Membership & Operations

Janiec Gutierrez is responsible for the development and maintenance of solutions geared towards the efficient operation of ALDF’s organization. In addition to managing administrative support for ALDF’s programs, she recommends and implements IT solutions, maintains membership databases, and manages corresponding vendor relationships. Janiec heads up a team that includes a general office manager, administrative staff, IT contractor, and volunteers, and she is responsible for onsite and offsite donation processing, reporting, related databases, and vendors. For more than a decade, Janiec worked in data processing, which gave her a unique understanding of databases and related processing. Janiec has also volunteered for The Cove project to raise awareness about dolphins captured and slaughtered in Taiji, Japan. While living in Southern California, Janiec routinely visited the dogs and cats on “death row” at her local shelter, because she wanted them to have friendly loving interaction during their last days of life. Each co-worker Janiec invited to join her ended up adopting a cat or dog. Janiec is proud to have the trust and unconditional love of her rescue companion, Riley. He was severely abused and scheduled to be euthanized on the day he was rescued. Janiec considers his opening up to her as the greatest award she could ever ask for.

Angelina Martin manages all bookkeeping for ALDF and oversees human resources reporting. Her training includes a BS in Business Administration and a BA in Computer Networking as well as over 16 years of bookkeeping experience. She worked for ALDF for several years as an independent contractor for “Small Business Solutions,” a company she started herself, before accepting her current position.

Aside from her bookkeeping skills, for many years Angelina has been a Sonoma Humane Society (SHS) volunteer as a class room dog training assistant, volunteer coordinator, and foster for behaviorally challenged dogs. In fact, Angelina was featured in the volunteer spotlight for the SHS. She also volunteers for another local rescue group as a dog walker, but is most proud of her work accomplished with the foster dogs over the past several years- that they learned how to trust people again and found forever homes. Currently she lives with a wonderful pit bull/Dalmatian mix, Maggie, and a big black dog, Athena. She truly works wonders with dogs who have had difficult lives and need plenty of self-esteem and trust building.

Paula Mullen is the assistant to the Executive Director and maintains scheduling, oversees the Executive Director’s calendar, assists with various projects and correspondence, and is the liaison between ALDF staff and the Board of Directors. Paula has been involved in the animal rights and animal welfare movements for over 20 years and was formerly with the Marin Humane Society and the Santa Cruz SPCA. Her eloquent article “Why I Am Vegan” placed second in a Marin Vegetarian contest (judged by Howard Lyman) and was republished in the Encyclopedia Britannica of Advocacy for Animals.

She is especially passionate about alleviating the suffering of farmed animals, preserving our oceans’ wildlife, ending dog fighting, eliminating companion animal overpopulation, and protecting animals abused in research. She enjoys taking her gorgeous rescue dog Connor to the beach, hiking, reading, gardening, collage making, writing, eating at bay area vegan restaurants, and she is fascinated by crows, ravens, and all other corvids.

Kay Wood manages the office at ALDF and assists the Animal Law Program with student and attorney requests. She also oversees membership donations and queries, and also works closely with the director of operations in an office management capacity. Kay works tirelessly to support all staff members, on projects great and small, and also keeps the office lively and warm with new foster companion animals.

An English native, Kay received her nursing degree from the United Kingdom. She trained to set up community animal/humane outreach in schools and senior living/hospital facilities and as a volunteer coordinator. She has a background in advertising and communications and was vice-president of marketing and media for circle.com, a very successful San Francisco/New York interactive ad agency. After twelve years of advertising she gave it all up to manage Pets Unlimited, an animal shelter in San Francisco.

Five years later, she, husband Dave and ten four-legged companions decided it was time to go back to Ireland. After eighteen months, they knew they had to come back to California, and here they all are, back in Cotati and a five minute walk from the office. Kay joined ALDF permanently several years go after eight years of volunteering. She is actively involved in the foster-hospice program for Muttville senior dog rescue, and to all companion animals and human colleagues, Kay is a wonderful foster mom with a heart of gold.