Meet The Team

Maureen has worked in the Assistance Dog industry for over 20 years. She was born and raised in Seattle, and graduated from Seattle University with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration. As a CPA, she combines a strong business background with a Masters of Science in Canine Studies. She has been invited to share her innovative training methods at conferences in Europe, Asia, South America, and the US. Her devotion to helping people with disabilities has resulted in tens of thousands of people whose lives have been impacted by Assistance Dogs.

Will graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Mechanical Engineering. He has been working in the Assistance Dog industry for over 20 years. Together, he and Maureen grew Assistance Dogs of Hawaii into one the most successful providers of Assistance Dogs in the country. Will oversees all of the facilities and construction projects. Described as the backbone of the organization, his work behind the scenes of the organization keeps all daily activities running smoothly.

Sarit is from Israel where she completed her Bachelor program at Bar Ilan University. After graduation, she studied and was certified in Dog Training and Dog Assisted Therapy at the Ofek Institute in Israel. She is currently our Dog Trainer at Assistance Dogs Northwest after successfully completing a year internship on both campuses.

Holly is a proud alumni of Washington State University and lives with her family on Bainbridge Island. Holly works in many different aspects of Assistance Dogs Northwest including managing the office on our campus and coordinating our fundraising events.  She has many years of event planning experience and excels at bringing all of the details together for a seemless experience. 

Sydney began working with us through our college intern program after graduating at the top of her class at North Carolina State University with a degree in Psychology. She now continues to help with various aspects of our program and is dedicated to seeing our puppies become successful graduates. During Sydney's internship, she puppy raised Hospital Facility Dog, Zadoc and is now raising puppy Jones.

Wendi is a Clinical Psychologist with over 20 years of experience in medical and mental health settings.  An experienced hospital facility dog handler, she knows first-hand about the immeasurable impact dogs can have and now devotes her time now to sharing this understanding with the community.