Leadership

Cheri Storms

Executive Director

Cheri Storms is the Executive Director of Pet Friendly Services of Indiana. She joined the organization in 2005 and has worked in different capacities to increase spay/neuter surgeries. Under her leadership, Pet Friendly Services has grown from a central-Indiana based program to a statewide program, funding thousands of surgeries each year. Cheri also serves on the board of directors of the United Spay Alliance, where she chairs the Vet Shortage Task Force, comprised of industry experts seeking to increase veterinary capacity. Cheri holds an undergraduate degree from IU Bloomington, and a master’s degree in Public & Environmental Affairs from IU Indianapolis. In addition to animal welfare work, Cheri has championed environmental causes in her role as a senior environmental manager at the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Staff

Scarlett Cmiel

Operations Manager

Scarlett Cmiel has volunteered in animal welfare for years, serving as a past president of ARPO (Alliance for Responsible Pet Ownership). Scarlett currently fosters dogs and runs Just Like Home pet sitting in Cloverdale.

Rhiannon (Rhi) Johns

Marketing & Development Manager

Rhiannon Johns joined Pet Friendly Services in 2020 after working in non-profit marketing for six years at Beyond Monumental, helping to grow the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon by over 30% during her time at the organization. Rhi currently lives with her rescue dogs Mobi and Archie. She holds a masters degree in Mathematics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Board Members

Stevi Stoesz Kersh

President

Stevi Stoesz Kersh is a public relations and marketing professional based in Indianapolis. She is a twenty-nine year veteran of public market, creative placemaking, event and program management. She is a member of the Humane Society of the United States Volunteer Leader program, and is active in animal welfare advocacy issues. Stevi serves on the advisory board for the global non-profit organization The Elephant Project and volunteers for several canine transport groups that pull death-row dogs from high-kill shelters in the South to the safety of screened and approved foster-based rescues throughout the Midwest, northern states and Canada. Stevi is an avid motorcyclist and founded an all-female motorcycle club in Indianapolis called the Circle City Soft Tails in 2013. She lives in Indianapolis with her husband, Jason, and their four special needs canines, Lizzie Lou, Gizmo, Sasha and Elvis.

Bethany “Buffy” Phyne

Vice President

Buffy volunteered as Pet Reporter for Pet Pals TV for five years. She is a lifelong animal lover (her childhood idol was “Benji”!) Buffy has been a strong advocate for animal rescue work and a foster mom to several rescue dogs the past 15 years. A native of Brazil, Indiana, Buffy graduated from Indiana State University with a Masters Degree in Radio/Television/Film. She is a Senior Cardiovascular Sales Specialist for Novartis. Buffy is a proud dog mom to 4 beautiful dogs: Chloe, Cooper, Teddy, and Tripp – each from rehome situations or rescued.

Rachel O'Caeleigh

Vice President

Rachel is an Account Associate Sales Manager with Bloomerang and enjoys helping her Account Associate team show small nonprofits how to utilize new software to increase their effectiveness and knowledge of fundraising best practices. Before joining Bloomerang, Rachel worked in the world of study abroad nonprofits with IFSA (the Institute for Study Abroad), the Alliance for Global Education, and Semester at Sea. During that time she developed and managed study abroad programs in Asia, the UK, and Europe.In her free time, Rachel enjoys spending time with her partner & stepson, cuddling her rescue animals, and experimenting with new recipes.

Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Global Development Studies from the University of Virginia, and a Master’s degree in International and Comparative Education from SIT Graduate Institute.

