guidance

Dr. Alvin J. Chin majored in Biochemical Sciences at Harvard College, graduating magna cum laude in 1973. He attended Stanford University School of Medicine, graduating in 1977. After spending 2 residency years in general pediatrics, Dr. Chin spent 3 fellowship years in pediatric cardiology at The Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Boston. Dr. Chin is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and Pediatric Cardiology. He has been at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia since December 1984. Dr. Chin founded the Noninvasive Laboratories and served as Director until 1996. He currently specializes in echocardiography (cardiac ultrasound), and his research interests are the developmental biology of the cardiovascular system and long-term follow-up of the Fontan Operation for single ventricle.

An internationally acclaimed animal welfare advocate, Michael Arms began his career in New York with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). While Director of Operations at the North Shore Animal League from 1977 to 1997, he created the pet Adopt-a-Thon, transforming their local adoption program into an international collaboration. After leaving North Shore, Arms spent two years as a consultant to animal welfare agencies throughout the United States.

Since 1999, Arms has been President and CEO of the Helen Woodward Animal Center (HWAC). Under his leadership, HWAC provides the Home 4 the Holidays adoption program resulting in well over one million adoptions. It has been said that Arms is credited with saving the lives of more orphaned animals than anyone else.

By attending HWAC’s free three-day “Animal Center Education Services” (ACES) workshop, created by Arms, students learn to increase adoption and lower euthanasia. HWAC’s management team share tried and true techniques to help students improve their fundraising skills, education concepts, volunteer management techniques, public relations and marketing efforts.

An award winning freelance writer, Kit Levy Feldman is a graduate of Princeton University, and earned a Master of Liberal Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009, with a certificate in animal studies. Feldman has over 15 years experience writing for such publications as Family Business magazine, Princeton Alumni Weekly, The Pennsylvania Gazette, Dartmouth Alumni Magazine and Haverford College Alumni Magazine. She has authored five books for Heritage Publishers including the biography of Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence, a pioneer in the field of human-animal interaction, and has become known for her profiles of both individuals and animals.

Feldman is the author of the daily blog, Something about Barbaro, and the 2011 book The Culinary Canine.

Brigadier General John L. Gronski is assisting PACT with its Military Foster Program. General Gronski received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Scranton in 1978, a Master of Science from the US Army War College in 2001 and a Master of Business Administration from Penn State in 2003.

General Gronski is Assistant Adjutant General – Army, Pennsylvania National Guard and also serves as Joint Staff/Commander, Pennsylvania National Guard. He is a graduate of numerous military schools and has received many awards and decorations, including the Bronze Star Medal.

General Gronski commanded infantry units at the company, battalion and brigade level. He was deployed to Europe as Commander of Task Force Keystone to conduct force protection operations in response to the terrorist attacks of September 11th and also served as the Commander, 2nd Brigade Forward, 28th Infantry Division, Ramadi, Iraq.

Buzz Miller, founder and president of PACT, was a successful practicing attorney for 35 years. As President of Melvin B. Miller, Ltd., he specialized in business transactions involving real estate, tax, corporate, securities and partnership law. Miller has maintained an AV rating in both business law and real estate law with Martindale Hubbell for 25 years.

In 2003, Miller walked away from his successful law practice in order to commit himself fully to helping companion animals and their owners. He spent several years providing pro bono services to many animal welfare organizations in the Delaware Valley. He has lectured at The University of Pennsylvania on animal law matters, assisted on legal matters to numerous animal organizations and helped in many fundraising activities. Miller has assisted numerous veterinarians and animal organizations in the Delaware Valley in rescuing, counseling and adopting animals.

In 2007, Miller opened Buzzy’s Bow Wow Meow (BBWM) in Narberth, Pennsylvania which is a unique pet retail supermarket and companion animal education center. BBWM’s experienced employees are well-educated about the merchandise they enthusiastically sell and are equally as focused when it comes to the rescue and adoption of companion animals.

In 2010, Miller decided that a separate and distinct non-profit organization needed to be formed that would operate within strategic goals to help animals and their owners in need. The answer was PACT.

Dr. Jana Norris is a graduate of UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine, and completed an internship at the Animal Medical Center in New York City in 1998. Following a surgical residency at Tufts University and Angell Memorial Animal Hospital in Boston, she lectured in the Department of Surgery at The University of Pennsylvania from 2001 – 2002. Since 2002, Norris has been a Diplomat of the American College of Veterinary Surgeons.

Today, Norris is a surgical associate at Veterinary Referral Specialists in the western suburbs of Philadelphia. She is also a reviewer for Veterinary Surgery, the peer review journal of the American and European Colleges of Veterinary Surgery.

Norris has an ongoing interest in pain management both for the acute surgical patient and chronic pain management of degenerative osteoarthritis, including NSAID therapy, chondroprotective agents and novel therapies such as physical therapy and rehabilitation.

Sabina Louise Pierce is a renowned, international photographer. Her breathtaking and inspiring photos have appeared in Newsweek, Time, Vanity Fair, Sports Illustrated, People, Smithsonian, The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, New York Daily News, The Philadelphia Inquire, Bloodhorse, Philadelphia Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, San Francisco Examiner, Germany’s Glick, Australia’s Good Weekend Magazine, the ESPN network, NBC Sports and many more.

Pierce was the exclusive photographer for the injured 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, Barbaro, as he was recuperating at The University of Pennsylvania’s New Bolton Center. One of her Barbaro photographs was picked up by Time as “One of the Best Photographs of 2006.”

Pierce has numerous public relations and marketing clients as well as newspaper, magazine and corporate ones. She has proudly completed pro bono work for the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, the Pennsylvania SPCA, the Hope Project and the Committee of Seventy.

Pierce traveled the country photographing famous chefs with their dogs for the 2011 book The Culinary Canine.

Catherine Marchand is a Speech and Language Pathologist in private practice in suburban Philadelphia. Her undergraduate work was performed in London at The School for the Study of Disorders of Human Communication, University College/ Royal Free Medical School, followed by an advanced degree from Purdue University. Catherine supervises PACT’s free educational programs and workshops for children. Children (from kindergarten to early teens) are an integral part of PACT’s mission to increase the human-companion animal bond.

Gerry Shreiber is the founder, chairman, chief executive officer and president of J & J Snack Foods Corp. In addition to his successful business career, Gerry is also an animal enthusiast and lifelong supporter of animal rights organizations in Philadelphia and southern New Jersey. As Gerry’s career flourished, he felt a responsibility to give back and help animals thereby establishing the Shreiber Animal Foundation Enterprise (SAFE). SAFE is a corporation organized and operating exclusively for charitable and educational purposes and for the prevention of cruelty to animals.