Speakers
Jackson Galaxy
Popularly known as “The Cat Daddy,” Jackson Galaxy is the host and executive producer of Animal Planet's long running hit show “My Cat From Hell.” Jackson, an animal advocate and cat behavior and wellness expert, is also a two-time New York Times best-selling author with more than 25 years of experience working with cats and their guardians. Jackson’s mission is to educate people about cats and deepen the human and cat bond, while reducing the number of animals that end up in shelters.
Learn more about Jackson Galaxy or his non-profit, Jackson Galaxy Project.
Hannah Shaw aka Kitten Lady
Hannah Shaw is a kitten rescuer, humane educator, and New York Times bestselling author who has dedicated her life to finding innovative ways to protect animals. Her project, Kitten Lady, strives to create global change in the way we perceive and treat the tiniest and most vulnerable felines. Kitten Lady provides educational media, training resources, and instructional workshops that help individuals and animal shelters learn how to save the lives of kittens--in a fun and engaging format. Shaw is also the founder of Orphan Kitten Club, a 501(c)3 charitable organization which provides lifesaving programs including a neonatal kitten nursery, a TNR program, and the world’s first grant program specifically funding innovation in kitten welfare. Follow Hannah on Instagram and Orphan Kitten Club on Instagram.
Andrew Marttila
Andrew Marttila is a professional animal photographer best known for his captivating images of felines. He reaches hundreds of thousands of cat lovers through social media where he documents his travels promoting shelters across the country, taking photos for clients, and snuggling his cat, Haroun. Andrew's photography has been featured in Catster, Vanity Fair, Real Simple, and the Guardian, and on CNN and MSNBC, among others. Andrew is the photographer behind Shop Cats of New York and author of Cats on Catnip and How to Take Awesome Photos of Cats. He lives in San Diego, CA with his partner Hannah Shaw (aka Kitten Lady) where they run their nonprofit, Orphan Kitten Club. Follow Andrew on Instagram.
Adam myatt aka the cat man of west oakland
Adam Myatt is not your normal crazy cat lady. What started as a simple photography hobby featuring his community's feral 'Hoodcats,' quickly turned into a life changing journey which lead to helping co-found the first permanent cat cafe in the USA. Before opening the Cat Town Cafe and Adoption Center, Myatt took an inspirational trip to Japan to see cat cafes in action, and visit two of the feral cat islands. Then in the fall of 2016, he embarked on the #CatManAcrossAmeowica road trip, where he visted more than a dozen open cat cafe's across North America. Learn more at www.catmanwestoakland.com and follow along on Instagram.
Christina Ha
Since finding her first cat on the streets nearly 9 years ago, Christina Ha has been obsessed with cats. Christina is the co-founder and Pastry Chef at the popular patisserie, Macaron Parlour. Christina combined her passion for baking and adoration for cats as a co-founder of New York's first cat cafe, Meow Parlour. Meow Parlour has served as a foster home for over 1500 cats since opening in December 2014 and has had its own nonprofit since 2018. In 2017, Christina created Cat Camp, now known as Jackson Galaxy’s Cat Camp. Follow @whiskstowhiskers on Instagram & TikTok and @meowparlour on Instagram.
Courtney Gustafson
Courtney Gustafson is the human behind Poets Square Cats and the caretaker of famed feral couple Sad Boy and Lola. Gustafson calls herself an “accidental cat rescuer”: a regular person drawn to get involved when she inherited a colony of thirty feral cats. Two years and a million followers later, @poetssquarecats has grown into a movement to advocate for community cats, share stories from the frontlines of TNR, and encourage empathy for both animals and humans. Gustafson and her feral friends live in Tucson, Arizona. Follow along at @poetssquarecats on TikTok and Instagram.
Yige Zhao
Yige has been fostering kittens with her husband, Justin, for over 5 years. What started as a hobby quickly ignited into a passion and together they volunteer to coordinate Orphan Kitten Club’s Satellite Nursery, caring for the most vulnerable neonates year round in San Diego. Yige is always down for a challenge, eager to take on medically complex cases and quick to learn lifesaving skills. When she’s not rescuing kittens, Yige works full time as a dentist at her own practice. She is a fierce advocate for compassion and empathy in all aspects of life. Follow Yige on Instagram.
Susan Hicks
Susan’s lifelong passion for animals and animal care started when she volunteered at a wildlife rehabilitation center during college. Her first job after graduating with a degree in biology was as a veterinary technician for a small and large animal veterinary hospital. She eventually pivoted into human medicine but always had a menagerie of animals at home. Susan started fostering dogs and cats in 2018. She now volunteers her time as a medical foster for SPOT (Saving Pets One at a Time) in San Diego. Follow Susan on Instagram.
