People
We have a small, amazing team here at Herd & Flock who work passionately (and sometimes a bit sleepily too) making sure our organization fulfills its mission, our animal friends enjoy a high quality of life, and the community has the support needed to help neglected, abused and unwanted animals.
Board of Directors
Lisa Franzetta, Board Member
Lisa is a lifelong animal lover whose dedication to animal rights and advocacy began when she refused to dissect a frog in her high school biology class. She has been vegan for the animals since 1999 and has worked leading outreach and fundraising campaigns for local, national, and international animal protection organizations for more than 20 years. A doctor of acupuncture and integrative medicine, she is the founder of Griffin Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine in Oakland, California and enjoys providing holistic support to both human and animal patients. She lives in Oakland with her partner and their spoiled rescue cats.
Salena Copeland, Board Member
Salena joined the board of Herd and Flock in 2023. She brings both her decades-long commitment to veganism and animal rights and her governance experience as an executive director for a California legal nonprofit. Salena grew up in semi-rural Texas and has family who ran chicken farms, so she understood at a young age how animals are raised for meat and knows how factory farming at such a large scale means countless animals suffer.
Salena is definitely a cat person and has rescued and kept seven cats over the last 20 years (including the same five for nearly 20 years), but her family now has a dog, Elsie, rescued from the Milo Foundation. She's a member of a vegan weightlifting group and spends a lot of time talking about fitness and veganism with the group. Her children have been raised vegan and are a great reminder that it's a daily choice to be vegan and act with kindness to all animals - not just the ones in our house.
Mari Williams, Board Member
Mari Williams is the Content Manager for the CHANI app and has over 15 years of experience in management. A Northern California native, Mari earned a B.A. from UC Davis in 2003 and certification in Whole Foods Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell University in 2013. Mari has always had a special place in her heart for farm animals. Her first pets were a chicken named Bernice and a lop rabbit named Roberta. This love naturally grew into adopting a vegan lifestyle. Mari has been vegan for over 20 years and is raising her own vegan family. In her current position with the CHANI app, she has written educational articles on astrology for chaninicholas.com and she uses her positive attitude, endless passion, and expertise in CRMs, databases, and content management systems to manage the flow of content from creation to delivery in the app, website, and newsletter, and to encourage and train staff. When she’s not working, you can find Mari gardening with her wife, kids, and rescue pups, or creating new vegan family recipes.
Meghan Dibble, Founder and Sanctuary Director
Meghan founded Herd & Flock with her wife, Katie, in 2019 to help bring awareness to the neglect and abuse of factory farming. While she did not have much lifelong experience caring for farm animals, she has received wonderful support from Farm Sanctuary, Open Sanctuary Project and too many sanctuaries and rescues to count along the west coast of the US.
For her job-job, Meghan currently teaches singing and piano online and is on the music faculty at San Francisco Conservatory of Music as well as at Skyline College in San Bruno. You can find her singing around town from time to time.
Katie Dwight, Founder and Financial Director
Katie’s dream of living in the country started in 2014 when she told Meghan she wanted to “get 10 acres and put a cow on it.” After 5 years of light searching, she found the perfect spot in Vacaville, CA; a 60-acre ranch that was already a farm animal sanctuary. With 80 permanent residents and hundreds of fosters, Herd & Flock is actively working with rescue groups, other sanctuaries, and the community to help as many animals as possible.
For her job-job, Katie has 15 years experience practicing immigration law and vacating convictions for immigrants with criminal convictions. She spent many years as a member of the public attorney panel for the Sixth District Court of Appeal, handling appeals for criminal defendants who cannot afford to hire attorneys for themselves.
Brian Skipworth, Advisory Board Member
Brian began helping Herd and Flock with their website in 2022. He had been managing software development teams for many years and seeking opportunities to volunteer his skills for important causes.
Brian grew up in a house full of animals; dogs, cats, rodents, lizards, snakes, and fish. He also loved exploring the century-old former dairy farm where his aunt and uncle raised honey bees. Brian lives with a pair of cats adopted from Stray Cat Alliance, who take turns curling up in his lap while he works.
Staff
Gideon Alston, Animal Care Manager
Why do you want to work for an animal rescue/sanctuary?
I want to work for an animal Sanctuary because I believe that all animals are important, sentient beings that deserve to be treated with respect. I also believe that all animals deserve an opportunity to live, love, and have their needs met. Plus, it fills my heart and soul with joy.
Moneek Arzaga, Animal Caregiver
Why do you want to work for an animal rescue/sanctuary?
Working for H&F Animal Sanctuary has given me a peaceful outlet away from the world that helps both my mental health and the well-being of the animals we care for. Giving these animals another chance at life brings me joy as it is my job to help make them happy, which in turn makes me happy as well.
Who is your favorite resident/group at H&F?
My favorite residents are the orchard barn flock! There are so many personalities, cliques and goofy moments found in that place that sitting in there for a mere 5 minutes will surely make you smile!
What is your favorite plant-based snack/meal/treat?
I love sliced apples topped with peanut butter and pecans, or just plain ol’ watermelon. They are both filling and refreshing snacks for any occasion!
Jenn Paz, Animal Caregiver
Why do you want to work for an animal rescue/sanctuary?
Animals have always been a big part of my life. I've always rescued and cared for them and hope to be able to be taking care of sanctuary animals for the rest of my life.
Who do you look forward to seeing at the sanctuary?
There's so many awesome animals at Herd and Flock! I have so many i love but i think i enjoy working with all the characters in the Orchard Barn. Neno Simone is probavly my favorite, but again i could name a bunch of favorites.
What is your favorite plant-based snack/meal/treat?
Dried mango is my current snack obsession.
That's all the people - now meet the animals!