Our Team & Board

Steve is an eight-year Navy veteran who served in Vietnam. He was paired with his service dog Merlin on Dec 9, 2015 and was certified as a service team in 2016. Steve was invited to become and mentor trainer and has been volunteering in that capacity since 2016.

Ramon is an Army veteran, OIF/OEF veteran, Ramon served 18 years.

Ramon joined OFP in February of 2017 and graduated from the program in November of 2017. “My service dog Huey turned my life around”. After Ramon graduated, he became a volunteer part-time mentor trainer. It wasn’t until May of 2022 that he finally decided to take on the role full time. Ramon stated, “It brings joy to my life to help others who could benefit from the use of a service dog and see them succeed in life, just like my mentor trainers taught me.”

Mike is a Marine/Army retired veteran, Mike served 30 years.

Mike started with Operation Freedom Paws as a client in April 2021.
Soon after Mike and his service dog Katie started training, Operation Freedom Paws became his sanctuary. When they arrived on site, all Mike’s stresses seemed to disappear. In March of 2022, Katie and Mike graduated as a team. In the same month Mike started volunteering at Operation Freedom Paws. On a Monday in April, Mike accepted a part-time job. On Wednesday of the same week, Mike accepted a full-time offer. Mike said “ I love being able to give back by helping others to improve their life”.

Katie came to Operation Freedom Paws in August 2016 for help in training her new dog.  As a class participant, she was able to observe first-hand the lives of veterans, first responders, children and other individuals with disabilities who entered the program transform from hopelessness and depression into self-confident individuals with achievable goals, such as returning to school or the workforce.  She was so impressed that she wanted to be part of the team that provides lifesaving services to those in need. Katie started as a volunteer and the began her full-time journey with Operation Freedom Paws in 2017.

Director of Marketing

Is an Emmy winning writer/producer with over 20 years of experience working with clients such as NBC, Freeform, People, Time, Intel, eBay, and Western Digital. Her experience includes everything from hard-hitting investigative and human-interest stories, to EPKs, image campaigns, short-form documentaries, and event production. She’s a storyteller who is passionate about creating compelling messaging and event experiences that inspire action and grow community.  As the daughter of an Air Force veteran who served for over 30 years, Operation Freedom Paws’ mission is near and dear to her heart. Pam first began working with Operation Freedom Paws in 2020 helping the team to pivot and develop virtual fundraising campaigns during the pandemic. She joined Operation Freedom Paws full time as a Director of Marketing in January of 2021. Pam is committed to expanding the reach of the non-profit’s mission and building valued relationships with corporate and individual supporters, sponsors, and donors that continue to empower lifesaving service dog teams.

President & Executive Director of Operations

Mary is a US Army veteran and a certified Army Master Instructor of Canine Education, as well as an American Kennel Club Certified Canine Good Citizen© Evaluator. Mary has owned businesses in both information technology and dog training. As both a veteran and a dog expert, she is uniquely qualified to evaluate and match dogs with the veterans who need them. She draws on her extensive experience as a trainer of dogs for military operations, search and rescue to help each client with his/her unique situation.

Mary has accepted over 500 clients and their families into the Operation Freedom Paws program and rescued over 418 dogs who needed jobs. Mary has trained sentry, patrol, narcotics, explosive detection, and search and rescue dogs. Mary now has been training service dogs for almost 14 years, has over 46 years of dog training experience, continues as an American Kennel Club K9 Good Citizen evaluator, and has won numerous awards since 2010, for example, 2012 Top Ten CNN Hero, Red Cross Clara Barton, Loretta Scott King Award from Martin Luther King Foundation and KSBW local and national Jefferson Award. District 17 State of California Women of the Year 2022, and Operation Freedom Paws was honored as the nonprofit of the year in 2021.

Mary started with one veteran, which was the beginning of Operation Freedom Paws.

Secretary

Diane is the proud daughter of a U.S. Navy veteran who served 2-tours in Vietnam.
As a child, Diane couldn’t fully grasp what her father was living with as a combat veteran. She just knew he was sad when the darkness came.  Eventually, he would reemerge and be himself again—until the next time he withdrew.

As an adult, it became clear to Diane that there was some correlation between the trauma he endured in Vietnam; and what we now know as PTSD.  Looking back, she knows her father could have benefited from the services OFP is providing to veterans today.  Her commitment to Operation Freedom Paws is rooted in the hope of helping his fellow veterans find the peace they truly deserve.

In 2011, Diane joined OFP as a civilian customer/volunteer and has been a Board Member since 2012.  With over 20 years of experience working in Business Operations in High Tech, Diane is very excited to use her work experience, love of dogs, and sincere desire to honor her father’s memory by doing all she can in support of OFP’s mission.

Director

Raised in rural North Carolina and Georgia, John Mark developed an interest in pursuing a career in the military at a young age. This interest took him to the United States Military Academy at West Point where he earned a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. During his twenty-four-year career, John Mark served in various postings across the world, including five deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. His final military assignment was at the White House, where he served on the National Security Council.

Since retiring from the Army, John Mark has started a new career in tech, currently serving as the head of strategy and communications at Applied Intuition’s Washington, DC office. John Mark and his wife Mona, a social worker serving in the Washington VA Medical Center, live in Arlington, Virginia.