Jackie Noble
Jackie Noble is an expert in neonatal kittens and animal shelter programs. Jackie earned her Master’s in Zoology from the University of Glasgow, Scotland in 2009. She is the Director of Nursery and Placement for San Diego Humane Society and has overseen the first and longest-running shelter kitten nursery since 2010. San Diego Humane Society, an open-admission shelter, is creating a more humane world by inspiring compassion and advancing the welfare of animals and people. Jackie is also the author of the 2022 book The Fantastic World of Baby Animals.
Jamie Gothro
Jamie has been a licensed veterinary technician for over 40 years. She has worked in various positions in veterinary medicine throughout her career. Jamie has always been surrounded by animals of all kinds, dogs, cats, birds, reptiles and pocket pets. Jamie joined SPOT and began fostering in 2018, little realizing that it was going to become an all-consuming passion. She has fostered over 500 kittens and a few puppies since 2018. Her primary focus is at-risk babies, newborns, sick, and injured kittens who need additional medical support. Jamie also oversees the medical care of all of the kittens in the SPOT community. Follow Jamie on Instagram.
Jennifer Liu
What started for Jennifer Liu as a hobby to balance the rigors of schoolwork has blossomed into an all-consuming passion for helping the most at-risk cats and kittens. With nearly 15 years of pharmacy experience and a lifelong interest in medicine, Jen quickly went from simple volunteer for Love Your Feral Felines (LYFF) to fostering the most complicated medical cases—and helping most of them to thrive. Now, as the Foster Coordinator for LYFF, Jen mentors and supports a team of volunteer foster families, all of whom are dedicated to giving cats and kittens a second chance at life.
Learn more at www.loveyourferalfelines.com and follow LYFF’s Instagram.
Erin lydy
When Erin traveled to Las Vegas to adopt two one-eyed kittens, she didn’t expect a life changing event. Erin Lydy attended Cat Camp in 2019 when she realized the event was happening the same weekend she had plans to travel from Ohio to adopt Pippi and Astrid from Nikki with @myfosterkittens. As a result of her experience at Cat Camp, Erin applied what she learned and started a TNR program, FC3 Firelands Community Cat Coalition, in her small rural town in Ohio.
When she’s not trapping and transporting cats, Erin owns and operates a Victorian bed and breakfast with her husband. She also spends time running her own business as a leadership and team development consultant where she helps leaders improve the workplace culture and employee engagement.
Erin and her husband Matt are cat parents to four amazing cats, Pippi Grace, Astrid Sailor, Graham, and Elsa. They bring so much joy and entertainment to their busy lives.
Follow Pippi Grace, Astrid Sailor, Graham, and Elsa on Instagram.
Caroline Grace
Caroline is the founder and director of Baby Kitten Rescue, a Los Angeles based rescue that specializes in neonatal, critical care, and special needs kitten rescue. Caroline started Baby Kitten Rescue in 2021 to focus on this most vulnerable population of kittens and to make the fostering experience a better, more supported, more empowering experience for the people fostering. Caroline is passionate about educating her fosters how to provide the best quality care, supplying them with everything they need or may need, empowering them to tackle whatever challenges arise, and supporting them through the entire process. Caroline is also a yoga teacher and hosts Kitten Yoga events at her local studio a few times a year.
Follow Baby Kitten Rescue on Instagram.
Yazmin Lucho
Yazmin and her husband began doing TNR in 2011. She fell in love with a sassy, opinionated feral whom she named Mr. Snow. Without local resources available for TNR, she started selling handmade pet accessories to fund the care the ferals needed. The support she received helped Mr. Snow’s Bow Ties flourish into a small business. Her bond with Mr. Snow has shown people across the globe how special it is to win over the heart of a feral.
Following her passion for TNR advocacy, she co-founded Tips & Whiskers. Last year they TNR’d 307 cats and rescued over 40. With Yazmin’s expertise and knowledge as a licensed veterinary technician, they’ve been able to care for neonates and medical cases, as well as guide and educate others.
Follow Mr. Snow & his rescued friends @mrsnowsbowties and their TNR adventures @tipsandwhiskers.
Amber Schlieder
Amber Schlieder started her animal rescue journey when she walked into her local shelter in 2018 trying to get some help and walked out with newborn kittens that would likely be euthanized because they were too young. Before she knew it, she was running the shelter’s foster program, which became hugely successful under her direction. Amber’s passion and dedication to saving animals prompted her husband to prepare the paperwork for what became ARE Animal Rescue as a surprise anniversary gift. As the Executive Director of ARE Animal Rescue, Amber leads by example. No job is beneath her and she works equally hard cleaning kennels as she does working with rescue partners on the administrative side. With multiple locations in Southern California, including the main adoption center in Hemet, the Banning Animal Shelter, and ARE’s rescue partner cattery locations, Amber and her team strive to save as many animals as possible. In 2020 alone, in the middle of the pandemic, Amber and her team saved the lives of 3500 animals and placed 2900 in permanent loving homes. Amber is currently working to further her education in her pursuit of helping animals. Follow @areanimalrescue on Facebook, Instagram, & TikTok.