Board Officers
President: Wayne Svoboda, DVM, MS
Wayne is an Arizona veterinarian who has donated his time and expertise for over 20 years to provide canine safety training and veterinary care to nearly 10 different law enforcement K9 units in the state. He enjoys both small and exotic pets medicine and surgery and oversees the FSDS‘ curriculum for our Canine Safety Program. He also leads our efforts to expand training to include advanced canine life support. Wayne holds in BS in Microbiology from Kansas State University and an MS in Cellular Biology from Purdue University as well as his DVM from Kansas State University, College of Veterinary Medicine.
Treasurer: Erica McFadden, PhD
Erica currently serves as Executive Director of the Arizona Developmental Disabilities Planning Council. She has more than 20 years of not-for-profit experience working in the disability field, most recently serving as Senior Policy Analyst for Arizona State University’s Morrison Institute for Public Policy addressing disability policy issues in Arizona. Erica holds a PhD in Public Administration & Policy from Arizona State University, an MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University and dual bachelors’ degrees from University of Texas in Austin.
Recorder: Jackie Cromer
Jackie has been a dog lover forever! She has been a small business owner for over 30 years including owning and managing a successful salon in Portland, Oregon for over 20 years. Her innovative marketing/PR and management skills resulted in growth from 100 to nearly 1,000 clients per week in the foremost financial district business building in town. An artist herself, Jackie also owned a gallery highlighting glass, wood, metal paper, and fiber art. She currently works providing contract review and marketing services in the real estate industry. Jackie holds a bachelor‘s degree from Oregon State University.
Board Member: Brenda Renou, CNP
Brenda has worked with many disability organizations since 2007, many of which were organizations training service dogs. She was formerly the Chairperson of the City of Surprise Disability Advisory Commission and is the author of the “Life with Service Dogs” blog. She has been a service dog trainer for many years and part of a service dog team, herself, since 2010, which she credits with increasing her community activity. Brenda holds a bachelor’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership & Management from Arizona State University and was awarded Certified Nonprofit Professional designation by the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance.
Meet Our Management
Executive Director: Karen Sendelback
Karen brings a strong background in the not-for-profit sector to her role as Executive Director of the Foundation for Service Dog Support.
Most recently with World Vision USA, Karen was responsible for increased fundraising specifically through corporate engagement programs that helped increase the donor base, donor retention and the donor pipeline. Her team expanded cause marketing efforts, raising $10M in the first 3 years; raised $5.7M through a volunteer ”care kit” program; and raised $18M through workplace giving/matching gifts programs.
At Utah Food Bank, Karen served as Executive Director with responsibilities for statewide operations, partnering with 130 human services organizations to serve hungry families in need. She established the southern Utah distribution center and oversaw increased warehouse efficiencies to better serve the people of the state while overseeing increased fundraising by 62% from corporate and foundations and from individual giving by 17% in 2 years.
As President & CEO of World Food Program US, Karen provided innovative leadership in uniting individuals, companies, and foundations supporting international hunger relief efforts. She revitalized organizational capacities across public policy, outreach, education, marketing & communications, fundraising , and operations. She initiated the organization’s first performance management system and oversaw the team’s fundraising increases from $5M to over $24M annually as well as successfully lobbying for the expansion of the McGovern-Dole Program for international school meal programs to $84M.
At American Kidney Fund, Karen served as Executive Director, directing services to kidney disease patients throughout the US. In addition to managing efforts to increase annual revenue to from $14 to $58M, she orchestrated the organization’s US marketing plan, and re-branding while positioning it on the national stage through partner organizations and coalitions.
Prior experience includes, American Lung Assn, Guide Dogs for the Blind, and American Red Cross
With a proven track record of strategic thinking and maximizing results, Karen’s record of management and fundraising successes reflects an ability to oversee “big picture” strategies while simultaneously directing day-to-day operations.
Meet Our Staff
The FSDS is unique among service dog training programs in that we actively seek out credentialed, pre-screened, and professional educators to lead our service animal and canine safety training courses.
Associate Facility Manager and Master Trainer: Jessica Parker
Jessica graduated from Animal Behavior College in 2017 and in 2021 achieved her Master Trainer credentials from the State of Arizona. As well as being a certified trainer she is also certified in animal CPR and has volunteered at the White German Shepard Rescue during school to help train all levels of obedience for their dogs in order to find them faster loving homes. Her dream has always been to work with animals and finds training to be especially rewarding. She has years of experience working with dogs and their owners to help achieve their full potential. She always brings a positive attitude to her workspace and is open minded to any new information that could help us succeed.
Charlottle Steele/Novice Trainer
Charlotte is a recent high school graduate with a passion for dog training. She has been working with dogs for her whole life but got into service dog training 6 years ago when she began the journey for her personal helper. After successfully self-training her first service dog, she became a volunteer for FSDS. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she began training her second service dog. She was recently hired as an employee with FSDS and began their online master trainer academy in July 2022. She hopes to finish by the end of next year.
Christy Shepherd / Regional Evaluator
Christy is a mother to two young children, and an Air Force wife. She is a professional trainer who has earned her CCPDT-KA, CTDI (Certified Trick Dog Instructor), AKC evaluator, Stunt Dog Judge, and a service dog evaluator with Foundation for Service Dog Support. She loves spending time with her family, and her own pups. She enjoys therapy visits with her dogs, horseback riding, and doing search and rescue training. She has attended Empire State University, and plans to continue her education to obtain her Master’s and/or PsyD in Psychology. She resides in Colorado and is loving the sunshine!