Shelter Staff

  • Cara Ianniello

    EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

    Cara Ianniello has been volunteering with Sammy’s Hope since 2010 and has also served as Foster Coordinator for dogs. She was elected Board President of Sammy’s Hope in 2013 and continued to serve in that role until 2018 when she became Executive Director. She also formerly served as Director of Fundraising and Development for Sammy’s Hope. Throughout her tenure with Sammy’s Hope, Cara has focused on the socialization and adoption of shelter dogs, canine behavior evaluations, dog volunteer supervision and overall fundraising support for the organization.

    Cara is currently Senior Vice President, Network Operations at Medlogix and has been employed there for the past 27 years. She is responsible for the PPO operations of the organization, including CHN PPO network development and maintenance. See Featured Article from the Healthcare Financial Management Association sharing Cara's passion for Sammy's Hope.

  • Joan Cenicola

    DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

    Joan Cenicola joined Sammy’s Hope in December 2010 as Outreach Coordinator and was elected to the Board in 2011 and remained a Board member through 2018. She now serves as Director of Operations for Sammy’s Hope. Since 2010, Joan has performed a wide range of duties including adoptions, canine evaluations, kennel enrichment, events and fundraising.

    Joan is Vice President of NAI James E. Hanson in Teterboro, NJ, with 35 years’ experience in real estate sales, leasing, and project management.

  • Lisa Santoro

    DIRECTOR OF FINANCE

    Lisa Santoro began volunteering with Sammy’s Hope in 2010 focusing on canine socialization, canine behavior evaluations, volunteer supervision and adoptions of dogs in a shelter environment. She was elected to the Sammy’s Hope Board in 2011 and served as Treasurer through 2018. Lisa is currently the Director of Finance for Sammy’s Hope. She also volunteered with the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center to provide a short stay foster home for dogs graduating from the center to determine further socialization needs or how to better prepare them for living with an adoptive family.

    Lisa has been employed by CHN PPO for 28 years. Her current role is Vice President, Network Operations responsible for Provider Relations and Contracting/PPO Operations, and has been responsible for various operational areas including finance, human resources, IT and project management.

  • Louise Castillo

    SHELTER MANAGER

    Louise Castillo is the Shelter Manager at Sammy’s Hope starting in 2024, continuing her 9-year career in the animal field. She has a wide range of experience within the animal field. These include work as a veterinarian technician, dog grooming, and work as a Canine Care Specialist at a pet resort. Louise comes to us from the Monmouth County SPCA where she served many roles including Adoption Counseling and various types of Animal Care services. In her spare time Louise has also found work as a pet sitter for a variety of animals. She is currently working towards becoming a certified K-9 Trainer.

    After many years and various roles, Louise realizes her place in the animal industry is to help work with and find homes for the many stray and shelter animals that cross her path. She has fostered many animals and has strived to find the perfect homes for all of them. She comes to work every day at Sammy’s Hope with the goal to make sure every animal is loved and well cared for until they find their forever homes.

  • Trish Quinn

    DIRECTOR OF FELINE BEHAVIOR

    Trish began her work with Sammy’s Hope as a volunteer in 2010 and was elected to the Board in 2012. She served on the Board through 2018. She initially spent the majority of her time working with shelter cats to ensure their comfort, safety and health in a shelter environment. Trish has also fostered both healthy and hard to place cats and kittens as well as managed other foster families in our network from foster placement, care and ultimately adoption. Through her hands on work with cats with behavior problems as well as ongoing education, she brings thoughtful and successful methods to Sammy’s Hope to help the cats find their adoptive homes.

    Since the opening of Sammy’s Hope Animal Welfare & Adoption Center, Trish’s work has expanded from just cats to the many dogs who pass through our doors. She is continually learning about dog training and behavior from the experienced staff, volunteers and guest teachers who offer their valuable time and knowledge to Sammy’s Hope. Her day job is an office manager at a successful law firm.

  • Megan Spinelli

    DIGITAL MARKETING COORDINATOR

    Megan is a middle school English teacher and freelance writer who loves reading, traveling, exercising, and, of course, volunteering with dogs!

