Who We Are
We are a team of animal-loving professionals who saw certain animals being overlooked in the rescues and shelters where they reside – animals with special needs or behavioral issues, older animals, second or third-choice animals, and animals in over-capacity shelters.
We founded Core Paws, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, to save as many of these animals as we can, by finding loving homes for them. We have partnered with existing non-profit animal rescues and shelters, and used our digital advertising skills to create an online hub that centralizes the search for these hard-to-place animals. Pairing our website with a digital marketing campaign ensures that our Core Paws homeless animals will be seen by a broader audience.
A special thanks to our amazing and dedicated digital creative and development teams! April Orme and Aimee Moody, for designing a website that will help animals for years to come. Cas Falkowski, for developing a beautiful responsive website for Core Paws. Anno Ballard for copyediting our entire site! Karen Hoagland, for designing our wonderful logo. Andrew Fung, for creating our analytics structure. Brian Wensel for helping us with our search marketing, and so many others who have helped make this all possible. We appreciate it so much!
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Meet The Team
Kara Hamada, Founder & Executive Director
Kara has been volunteering with animal shelters since 2011 and sitting on non-profit animal committees since 2012. She saw a vital need throughout her volunteering experiences, and created Core Paws to address the problem. Her love for all animals keeps her happily motivated to save as many homeless animals as she can. Her rescue cat, Mitzi, is a daily inspiration. She works as a Senior Interactive Producer in the digital advertising world and currently resides in beautiful Portland, Oregon.
Nicole Hamada, Director of Marketing
Based in Los Angeles, Nicole is a Digital Marketing Specialist with years of experience in online marketing and digital strategy. In October of 2014, she rescued Chloe, a tiny kitten with behavioral issues, from a government-run shelter. Since then, her eyes have been opened to the difficulty of finding homes for animals with special needs, and she has been an advocate for the cause ever since.
Erica Stenson, Secretary
Erica is an experienced event planner from San Francisco. She moved to Portland, Oregon, and now has a career in direct response advertising as an Account Executive. When Erica was just 11, her family adopted a shy, abused puppy named Wyatt, who blossomed into the best friend anyone could ask for. Very committed to animal causes, she spends her free time volunteering at a local no-kill animal shelter, helping with their marketing and event planning.
Kelli Olson, Board Member
Kelli is a licensed attorney with experience in corporate law and intellectual property. Kelli is originally from Montana and grew up surrounded by animals. At an early age, she started training and showing both horses and dogs and her love for animals only grew. Today, she is the proud owner of two canine kids, one with special medical needs and the other with special behavioral needs, and she could not imagine life without either. She is a true believer that every animal deserves a forever home.