobosky and her husband, three boys and three rescue dogs live in Dallas, Texas.

Daniel resides in Houston Texas and started his legislative career in 2011 on Capitol Hill and has not looked back. He became involved with the Board of THLN after learning of its existence while doing other animal related non-profit work in the Houston area. Daniel graduated from Texas Christian University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science/GS and secured a MBA in finance from Houston Baptist University. He has worked in the law field, oil/gas field and logistics field gaining a plethora of experience and connections. Daniel has one rescue animal, a colorful Maine Coon cat named Geoffrey, who is part of the family and loved dearly.

Kathy Davis has more than 24 years of experience in the field of humane welfare. She recently retired from the City of San Antonio as their Director of Animal Care Services after serving almost four years. Prior to San Antonio, she served the City of Los Angeles in the same capacity. She also held the title of Director of Code Enforcement and Animal Services for the cities of Dallas, TX and South Bend, IN. Kathy graduated from Indiana University. She has committed her life to serving the needs of pets and the people who love them.

Steve has spent his professional career in real estate development and finance. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Real Estate from Southern Methodist University and a Masters in Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin. Steve and his wife Vickie, began volunteering as a foster home for dog rescue organizations more than 15 years ago. In that time, they have helped several dogs find loving homes. Steve is also an active fundraiser and grant writer for several Dallas area rescue organizations. He helps plan events for these groups to raise funds, promote humane education and get dogs adopted. Before becoming a board member, Steve was a longtime volunteer with the Texas Humane Legislation Network and enjoys helping with humane education, legislative advocacy and fundraising. As chairman of the THLN grassroots committee, Steve is committed to connecting people across Texas to their elected officials to help advocate on behalf of animals. Steve knows there’s nothing more important than having neighbors talk to neighbors, reaching each other where they live, work, learn, worship, text and tweet. Steve and his wife share their home with their four rescue dogs and occasional foster dogs.

Natalie Lynch, who is active in the State Animal Law Section, does workplace investigations and practices small business law at the Lynch Law Firm (https://www.lynchlf.com). Ms. Lynch attended the University of Denver and South Texas College of Law for law school and is licensed in Texas and Colorado. She earned her undergraduate degree at the Universidad de Granada and Texas A&M University. Ms. Lynch formerly sat in the welfare position on the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation’s Breeder Advisory Board and has been active with THLN for over a decade. Ms. Lynch participates in guiding THLN on regulatory affairs and maintains her connections with rescue organizations across the state. She can typically be found in Austin with her personal herd of cats and dogs, a husband, a human child, and a foster critter.

Elaine Munch has cared about the cause of animal welfare since childhood, when her maternal grandmother first taught her that people were not always as good to animals as they should be and that it was important to speak up for animals of all kinds. Elaine and has never been without a pet in her life and cannot imagine living without companion animals. She has been an avid supporter of THLN since its founding in the mid-1970s and has been active in contacting legislators during every session to help pass the many bills that THLN has sponsored during its 40 year history. Elaine considers serving with THLN to be the crowning achievement of own 45-years in animal welfare. She strongly feels that by serving with THLN she can help more animals in than anything else she could choose to do. She has been active in various animal welfare organizations since the early 1970s. Most recently, she led and was a founding member of the Metroplex Animal Coalition (MAC) since 2001. She is a founding member and serves on the Board of Directors of Barn Cats Inc. She also currently serves as a member of the Advisory Boards of Dallas Companion Animal Project, Paws in the City and Operation Kindness. As a founding member of MAC she led the group to prominence as an advocacy group for spay and neuter in Dallas and North Texas. During her tenure MAC grew from about 15 founding organizations to a strong coalition of more than 50 animal rescue and animal welfare groups. At the time MAC merged into the Dallas Companion Animal Project in 2013, the group has spent approximately $1 million dollars on spay and neuter surgeries for more than 10,000 Dallas and area companion animals. Elaine served on the City of Dallas Animal Shelter Commission from 2001 until 2006. During that time she worked on the successful City Bond campaign to fund the construction of the new Dallas Animal Shelter and worked on the ad campaign to promote that initiative. The new Shelter opened in the fall of 2003. Elaine has successfully written grants and done fund-raising for many organizations, but to date the MAC Spay/Neuter program has been her greatest success story, raising money through annual campaigns, events and seasonal donations.

Elisabeth Rutledge combines a passion for animal rights with experience in public affairs and advocacy communication to help THLN further its mission. Currently working as a communications consultant for the Jeff Eller Group, Elisabeth helps clients large and small protect and enhance their brand equity and stakeholder relationships. Her clients have included some of the country’s best-known names in advocacy, energy, health insurance, retail, private equity and transportation. Before joining the Jeff Eller Group, Elisabeth was a senior vice president with Hill+Knowlton Strategies and a managing director at Public Strategies. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in American Studies. Elisabeth is also a graduate of the Leadership Texas program.

An honors graduate from both the University of Texas School of Law and the University of Texas Plan II Honors undergraduate program, Sheri Soltes left her law practice in 1988 to devote her full time to founding and building Service Dogs, Inc., on the concept of using dogs rescued from animal shelters. Under her guidance, Service Dogs, Inc. has led the industry in combining the use of all rescue dogs with positive reinforcement training methodology. Sheri has mentored assistance dog programs around the world including Australia, Japan, Spain and Chile.  She has been a featured speaker at many conferences and institutions in the United States, Spain and Chile. Sheri’s articles on the legal rights of Assistance Dog users have been published by Assistance Dogs International, the International Association of Assistance Dog Partners and Leader Dogs for the Blind.  She drafted the 1995 revisions for Texas' Assistance Dog accessibility statute.

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