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Humane society welcomes 2 to board – Thegardenisland.com

May 27th, 2020 12:16 pm

PUHI The Kauai Humane Society has added two new members to its board of directors, making 11 members now serving on the board.

Recently joining the KHS board are Dr. Ranaella Steinberg and Mindy Smith, Kauai residents who are also board members of other animal-advocacy groups and bring varying expertise to the table.

Smith moved to Kauai more than 20 years ago, formerly owned a travel agency in Lake Tahoe, and founded an interior-design business in San Francisco. On Kauai, shes spent 20 years managing a restaurant in Hanalei, and has an active Hawaii real Estate license. In addition to her new position on the KHS board, she is involved in the Zonta Club of Hanalei Foundation, the Puamana Condos Homeowners Association in Princeville, the Kauai Society for the Protection of Animals and Habitat for Humanity North Shore Committee, and is a member of the Best Friends Society.

Steinberg is a graduate of the college of veterinary medicine at the University of Florida, where she was the recipient of the Presidential Service Award as both an undergraduate and graduate student. She is associated with the North Shore Veterinary Service, but it was an internship in marine-mammal medicine that initially brought Steinberg to Hawaii. Her experience is diverse, with a current focus on companion-animal medicine that blends both conventional and holistic approaches. Shes involved in several professional organizations, including the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and the Human Society Medical Association.

We are thrilled to have such talented individuals join our board, said Mirah Horowitz, executive director of KHS. Both of these women are extremely dedicated to animal welfare and to the island of Kauai.

Dan Giovanni, president of the KHS board, said he is pleased to welcome Steinberg and Smith to the team.

(We) look forward to working with them as we broaden and align the roles of KHS and KSPCA for the betterment of animal welfare on Kauai, said Giovanni, a Kauai resident who originally hails from the San Francisco Bay area, is the former vice president of Hawaiian Electric Company and is now an independent consultant to the electric-power industry.

Other current KHS board members include both Kauai and Mainland residents.

Living in Kalaheo with her husband and their 11-year-old dog Mango, Alicia Iverson joined the KHS board in June 2017, and has served as treasurer since 2018. She has more than 28 years of financial and accounting experience, including serving as the chief financial officer for Koloa Rum Company, a local manufacturer of small-batch, premium, craft Hawaiian rum.

Boardmember and Kauai resident Kurt Last moved to Hawaii in 2013. Last also serves as a consultant for universities and industrial clients, including Duke University, Moffitt Cancer Center and the University of Louisville Brown Cancer Center in their efforts to advance novel therapeutics. He is a former member of the National Institutes of Health Red Team, and is a current member of the Bryant University board of trustees, serving on the investment and finance committees.

Pat McGrath moved to Kauai with her family from Canada in 2003, has been a board member since 2017, and has fostered almost 300 kittens for KHS since 2012. McGrath is the professor of English and chair of the Languages, Arts &Humanities Division at Kauai Community College, where she also serves as one of the campus commissioners on the University of Hawaii Commission on LGBTQ+ Equality, and advises the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) on-campus student club. McGrath was the president of the Kauai Performing Arts Center advisory board from 2015 to 2018.

Dallas resident Dana Rhoden is founder and chief creative officer for Veterinary Education Network, a consulting firm for veterinarians. Rhoden is fear-free certified in veterinary sciences, is trained in animal behavior, and has been in animal rescue and in human and veterinary health care for over 25 years. She was the founder of Southwest Veterinary Symposium, held annually in Texas for veterinarians. She currently lives in Texas with her husband Lee, five dogs, one bird and two ducks. Rhoden joined the KHS board in 2019 and recently chaired the annual Paws for a Cause Gala.

Kauai resident Ann Hayashi joined the KHS board in 2018, and is the executive director for Blue Zones Project in Hawaii, a community well-being-improvement initiative that helps make healthy choices easier for Hawaii residents. She spends her days supporting strategic planning and implementation of the statewide initiative, and her background includes research in global public health and behavioral medicine. Hayashi said she joined the board with the desire to better support her community and the people and animals that live in it. She has two cats and a dog, all of which are the bosses of her house, and now her office, since she has been working at home.

The two remaining boardmembers are Howard Appel and David Cohen, retired entrepreneurs who founded the luxury real estate and travel company Destinations In Paradise. The company has partnered with KHS to help fund transfers of animals to the mainland over the past couple years and, in addition to providing support for KHS, Appel and Cohen are also active supporters of a rare turtle protection and breeding/release program in Mexico. Appel has more than 30 years of experience as president, chief financial officer and certified public accountant. He served as president of Millennium Health until his retirement in 2015, and has sat on multiple directing boards of both public and private firms.

Cohen was the chief operating officer of Millennium Health until his retirement in 2014, and enjoys helping start-up companies and organizations. A non-practicing certified public accountant, Cohen was raised in South Africa and has a bachelors degree in economics and accounting form the University of Cape Town, and he supports education for extreme poverty-stricken young girls in Uganda.

Stephanie Shinno, features and community reporter, can be reached at 245-0424 or sshinno@thegardenisland.com.

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Humane society welcomes 2 to board - Thegardenisland.com

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