OUR MISSION

It is the mission of HeARTs Speak to save the lives of animals in need by supporting artists, animal welfare organizations and communities.

HeARTs Speak supports Artists in the following ways:

   *  Managing a network of like-minded individuals that provides a safe space to share ideas, ask questions and garner support.
   *  Connecting artists with the animal welfare community and strengthening relationships between the two.
   *  Providing educational opportunities that focus on technical aspects, establishing and maintaining relationships with the animal welfare community, business and legal practices, best practices in animal welfare, and current trends that affect animal advocacy.
   *  Providing access to tools and resources that enhance their work on behalf of animals in need and their own business growth.
   *  Establishing relationships with third party partners that furnish opportunities for artists to increase exposure (e.g. publication, television and all forms of media).
   *  Providing opportunities to promote and sell their work to a larger audience.
   *  Offering stipends and other incentives that encourage members to prioritize their animal advocacy work without a consequence to their own businesses

HeARTs Speak supports Animal Welfare Organizations in the following ways:

   *  By connecting the organizations with HeARTs Speak Member Artists. Resources that help organizations incorporate art to fulfill their missions, including training tools and best practices for marketing adoptable animals.
   *  Increasing the reach of their audience through HeARTs Speak’s worldwide membership via publication, social and other forms of media.
   *  Providing onsite and virtual programs that deliver art-related technical training and creative marketing education.

 HeARTs Speak supports Communities in the following ways:

   *  By offering educational opportunities that use art to bridge the work of animal welfare organizations and the communities they serve.
   *  HeARTs Speak Members create events, workshops and classes that foster awareness of and engagement with animal welfare.
   *  By providing ideas, tools and resources that support community members engaging in art-related animal welfare activities on their own.

Staff Bios

Lisa Prince Fishler founded HeARTs Speak with the belief that there is power in numbers and that people working together create the strongest impact. HeARTs Speak was born from Lisa’s sadness and frustration that millions of adoptable animals are unnecessarily euthanized each year, coupled with her belief that everyone has a gift, which is congruent in some way with something that they feel passionately about. As a professional photographer, Lisa was often torn between working for paying clients and volunteering her time to help animals that, in some cases, had their lives in danger. HeARTs Speak was the answer. She believes that passion is the spark that can ignite change and works to bring people together to effect social change. Email Lisa

Sarah Tomolonius is HeARTs Speak’s Treasurer and Spokesperson. Sarah is the Senior Professional, Management Reporting & Analytics at Arlon, a private investment group in New York. Prior to this, she was at Citi Private Equity, where she monitored and reported on $2.8 billion in assets. In addition to prior work at the money management firm Birinyi Associates and the public relations firm Edelman, she has held positions in the non-profit sector at the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Hepatitis Research Foundation. Sarah received a BA in English from Vassar College and a Master of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where she received a fellowship for International Finance and Policy. In addition to HeARTs Speak, she serves on the Young Executive Board at iMentor and mentors with iMentor, the Columbia University Women’s Business Society, and the SIPA Alumni Mentoring Program and also serves on the SIPA Alumni Council. Email Sarah

Lori Fusaro is HeARTs Speak’s Communications Facilitator. She has worked as a photographer since 1996. Her boutique studio, Fusaro Photography, is based in Culver City, CA, where she is well known for her lifestyle portraiture of families and pets. She was honored as the top portrait photographer in the L.A. area for three consecutive years, and her work has been exhibited in both group and solo art shows. Lori is the editor of Los Angeles’ local newspapers, Blue Pacific and Culver City News. She is on the resource board for K9 Connection, an experience-based program which educates and inspires teens through training shelter dogs. Lori works with several other non-profit organizations including Molly’s Mutts And Meows, BADRAP and Guide Dogs For The Blind. Email Lori

