Rita Garretson, President (no change)
Before becoming SOCA’s President, Rita was active in Ft. Bend Co. animal rescue, fostering animals through local rescue groups, and then becoming an active volunteer for SOCA. During her first year as president, intakes, adoptions and revenues more than doubled, and continue to grow each year. Her commitment to forming relationships with the community and national pet organizations has helped make SOCA successful. Examples include local veterinarian practices, local businesses, Ft. Bend Co. Animal Services, area Petco and PetSmart stores, and several animal foundations such as Petfinder, Maddie’s Fund, and Houston PetSet.
Under Rita’s leadership, the number of volunteers and fosters have steadily increased each year, allowing SOCA to support continued growth in intakes and adoptions. Rita has strong business management experience in diverse fields that include accounting, retail sales, and marketing/client management.
Kelly Adams, Treasurer (no change)
Kelly is a CPA and brings a professional accounting perspective to SOCA’s activities. She plays an important role in helping SOCA apply for grants and providing transparency with our financial statements. She has audited governmental and nonprofits for most of her accounting career.
Kelly has always had a commitment to her community as a volunteer. In addition to animal rescues, other examples include PTA board, Junior Achievement, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and 4H.
Heidi Lemberger, Secretary (new)
Heidi has been an animal rescue advocate and dog foster for many years. In addition, she has a long history of mentorship and leadership as a both a volunteer and professionally. She also serves as the Adoption Event Coordinator for SOCA-FBC.
Her professional background is diverse – owning a small family business, running a state licensed school for adult learners and, after moving to Houston, working in the oil and gas industry. She has previously served as a Corporate Secretary.
Cathi Vann (new)
A chemist by profession, Cathi has been an animal rescue advocate for many years. Since joining SOCA, she has been responsible for taking care of our cat condos, managing the rotation of cats and kittens in our condos, and fostering a number of SOCA-rescued cats and kittens.
Barbara Cappello (new)
Barbara has a long history of helping her community and nonprofits, including animal charities. Her work with CAP (Citizens for Animal Protection) led her to volunteering with SOCA. She has fostered over a hundred SOCA kittens, and her focus is on feline TNR (trap-neuter-release) and helping SOCA work with local governments and communities.
Barbara’s work experience is varied, including retail management and oil and gas. As a member of the Board of Bechtel Women’s Group, she worked with a lot of different charities focusing on children, homeless, women’s shelters, cancer, heart diseases, and animals. Barbara also worked for Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, where she learned about all kinds of animals, and the impact humans have on the planet, and the effects it has on animals.