The Team

The StubbyDog team is made up of people from many walks of life who love dogs and share a concern for what’s happening to pit bulls. We were brought together out of seeing, from our different perspectives, that existing approaches were missing the key element to making life better for these dogs: changing public perceptions.

Management

Landon Pollack: Executive Director – Managing partner of Ignite Venture Partners. Landon is an entrepreneur of 25 years. Landon has been a founder of, or founding investor in, more than two dozen companies. Before turning 20, he had started four businesses, earning his first million dollars at 13 selling sports memorabilia by mail order. StubbyDog brings together his business skills with his passion for pit bulls.

Laura Petrolino: VP of Operations – Laura has led multiple re-branding campaigns and developed communication strategies responsible for restoring trust among disenchanted consumers. Laura is a leader in social media innovation, has consulted for many leading consumer brands, political campaigns and non-profits.

Michael Mountain: Editor-in-Chief – One of the founders and past President of Best Friends Animal Society – the largest sanctuary for companion animals and flagship of the successful campaign to bring an end to the killing of millions of homeless pets in shelters every year. After the arrest of Michael Vick, Best Friends led the drive to save the dogs from being killed, and all but one of them were indeed saved, with Best Friends taking most of those. Several were featured on the Best Friends show Dogtown on the National Geographic Channel and have appeared around the country. Today, nonetheless, due to public fears and misperceptions, pit bulls remain the single most intractable challenge for shelters around the country. More than a million are still being killed every year – hence Michael’s new focus through StubbyDog.

Jennifer Bristol: VP of Communications – Account supervisor at Judy Twersky PR. Jennifer has 15 years experience as a publicist. For the past eight years Jennifer has combined her passion for animals with her talent for
public relations and communications.

Tim Donovan: VP of Business Development (Consulting) – As a creative visionary and nationally recognized youth media expert, Tim provides strategic guidance to kids media executives. He specifically focuses on: market analysis, product development, strategic partnerships, subscriber acquisition and revenue strategies.

Tracey Kleber: VP of Fundraising (Consulting) – Former director of Major Gifts and Regional Giving at UCLA Anderson School of Management. Tracey has 25 years of experience in the marketing, advertising and fundraising fields. Her non-profit experience includes higher education (Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania) and international environmental conservation (The Nature Conservancy, Latin America).

Editorial Team

Micaela Myers: Managing Editor – Editor-in-chief of Laguna Beach Magazine and Bespoke Magazine, and former managing editor at BowTie.

Jasmine Grimm: Senior Editor – Editor-in-chief, Connections magazine, and editor of LiNKED magazine at Nxtbook Media.

Nina Bargiel: Creative Editor – Ten years of television writing experience, writing for Disney Channel’s tween hit “Lizzie McGuire” as well as Cartoon Network’s “Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy.”

Jessica Dolce: Community Manager – Ten years of humane education and communication experience, working specifically with non-profits and small businesses.

Ingrid Fromm: Web Manager – Former Web Manager for North Shore Animal League America and worked for Cablevision for 12 years as a TV producer and Web producer for News12.com.

Liaisons

Laura Allen: Pit Bull Issues Liaison – Founder and director of the Animal Law Coalition, which works to stop animal cruelty and suffering through legislation, administrative agency action and litigation. She also worked as an attorney for Best Friends Animal Society.

Karen Overall: Veterinarian Issues Liaison – World-renowned veterinary behaviorist. Former head of the Behavior Clinic at the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and faculty member of the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Jane Hoffman: Animal Issues Liaison – President and chair of the board of the Mayor’s Alliance for NYC Animals and a founding member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York’s Committee on Legal Issues.

Bonney Brown: Animal Issues Liaison – Executive director of the Nevada Humane Society, and the original director of the No More Homeless Pets Campaign at Best Friends Animal Society.

Lori Marino: Science & Academic Liaison – Senior lecturer, Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology Program, Emory University and affiliate faculty with the Emory Center for Ethics, and founder of The Aurelia Center for Animals and Cultural Change.

Advisors

We are deeply grateful for the ongoing assistance from scores of people critical to the success of StubbyDog. They are way too many to list here completely, but some include:

Art Aron: Professor of psychology at Stony Brook University, specializing in social influence, prejudice and stereotyping.

Gary Bonilla: Former SVP of creative strategy, Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group.

Harold Burson: Founder and chairman of Burson-Marsteller, the largest public relations agency in the world. Named by PRWeek as “the century’s most influential PR figure.”