Jacquie Childers is HeARTs Speak’s Web Producer and Public Relations Leader. Jacquie has been a freelance designer, developer, and artist who has worked with non-profits professionally and on a volunteer basis for 10 years, starting in 2001 as a web volunteer for The Afghan Women’s Mission. In 2002 Jacquie honed her design, development, and artistic skills as the Lead Designer/Developer and Art Director for Niya, a U.S. based non-profit that worked with humanitarian organizations based in India. One of these was Maharogi Sewa Samiti, which was created by the beloved humanitarian Baba Amte to aid socially outcasted individuals with leprosy and other disabilities. In 2006-08, Jacquie worked as the Lead Designer and Developer for The Unexpected Pit Bull. Recently she founded Enso Blue, a design and development company that works in web and print. As Enso Blue, Jacquie returned to The Unexpected Pit Bull in 2011, where she worked with HeARTs Speak to design and develop the brand, website, and calendar. Jacquie continues to work on other design and development projects through Enso Blue and still pursues her career as a freelance artist. Email Jacquie

Erica Matyas is HeARTs Speak’s Shelter Outreach Coordinator. As a portrait photographer and freelancer in the film and television industry, Erica has been employed in both the non-profit and public arts sector, forming a widespread group of contacts in the creative industries. She has held positions on various projects from major motion pictures and television series to commercials and film festivals. She earned her B.F.A from the University of Central Florida, after being selected to join their limited-admission Film Production program in 2000. An internship with National Geographic Television sealed the deal on her preferred genre of documentary filmmaking and exploring the small things that create a large impact. She started her photography business, Photohound Dog Photography, in 2004 and continues to promote her passion for filmmaking, photography and animal advocacy across all creative platforms. Email Erica

Jenny Froh is HeARTs Speak’s Project Manager, and a Certified Professional Photographer who services the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She has been a professional photographer for over 5 years, but began specializing in pets 3 years ago when her first dog passed away. It was then she realized that she didn’t have any good pictures of her beloved Bullmastiff of 13 years. While building her pet portfolio, she volunteered for Bullmastiff Rescue, Pug Rescue, and her local Humane Society. To this day she is still highly active with these and several other wonderful rescue organizations. Jenny’s work has been featured on the cover of Bark Magazine and Texas Dogs & Cats Magazine. Not only is she an animal advocate, but has 3 dogs of her own (along with at least 1-2 foster cats at any given time). Email Jenny

Jill Flynn is HeARTs Speak’s Education Director. Jill is a Phoenix, Arizona based photographer that specializes in Pet Photography. She works closely with numerous animal welfare organizations and volunteers her services by taking photographs of shelter animals as well as teaches other volunteers how to take photographs of animals. She is a firm believer in being involved in community and giving back. Jill also teaches photography for The Perfect Picture School of Photography, does private instruction, workshops, photography mentoring and creates stock imagery for Getty and Corbis. Her work has been used commercially, appeared on book covers, in fine art magazines and private galleries. Clients and credits include ABC Good Morning America, Avalon Television, Avanti Press, Bloomberg Business Week, National Veterinary Associates, NBC Universal, Oxford University Press. Email Jill

 

Charlene Logan Burnett is a writer and a HeARTs Speak service professional member. When not writing, she devotes most of her time to animals and rescue. She is an area coordinator for NorCal Collie Rescue. She thinks the best part of rescue work is caring for her senior sanctuary dogs. Email Charlene

 

 

 

Abbeygail Elaine Hibi is one of HeARTs Speak’s Project Assistants.  She has been an administrative and IT professional for over 16 years, but her passion is in the creative arts.  Combining her desire to make a difference and her love of animals and photography, she began volunteering for local rescue organizations in 2011, taking photographs of adoptable pets.  Shortly thereafter, she began her first steps in starting her photography business with a specialty in pet photography.  She looks forward to continuing her volunteer work with current affiliations and hopes to assist other rescue organizations. Email Abbey

Kelly Schulze is HeARTs Speak’s Artist Coordinator. She is a Certified Professional Photographer and owns Mountain Dog Photography in northern Vermont. Kelly is known for her animal portraiture, especially her work related to animal rescue. She and her husband, Ian, volunteer weekly with Humane Society of Chittenden County, the largest animal shelter in the state. Kelly’s work with HSCC has won awards, been used as the basis for a high school art fundraiser project, and is featured on HeARTs Speak’s website. Kelly and Ian also volunteer with Ivana Iguana Wisdom and Rescue in Burlington, Vermont. IIWR focuses on rehoming exotic pets such as reptiles, amphibians, birds, and fish and educating the public about their proper care. Kelly has been an animal lover her entire life. She volunteered for her local shelter in high school, attended an agricultural high school, and majored in Animal Science at University of Vermont. She has worked in the equine and dairy industries. In addition to domestic animals Kelly has a passion for wildlife and family vacations are often planned around a particular location, species or ecosystem. Kelly and Ian share their home with 6 cats and 5 dogs, all rescues. 5 chickens also give the family fresh food, insect control, and much entertainment. Email Kelly

