Meet The Board

President

Augusta O'Rielly, LCSW

Augusta O’Reilly is an LCSW and Veterinary Social Worker (VSW) located in Southern Virginia and currently works as the Veterinary Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Virginia Tech VA-MD College of Veterinary Medicine, Teaching Hospital. In her role she focuses on supporting families that are experiencing caregiver burnout, pet related grief, and other emotional stress related to their non-human family member. She also supports residents, interns, and clinical year veterinary students with mental health needs; such as compassion fatigue, effective communication and general psychoeducation around mental health.

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She is an instructor of Animal Assisted Interventions at the University of Tennessee in the Veterinary Social Work Certificate Program where she helps educate ethical practices and implementation of AAI with postgraduate students. This led to her being a co-author of the textbook The Comprehensive Guide to Interdisciplinary Veterinary Social Work. Lastly, she is  the current President of the International Association of Veterinary Social Work, where she helps expand the field and educate others about the VSW work being done worldwide.

Vice - President

Dillon Dodson, RSW

Since childhood, Dillon has been passionate about the healing power of animals, integrating them into her 15+ years of clinical social work experience across community mental health, private practice, and human shelters. She holds a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Toronto and specialized certifications in trauma, empathetic distress recovery, and veterinary social work. Dillon has been on the board of the International Association of Veterinary Social Workers since 2023 and is an adjunct lecturer at the University of Toronto. Her extensive experience supporting marginalized communities through animal-assisted practices led to her role as Director of Social Work at Toronto Humane Society, where she is Ontario’s first resident social worker embedded in animal welfare.

Secretary 

Rachael Villaseñor, LCSW

Rachael Villaseñor, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and earned her Master of Social Work from Erikson Institute in Chicago. Her early career focused on children and family services, with roles in hospital settings, residential facilities for teens and young adults, and as a therapist with the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). In 2020, Rachael shifted her professional focus to animal welfare, formally entering the field in 2022 as the Pets for Life Coordinator at the Anti-Cruelty Society in Chicago and is currently pursuing her Veterinary Social Work certification through the University of Tennessee. 

Rachael recently began roles as a facilitator with the Veterinary Hope Foundation and an Adopters Welcome Trainer with the Humane Society of the United States. She is also an active member of the DEI Council for the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement (AAWA) and the EDIB Committee with the IAVSW. Rachael is dedicated to fostering inclusive practices that support the diverse needs of pet owners and animal welfare professionals alike and as a first-generation college graduate, Rachael is dedicated to mentoring and advancing the success of emerging professionals in the field.

Treasurer 

Matt Guagliardo, MSW, MS.Ed

I'm very excited to be joining the IAVSW board! I have held various positions at my local SPCA for over nine years and will complete an MSW in December. I live in the Southern Finger Lakes of New York with my partner Bethany and our beloved whippet/dachshund Porter. The IAVSW has been a great organization for me and I'm thrilled that I now get to serve as treasurer!

Director of Membership

Diana Ferrentino, LCSW

Diana is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a native New Yorker. She has worked in a myriad of social work settings including mobile crisis, academia, nonprofit leadership, group practice, and suicide prevention programming. Her passion was working with her dog in her clinical practice, and this ignited an eagerness to better understand the impact of the Human Animal Bond. 

Diana graduated with her MSW from Fordham University in NYC. She then earned certifications in sex therapy, EMDR, and she graduated from UTK VSW Program in 2020. She currently works at BluePearl Specialty and Emergency Pet Hospitals as Social Work Supervisor on the Health + Well-being team, overseeing in hospital Social Workers and the MSW Internship Program. 

She is an avid advocate for animal and social welfare, a lover of shoes and baseball, and a true Pisces who finds comfort by the ocean. Diana lives in the Mid-Hudson Valley, NY with her husband, son, and four dogs. 

Director of Communications and Marketing

Claire Johnson, MSW, LSW

Claire is a licensed social worker at MedVet Chicago where she has been a part of the team since 2023.  Prior to joining MedVet, Claire worked as a video-editor for two years, completed her second level social work internship at MedVet Chicago and interned in the community outreach department at PAWS Chicago. She is a graduate of Skidmore College where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and from Loyola University Chicago where she earned a master’s degree in social work. Claire has also completed a post graduate certificate in Veterinary Social Work from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.