Jean Donaldson: Author, “The Culture Clash” and “Dogs are from Neptune”; director of The Academy for Dog Trainers.

Ian Dunbar: Veterinarian with a Ph.D. in animal behavior. Researcher with U.C. Berkeley on olfactory communication, social behavior and aggression in domestic dogs.

Jocelyn Elders: Former surgeon general of the United States. Professor of pediatrics at the University of Arkansas.

Alan Goodman: MTV Networks consultant for 30 years. Launched MTV, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Comedy Central; and advised Neopets, Shockwave and Nicktoons Network.

Anthony Greenwald: Professor of psychology at University of Washington. Inventor of the Implicit Association Test (IAT; published in 1998, now having over 1,000 scholarly citations).

Craig Kanarick: Co-founder of Razorfish.

Frank Luntz: Political consultant, pollster, and president of The Word Doctors. Considered the go-to person for politicians and companies looking to reframe issues and influence public opinion through the use of language.

Bill Lynn: Visiting assistant professor in environmental studies at Williams College, and ethicist in human animal relations.

Allan Mayer: Principal partner at 42West, LLC. Former publisher of Buzz Magazine; senior editor, Newsweek.

Dawn McCall: Former president, Discovery Networks International.

Brigitte McCray: Former programming executive, BET. Former SVP of programming and scheduling, Oxygen Media.

Russ Mead: Attorney and interim executive director and general counsel for Farm Sanctuary; developed programs to fight breed discrimination laws for Best Friends Animal Society.

Ty Montague: Former chief creative officer and co-president of JWT New York. Former co-creative director of Wieden + Kennedy New York.

Mary Beth Oliver: Specialist in media and psychology, focusing on both the psychological effects of media and on viewers’ attraction to media content.

Linda Ong: President of Truth Consulting, which specializes in brand strategy, with clients ranging from Animal Planet to Bravo to NPR. Former SVP of marketing for Oxygen.

Betsy Saul: Founder of Petfinder, the largest online adoption, foster and assistance service for shelters and pet guardians.

James Serpell: Professor of humane ethics and animal welfare; director, Center for the Interaction of Animals & Society, Department of Clinical Studies, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Chris Shipley: Former executive producer of the DEMO Conferences for IDG Executive Forums, helped technology companies bring more than a 1,000 new products to market since 1996. Placed on Fortune Small Business Magazine’s ”Top 10 Minds in Small Business.”

Bruce Stein: Former CEO of Mandalay Media. Former COO of Mattel. Former CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.

Tia Maria Torres: Founder, Villa Lobos Rescue Center, featured on Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls & Parolees.”

Dave Tutin: Former executive creative director of darkGrey (Grey Worldwide) and global creative director/technology. Former executive creative director McCann San Francisco.

Chase and Jennifer Utley: Chase plays for the Philadelphia Phillies and is one of the most popular players in baseball today. Jennifer is a board member of the Pennsylvania SPCA board. Together, they started The Utley Foundation to bring awareness to the increasing epidemic of animal cruelty. Mostly, they speak up for pit bulls, or, more correctly, pit bulls and pit bull mixes. Jen Utley calls them “my pits.”

Bob Vetere: President of American Pet Products Association, the largest pet products related association in the U.S.

Larry Winokur: The “W” in BWR Public Relations with 25 years matchmaking stars and causes. His Beverly Hills-based firm represents numerous A-listers (e.g., Brad Pitt, Adam Sandler, Reese Witherspoon) and has helped garner attention for issues from breast cancer to global warming.

Steven Wise: Attorney and professor, Harvard University, specializes in animal protection issues, primatology and animal intelligence. He teaches animal rights law at Harvard Law School, Vermont Law School, John Marshall Law School, Lewis & Clark Law School and Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Bob Wolf: Founder and chief creative officer of Wolf Design Partners, a design consultancy providing innovative and enduring strategic solutions to complex business and marketing challenges for many of the world’s leading companies. Clients have included Gillette, Bank of America, Qwest, Lockheed Martin, Exxon, Komatsu, Unisys and the Ford Motor Company.

Lester Wunderman: Advertising executive widely considered the creator of modern day direct marketing. His innovations include the magazine subscription card, the toll-free 1-800 number and loyalty rewards programs. Named one of 20 “Advertising Legends and Leaders” by AdWeek in 1998. Currently serves as chairman emeritus of Wunderman.

Tags: