Our Founder
Pamela Pearson
Pamela is on a mission to unleash the healing power of therapy dogs—because let’s face it, dogs make everything better. As the founder of Thank God for Dogs, she advocates for making therapy dog programs a priority, pivotal, and fully funded in hospitals, universities, recovery centers, and beyond. Pamela held corporate executive roles—including CEO and VP of Marketing—for a mix of mission-driven companies, consulting firms, and her own ventures. Her career spans tech, communications, and coaching, with most of her work based in the U.S. and a few chapters abroad, including building a business in New Zealand. She embraces adventure and believes the best therapy often comes with fur, four legs, and a cold wet nose.
Our Therapy Dogs
-
![Close-up of a black and white dog with a fluffy coat and a happy expression, standing outdoors with greenery in the background.]()
Kismet
Bernedoodle · Birthday: November 16, 2016
Kismet is the original heart behind our mission. A rescue with a giant heart, he puffs up every time his therapy dog vest comes out. Equal parts gentle companion and squirrel chaser, he loves liver treats, pig’s ears, and most of all—spooning. Whether he’s resting his head in your lap or making hospital staff smile, Kismet brings calm wherever he goes. -
![Black and white dog lying on sandy beach with ocean in background.]()
Grace
Bernedoodle · Birthday: March 24, 2023
Grace is our sweet and soulful rescue pup. Thoughtful and curious, she’s learning the ropes with quiet confidence. She’s already showing a heart for comfort and connection—growing into her role one gentle step at a time. She also loves riding in the front passenger seat—windows down, ears flapping, taking in the world one breeze at a time.
Advisory Board
-
![Portrait of a woman with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a black top and a light patterned scarf, smiling at the camera, on a gray background.]()
Chris Favilla
Chris Favilla is a current Board member for accomplished Fintech companies, in public and private markets, focused on the financial services and payments industry. Her responsibilities include Nominating, Compensation, and Audit Committee membership. She is a seasoned banking and financial services professional with a proven track record of growing business platforms in volatile regulatory environments. She has successfully led large strategic shifts to meet demanding needs of today’s financial markets in several companies; Discover Financial, GE Capital, Priority Technology Holdings. With both an IT and Operational background- has demonstrated the ability to quickly assess and implement the necessary changes in anticipation of positive outcomes. Chris is recognized for core skills in people leadership, risk management, P&L and IT governance.
-
![Person wearing a riding helmet smiling with a horse beside them.]()
Christine Randle
Christine Randle, LICSW,is the founder of Flying High Farm, Inc., (the first equine-facilitated psychotherapy practice in MA) in Lunenburg, MA. Christine started FHF in 2003 and incorporated horses, and eventually other animals, into her psychotherapy work with youth. She became especially interested in animal-assisted therapy after reading Boris Levinson’s book, “Pet Oriented Child Psychotherapy,” which was published in 1969.
Although people have known about the healing connection that we can have with animals, incorporating animals into therapies wasn’t embraced by modern practices. Flying High Farm experienced dramatic growth and is a testament to that. The animals help to increase motivation for therapy, build quicker rapport between client and therapist and normalize the therapy experience, by bringing something familiar into an unfamiliar setting.
-
![Smiling woman with long hair and multicolored highlights wearing a dark floral shirt.]()
Jennifer Strohl
Jennifer is a former nonprofit professional. She is retired from a career that also included leadership roles in corporate strategic planning, finance, and internal audit with Fortune 100 companies, as well as audit services with a Big Four public accounting firm.
Through service on the Thank God For Dogs Advisory Board, she shares her passion for and expertise in building sustainable financial support models and meaningful personal engagement with nonprofits that make people's lives better.
As a dog-parent, Jennifer sees firsthand every day the loving and joyful impact that dogs have even when not formally trained for therapy. Jennifer enjoys cooking for her family and friends, gardening, hiking, sewing, and of course, giving plenty of belly rubs to her four-legged best friend.
