Coco's Heart Dog Rescue- Board of Directors

Coco's Heart Dog Rescue's foundation lies in a simple relationship - the love of man's best friend.  To support this focus, our Board of Directors is currently a small group that takes great pride in the success, sustainability, and spirit our organization brings to the the dogs and community we serve. We do believe that having a small and agile board has been beneficial or our organization and does work well to our operations and efficiency. Each member of our Board of Directors brings a diversity of expertise and experience to the team, and takes their role in the organization very seriously and has demonstrated success, including positive growth and over 10,000 dogs rescued and placed in forever homes. 

Jami is one of the founding Board Members for Coco's Heart Dog Rescue, and the former Coco's Heart Fundraising Director. Jami founded the Coco's Heart 5K Doggie Day and led the organization for the first three events. She works in Global Marketing for Zimmer Biomet where she is the Director of Product Management for the Technology and Data Solutions group and is responsible for development and execution of strategic plans, marketing plans, new product development pipelines, and portfolio roadmaps. In addition to the board work for Coco's Heart, Jami also serves on the Board of Trustees for Hill Murray School and sits on the Marketing and Enrollment Committee. Jami holds a bachelors degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University with an emphasis in finance, strategy, and marketing.  

Kara joined Coco's Heart Dog Rescue as a Board Member in 2012. Kara works in Human Resources at the University of Minnesota as an HR Generalist. Kara's portfolio includes recruitment and compensation, employee relations, diversity initiatives, policy compliance and interpretation, and FMLA/leaves.  She has used her experience to guide CHDR in many facets of human resources including employment law, talent acquisition, employee engagement and retention, and employee relations. In addition to her work for Coco's Heart, Kara also volunteers with Twin Cities SHRM on annual conferences and podcast editing and also with SHRM as a subject matter expert for certification exams.  Kara holds a bachelor's degree in Art from the University of Minnesota and holds her Society of Human Resource Management-Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) certification.

Ashley is the founder of Coco's Heart Dog Rescue. She is the President of the Board of Directors, and the Director of Operations. She works diligently to ensure that our organization continues to improve and provide a positive impact for many dogs and people alike. In addition to the core dog rescue efforts of Coco's Heart she also is proud of the Coco's Cares Assistance Program that was designed to help people facing hard times to be able to care for their dogs. Ashley holds a bachelor degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin River Falls and works to utilize her knowledge and background to best serve our amazing dog rescue and community. Her desire to ensure Coco's Heart continues to help dogs, animals, and people in need is a strong life-long passion.