Board of Directors

Jennifer Mathers | President

Jennifer was born and raised in the Bay Area and comes from a family of animal lovers and advocates. She began working with animals at a local shelter as soon as she was old enough, and her passion for both people and animals led to a 20-year career in animal welfare, including 15 years at SVACA. After leaving her role as SVACA's Shelter Manager in 2021, Jennifer remained committed to the organization by joining the Friends of SVACA Board. As Board President, she brings strategic leadership, operational expertise, and a passion for building strong foundations that position the organization for long-term success. She is dedicated to strengthening Friends of SVACA's impact, advancing its mission, and creating meaningful support for the animals, people, and community SVACA serves.

Joan Amaratti | Vice President & Interim Secretary 

Joan has been working in animal rescue since she was a child, assisting her parents with wildlife rehab in Ohio. She first became involved with SVACA in 2012 as a foster parent, assisted at events, and then began volunteering as a cat and dog socializer. She is passionate about understanding and mitigating the causes of animal surrender, and to that end spent four years apprenticing and attending classes to become a dog trainer, culminating in the completion of the Marin Humane Society Behavior Academy. Previously, Joan was Treasurer of the Board for Sanctuary One, the first care farm established on the West Coast. She has a decade of professional experience in nonprofit development. She now spends her days as an operations manager at an autonomous driving technology company and her evenings and weekends with her first SVACA foster fail kitty, Denver.

Alex Leung | Co-Treasurer

As a child, Alex had pets, but dogs always had a special place in his heart. When he lost a beloved cocker spaniel after 13 years, he came to SVACA looking to fall in love again. A two pound ball of fur named Maia opened his heart again and now keeps him very busy. Alex has been a SVACA volunteer committed to helping animals find new homes ever since.

Nancy Kwan | Co-Treasurer

Nancy has proudly supported SVACA as a volunteer since 2019, bringing over 10 years of experience in nonprofit operations and private-sector human resources. She is committed to responsible leadership, helping guide the organization’s mission and support a compassionate community for animals and those who care for them. A Bay Area native and lifelong lover of nature and animals, she enjoys bird watching, gardening, and daily walks in the park with her rescue dog, Riley, who happily takes his time stopping to sniff just about everything along the way.

Sayaka Nethercutt | Board of Director

Sayaka volunteers with SVACA in addition to acting as the Friends board Secretary. She finds taking animals to offsite events to interact with the public particularly rewarding. Although she works in high tech now, her dream is to one day leverage her animal communication and Reiki skills to team up with an animal to provide therapy-related services to others. Sayaka and her husband have one cat, their beloved Maggie.