Suzanne Marshall

Treasurer

Suzanne Marshall is a Vice President of Investments at Stifel Financial Services. Suzanne lives in Fishers, IN with her husband, Ed, their dog, Nellie and cat, Billie Jean. Aside from her role as a financial advisor, Suzanne is active in a variety of community service organizations in Indiana. Suzanne is a member of The Rotary Club of Indianapolis, currently serving as co-chair of the Community Service Committee, and a member of the Environmental & Beautification committee. Suzanne is also a member of the Financial Planning Association, the American Pianist Association and the Holy Spirit at Geist Choir, as well as a former President of the Indianapolis Stock and Bond Club. As passionate animal lovers, Suzanne and her husband raised four children along with a menagerie of pets, and currently support a feral cat colony at Ed’s place of business. Suzanne is a supporter of Pet Friendly Services and joined the Board of Directors in 2021.

Anne Dubin

Secretary

Anne Dubin is a lifelong animal lover. Anne has degrees in Criminal Justice and Psychology from Indiana University, working first as a probation officer before helping open the FACE Low-Cost Animal Clinic. She has been an active volunteer and board member of FACE for over 25 years, serving as President and Secretary for 15 years. She is a board member of The Howard and Ursula Dubin Foundation, supporting many animal welfare organizations. All her pets are rescues, and she currently belongs to three cats: Gnocchi, Cosmo and Lucia, and two dogs: Gryffin and Greta. She joined the Pet Friendly Services Board in November of 2020 to help Indiana achieve zero-kill status.

Rebecca Ashack

Rebecca Ashack is a Learning Advisor – Operations for American Water. She has been with American Water since 2008 after having graduated from Purdue University for Engineering and Technology Education. She got her MBA at Indiana Tech while working at American Water. She is the active WiNUP (Women International Network of Utility Professionals) Indiana Chapter Chair. She is also active in other professional organizations. Rebecca lives in Broad Ripple with her amazing husband and their six rescue animals (Loki, Sootie, Rufio, Malakai, Freya & Ruby). Rebecca has been a long-time volunteer of Pet Friendly and was honored to be asked to join the Board in 2023.

Tracy Barnes

Tracy Barnes is a long time volunteer in the Central Indiana area animal welfare community working with rescue groups and shelters. She has been an Pet Friendly Services supporter for 10 years and believes strongly in Pet Friendly Services' mission. She was very excited to hear of an opportunity to serve on the Board and joined in May 2014. She currently serves as Board Secretary. Tracy has a BS in Biology from Purdue University and a Certificate of Public Management from Indiana University. Tracy currently works as a Senior Environmental Manager with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management. She chaired the Foundry Sand Task Force and authored one of the first policies in the country for use of foundry sand. She also has expertise in use of other high volume industrial waste streams and has been asked to speak to local, state and national groups on the subject. She has over 20 years of environmental policy analysis and development experience and is using that experience to assist with policy development for Pet Friendly Services.

Marie Koenig

Marie Koenig retired from Eli Lilly in January, 2010 as a Senior Toxicologist. She has many years of experience with several animal welfare groups and civic organizations as a board member, officer and volunteer (i.e., Friends of Indpls. Animal Care Services Foundation, Indpls. Animal Welfare Groups, F.I.D.O., Indy Feral, Rotary Club of Indpls., Master Gardener Assn., Habitat for Humanity, Keep Indpls. Beautiful, Concord Neighborhood Center, IN School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.) Marie’s hobbies include running, reading, gardening, and traveling. She has been married to Gary for over 40 years and they have rescued several cats and many collies. Her collie Sir Willis is a therapy dog.

Brittany Rose

Brittany has a degree in Accounting, Finance, and Business Administration from Northern Kentucky University. She works remotely as an Auditor for higher education. She grew up in Bright, Indiana. She lives with her spouse, dogs Ellie and Willow, cat Steve, and 4 goats Hank, Chester, Otis, and Milo. In her free time she loves gardening, taking art classes, and volunteering. From living in the country, she has seen how not being able to provide good veterinary care to animals has increased the stray cat and dog population. She wants to help our organization grow and help animals in need in Indiana.

Meet Our “Core” Volunteers

These ladies help move projects forward each week to help us keep up with the workload. We adore them and couldn’t move Indiana forward without their help!

Grace Berrey
Kate Million
Dotti Storms
Suzanne West