    Megan has been volunteering with Sammy's Hope since August of 2015. She adopted one of June's puppies - formerly named Patrick, now named Henry. After watching him be born and helping to take care of him and his siblings before they went into their forever homes, she just had to adopt him herself.

  • Tara Muldoon

    INSTAGRAM

    Tara has been volunteering at Sammy's Hope since 2018 and has been maintaining the Sammy’s Hope Instagram page for the past year and a half.

    When Jackson (formerly Ashton) was brought into the shelter, she knew he was meant to be part of her family. Tara says “He's the best boy! My goal is to help the animals at SH feel safe and happy until they find their forever homes where they will be loved as much as Jackson is”.

Board Members

  • Darren Young

    BOARD PRESIDENT

    Darren Young is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA), one of the Co-Founders of Sammy’s Hope, and current Board President. Darren served in several leadership positions at Sammy’s Hope from 2010 - 2018, including the role of Executive Director of from 2013 – 2018. He was also a Co-Founder of For This One, a non-profit established to provide humanitarian support to the people of Haiti, where he served on the board and in leadership roles from 2009 – 2015.

    Darren currently works at the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center, where his primary role is training fearful and under socialized dogs rescued from cruelty cases throughout the country. Prior to moving to a full-time career in Animal Welfare, Darren had a 20 year career in Information Technology and Business as the Co-Owner, along with his wife Christine, of Tekpro Systems LLC.

  • Jim Wood

    TREASURER

    Jim Wood has been in public accounting for 29 years. A graduate of Wake Forest University, he began his career with Peat Marwick Mitchell in Greensboro, North Carolina. More interested in the type of client base attracted to smaller firms, Jim joined a local firm in New Brunswick, NJ in 1988 and spun off his own practice in 1998. Jim currently practices in Hillsborough, NJ where he and his staff specialize in nonprofit organizations, local savings institutions, small businesses, and individuals, particularly the tax issues associated with non-traditional families. He shares his home with cairn terrier, Herbie, and terrier mix, Lidia.

  • Kathleen Schatzmann

    BOARD MEMBER

    Kathleen Schatzmann is the Senior Legislative Affairs Manager for the Animal Legal Defense Fund overseeing policy initiatives in twelve US states. Kathleen has been a successful leader in animal protection with over 15 years of government affairs and public policy experience. She has successfully managed numerous animal protection initiatives, working in cross-functional roles to create innovative practices to overcome campaign objectives and challenges.

    Before joining the Animal Legal Defense Fund, Kathleen worked as NJ Senior State Director for the Humane Society of the United States where she worked to strengthen animal protection laws on the local, state, and federal level. She has establishing strong relationships with policy makers and influencers which led to the passage of numerous animal protection laws. Kathleen continues to collaborate with the animal protection community to work in a unified fashion.

    Her previous achievements include serving on the Governor appointed NJ Animal Welfare Task Force, as Board Member for the NJ Animal Welfare Federation, Board Member for the Monmouth County SPCA, Board Member for People For Animals, and chair of the New Jersey-based Protecting Animal Welfare PAC.

  • Christine T. Young

    BOARD MEMBER

    Christine is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA). She serves on the Board of Directors, and is a co-founder of the organization. Since Sammy’s Hope’s inception in 2010, Christine has worked hands-on with socialization, training, behavioral evaluation, and adoption-matching for shelter dogs. In the past, Christine has also been involved in various administrative duties for the organization such as marketing, web design and photography. Christine and her husband Darren have fostered many of Sammy’s Hope’s adoptable dogs and take a special interest in helping those that need extra socialization or specialized care.

    Outside of Sammy's Hope, Christine had an 18-year career in Information Technology, and founded the consulting firm, Tekpro Systems. In 2016, she left IT to devote herself full-time to dogs in need. Currently, Christine is a Behavior Rehabilitation Specialist at the ASPCA Behavioral Rehabilitation Center, where she works with under-socialized and fearful dogs rescued from puppy mill, hoarding, fighting, and cruelty cases from across the country. She lives in Weaverville, NC with her husband Darren.