Co-Director of Education

Rebecca Stephens MA, BA, AASW, PTA, PhD (candidate)

Rebecca has 30 years of experience in the social work profession, having worked in both Australia and the UK. She is currently an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Sussex in the UK. As a pioneer of Veterinary Social Work in the UK, Rebecca is developing interdisciplinary partnerships across social work, social care, veterinary medicine, and animal welfare practices. These collaborations facilitate knowledge exchange, skills development, and educational training opportunities, which support the growth of Veterinary Social Work in the UK.

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Rebecca actively promotes the work of IAVSW at both national and international levels, and she has presented at the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Additionally, she serves as a Trustee of the Links Group and Our Special Friends in the UK. In 2024, she was awarded the International Association of Veterinary Social Work Member of the Year and was a finalist for England’s Social Work University Lecturer of the Year.

Co-Director of Education

Lisa Wiborg, LISW-S, C-AAIS

Lisa Wiborg, LISW-S, C-AAIS is a veterinary social worker located in Cleveland, Oh.  She completed her post-graduate VSW certificate at the University of Tennessee.  Lisa is the co-owner of Healing Paws, LLC, doing VSW education and consulting.  She is an adjunct professor and faculty liaison at Cleveland State University and a project coordinator within the UT Center for Veterinary Social Work. 

Director of Partnerships

Valerie Bogie

Valerie’s experience in the professional animal care world helped her realize the need for specialized mental health support for the human side of the human-animal bond.  With a career spanning over 20 years, Valerie has garnered extensive experience across diverse animal care settings, including a veterinary hospital, an animal shelter, a veterinary behavior practice, training dogs, and caring for exotic animals in various zoos and aquariums across the country.   

In May 2025, Valerie will graduate with her Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW) degree with a Veterinary Social Work (VSW) certificate from the University of Tennessee- Knoxville.  She is the current intern and program assistant for Veterinary Social Work Services, where she is learning from and working alongside the Founding Director of Veterinary Social Work, Dr. Elizabeth Strand.  

Valerie is excited to collaborate with organizations that have an appreciation for the human-animal bond.  She is dedicated to raising awareness and providing resources about the growing and expansive field of Veterinary Social Work.

Director of Ethics

Janine Noorloos, MHSc, RSW

Janine is a registered social worker pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Population Medicine through the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph. With interests in social epidemiology, upstream intervention, population health, and implementation science, Janine’s research focuses on building the field of veterinary social work in Canada. Using a One Health approach, Janine examines the occupational health and wellness of human and animal health professionals. Before this, Janine worked in mental health promotion at the Knowledge Development and Exchange Hub affiliated with the University of Waterloo. Janine first attended Wilfrid Laurier University as a violinist, and then completed a Master of Health Science in Translational Research at the University of Toronto where she is now an instructor. Janine has since furthered her social work education at Dalhousie University and McMaster University. Most recently, Janine has been involved with federally funded research projects related to animal-inclusive disaster-preparedness planning in Canada, system responses to violence against women and gender-diverse persons in Canadian provinces, and health inequities and stigma associated with people who have lymphatic filariasis in Ghana. Outside of academia, Janine continues to enjoy supporting community-based organizations with program evaluation and implementation projects. ​​

Director of EDIB

Michele Whitney

Michele is a research leader, human-animal bond scholar, and advocate for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in research. Based in Chicago, she holds a PhD in Human Services with a specialization in Advanced Research and has conducted groundbreaking research on disenfranchised grief among African American pet owners. With a background in research operations, organizational leadership, and strategic planning, Michele has led initiatives focused on expanding access to data, fostering inclusive research environments, and improving community engagement. She also founded an organization-wide First Generation Professionals Employee Resource Group (ERG) under the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, demonstrating her commitment to creating inclusive spaces within professional communities.

Michele is a CARE REDI Certified: Bronze Level (Companions and Animals for Reform and Equity), a member of the APA Human-Animal Interaction Section, and was instrumental in developing the section’s official DEI mission statement. She is passionate about advancing culturally competent practices in veterinary social work, expanding access to bereavement support, and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration in human-animal interactions. She shares her home with her two feline companions, Tina and Joe, who serve as daily reminders of the profound connections between humans and animals.