Meet The People At WERC

Sue Howell is the founder of WERC. She has been actively involved in
wildlife rehabilitation and wildlife education for over thirty years. Sue is a member of NWRA (National Wildlife Rehabilitators Association), and founding member of CCWR (California Council of Wildlife Rehabilitators).

Ashley has an extensive background with WERC. Her father, John, was a co-founder of Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center and the first attending veterinarian of the organization. Since it's inception, Ashley has been around WERC. be it watching her father perform procedures or helping with outreach events. With these surroundings, her love and passion for animal welfare developed at a very early age. She finished her Bachelors of Science in Biology at California State University in 2015. Through the years, she has also worked with organizations like the Aquarium, from the Sea Otter Research and Conservation program to working along side the Vet Tech and lead Veterinarian in the animal health lab, and EFBC's Feline Conservation Center in Southern California. Her range of animals she has worked with span from marine mammals like the Southern Sea Otters to Tigers, Leopards, and Servals, to the local wildlife found here locally like Great Horned Owls and Gopher Snakes. Ashley joined our team in 2017 and stepped into the role of Executive Director as of January 2019, carrying on the legacy of her late father, John.

Colleen Grzan joined the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center as a volunteer in 2003 and within several months, became Animal Care Coordinator and now serves as the Director of Animal Care. She is also Bobcat Supervisor, part of her job being to dress up in fullbody costume and mask to feed and interact with orphaned bobcat kittens so that they don’t become habituated to humans when they’re released. Colleen writes the Animal of the Month column on W.E.R.C.’s wildlife for the South County newspapers.

Anna started as a volunteer at W.E.R.C. in late 2002.  In 2003 she began to teach educational programs.   2004 she left W.E.R.C. to pursue her Animal Health Science Degree at Cal Poly Pomona.  In 2011 she found her way back to W.E.R.C. and became the Educational Outreach Coordinator. 

Dave joined the WERC board in late 2015 after discovering it shortly after moving to the area from San Diego. Dave is an executive at a local semiconductor company and an electrical engineer by education. While growing up in Wisconsin, he was always involved with nature and wildlife in some way, spending a lot of time canoeing in all parts of the Midwest and Canada. His 30-year semiconductor career has included working for large companies and running a startup. Dave is very excited about applying his business acumen to helping wildlife, combining two passions in his life.

Sherry was one of the founding Board Members of the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center over twenty years ago. Sherry has a Masters Degree from the University of Southern California in Public Administration and a Masters Degree from Santa Clara University in Clinical Psychology. She is a licensed Psychotherapist with her own private practice in Morgan Hill. Her experiences include administrative positions in the Criminal Justice System in Los Angeles County, Vice President of Asco Air Conditioning in Morgan Hill and Owner/Vice President of the Animal Care Center in Morgan Hill.

A native of southern Ohio, Joy moved to Morgan Hill in 2001. She discovered W.E.R.C. at one of their appearances at the Taste of Morgan Hill. Her admiration of their work led her to join the Volunteer staff in January of 2011. After 3 years of volunteer service she was invited to join the Board of Directors and was elected President of the Board in late 2014. She served as President until 2019 and is now serving the board as secretary.

Doug has volunteered at WERC since 2007 as a rehab worker, docent/teacher, and member of the board. He is a retired professor of economics. Deer, birds, and other wildlife are the main subjects of his watercolor paintings, which have been juried into competitive national exhibitions sponsored by the National Watercolor Society and the California Watercolor Association.

Lauren Holiday has been supporting W.E.R.C for many years, as she is a long-time friend of the Quick family. She attended numerous events over those years and became interested in helping out in a larger capacity. She joined the Board of Directors in 2019 to help out with planning events. She has a Bachelor’s of Science in Hospitality Management, with a focus in event management. She currently works in project management for a real estate development company. Lauren is excited to apply her event skills to W.E.R.C, an organization she holds dear to her heart.

Irma Dombrowsky-Roelofsen

Penny is our graphic designer / web person. She also comes with years of fund raising experience and creating online auctions for WERC. Additionally, Penny has also become California Naturalist. 

Kelley is a recent newcomer to the WERC Board after having discovered it in early 2022. She is a Finance and Operations professional with many years at Stanford University where she is currently a Finance Manager for Emergency Medicine. She grew up in the Midwest but considers herself a true Californian after 30 years in San Jose. She has a long history of volunteering for various bay area non-profits and is passionate about animals, especially her two rescue dogs. She hopes she can use her business skills to help WERC sustain long-term financial viability and continue to do the very important work of rescuing and rehabilitating native California wildlife. Kelley stays active with a busy family schedule, traveling, golf and rowing with the Los Gatos Row Club.

Veronika is a dedicated WERC volunteer and comes to the board with project management experience.