Hannah Michalski is a HeARTs Speak Writer and Project Assistant. She is the owner of Atlanta based How About Pictures, specializing in honest, playful portraiture for pets, children and babies. Before embarking on her professional photography journey, Hannah was a dedicated employee of the pet rescue world; a kennel worker, then a shelter manager, but always a devoted servant to what she considers Gods among people – companion animals. Hannah is originally from New Zealand and it was there that she earned her art degree, with a major in photography. Once her career in pet rescue wound down, photography was a natural transition but she was unable to ignore how beneficial her photos had been to the animals she helped rescue and rehome. With that fire for change still burning bright, Hannah balances client work with volunteering her photography services to local Atlanta rescues, including Urban Pet Project, Fighting For Dawn, The Park Pet Haven Rescue and Fulton County Animal Services. She believes in the good in people, the quiet power of a picture and above all else, the importance of caring for and cherishing our fellow living beings.

Partners & Sponsors

Adopt-a-Pet.com is a non-profit pet adoption charity that helps shelters, humane societies, SPCAs, pet rescue groups, and pet adoption agencies advertise their homeless pets to adopters for free. We’re all about getting homeless pets into homes. We use the power of TV, the Internet and a toll-free phone number to connect adopters with shelter pets and help pets go from alone to adopted. Visit Website

Animal Farm Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation, has been rescuing and re-homing animals, as well as making grants to other humane organizations, since the mid-1980′s. They currently dedicate resources to securing equal treatment and opportunity for “pit bull” dogs. Whether the dog is called a “pit bull” because of a documented pedigree, or merely on the basis of physical appearance, recognizing that these dogs are individuals for whom we are responsible is an integral step toward a compassionate future for all dogs.

Visit Website

BarkBox sends a box of high quality dog products to your pup, every month! BarkBox is, literally, for the dogs. Their goal? To make dogs happy. If this requires giving belly scratches until they get carpal tunnel or listening to squeaky toys until their ears bleed, that’s cool. They want to find people who love their dogs as much as they love theirs and delight + surprise them each month. More importantly– they want to help rescue as many dogs as possible along the way. Use the code HEARTSBBX1 to get $10 off AND Barkbox will donate $10 to Hearts Speak with every order! Visit Website

The Bark is the first magazine devoted to exploring the relationship and bond between people and their dogs. Founded in 1997, this award-winning publication is acclaimed for its wide-ranging views, timely commentary, rich literary offerings, and innovative art and design. It supports and advocates responsible dog guardianship, dog rescue, dog-friendly policies, dog parks and strengthening the human-canine bond. Visit Website

Paw Print Divas Workshop: Paw Print Divas unique workshop will help you identify your personal style and expand your creative vision and artistic approach to dog photography. Visit Website

The Virginia-Maryland Dog Magazine: The Virginia-Maryland Dog Magazine is your source for serious canine related information written by well-respected and highly experienced professionals in the field of canine medicine, training, and nutrition just to name a few. No filler, no reprinted material or outdated information. Visit Website

Thank You

A special thank you to the following HeARTs Speak members for donating the beautiful artwork that decorates our website.

• Bailey & Banjo
• Beth Connolly Portraits
• Brindleberry Custom Pet Photography
• Christine Jerzy Head
• Dean Russo Art
• Fusaro Photography
• Hany Hosny Photography
• Houndstooth Studio
• Leesia Teh Photography
• Michael Kloth Photography
• Mountain Dog Photography, LLC
• Photo Lab Pet Photography
• Printz Photography
• Ruthless Photos
• Southern Exposures Photography
• Susan Garriques
• Teresa Berg Photography
• Tyler Dog Photography
• Visual Harmony Photography
• Zoo Studio Animal Art Photography
• Christine J. Head | Painting with a Purpose