Meet Our Executive Team

Tamsen Kingry (she/her)
Chief Executive Officer

As the CEO of the Richmond SPCA, Tamsen oversees the development of our organization’s short- and long-term strategies to achieve maximum lifesaving and fulfill with integrity the Richmond SPCA’s mission. Before being named CEO in 2019, Tamsen was our COO for 12 years and in that capacity oversaw operational development, design analysis, evaluation and improvement; regulatory compliance; emergency preparedness; community relationship building; fundraising; communications; and program and service delivery. She is passionate about developing innovative programming to proactively reduce pet homelessness and engaging in crucial advocacy to save and protect the lives of animals.

Tamsen earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from Virginia Commonwealth University and a certificate in Strategic Perspectives in Nonprofit Management in the Executive Education program at Harvard Business School. Tamsen joined the staff of the Richmond SPCA in 2002.

When she’s not busy working alongside our talented and dedicated staff, Board and volunteers, Tamsen enjoys spending time with her husband and daughter, as well as their cat and two dogs—all of whom they adopted from the Richmond SPCA.

Sarah Babcock, CTC, CPDT-KSA, CBCC-KA, CDBC (she/her)
Chief of Education and Training

Sarah joined the staff of the Richmond SPCA in 2001, soon after graduating valedictorian and with honors from Jean Donaldson’s Academy for Dog Trainers at the San Francisco SPCA. Her earlier career at IBM followed her graduation from Sweet Briar College with a bachelor’s degree in math and economics. Sarah’s career change was inspired by Crosby, a dog she found, adopted and began training, which led her to pursue additional education in animal behavior at the University of Richmond where she completed three years of graduate work in psychology and neuroscience.

The dogs who share Sarah’s home have competed in canine agility, trained in tricks, done commercial work for local and national brands, appeared on the cover of Bark magazine, and visited local retirement communities as part of the Richmond SPCA’s Paws for Health® Program. Her Henrico County farm is also home to cats, chickens and miniature horses, all of whom have benefited from some degree of clicker training.

Tracey Coats
Chief Financial Officer

Tracey is a Virginia native and is an alumna of Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a licensed CPA in Virginia and worked for nearly two decades in public accounting, where she was an audit manager and oversaw audits for both for-profit and not-for-profit entities. She later served as in-house chief financial officer for a number of local small businesses before joining the team at the Richmond SPCA as our controller in June 2020. After two years of service with the Richmond SPCA, Tracey was promoted to become our chief financial officer in October 2022.

Tracey lives in Mechanicsville with her husband and three beautiful children alongside three happy cats. 

Tommy DeSanto
Director of the Adoption Center

Tommy joined the Richmond SPCA’s adoption team in 2012 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor’s degree in English. He oversees the Richmond SPCA’s Adoption Center, which includes our foster care and retail programming. Tommy’s teams promote a non-judgmental, open adoption philosophy that is based on conversation and trust. His proudest moment in his role occurred in 2022 when the Adoption Center team adopted more than 4,000 pets into loving homes in one year. Tommy stays up to date on best sheltering practices and is always open to new ideas that result in saving pets’ lives.

Tommy is a proud resident of Richmond’s Northside neighborhood and shares his home with his wife, four dogs and cat. Due to his own pets’ intensive medical conditions, Tommy has always been drawn to the pets in our care who have special needs.

Kari Hosack, MPA, SHRM-CP (she/her)
Director of People Operations

Kari has worked in a variety of capacities at the Richmond SPCA since 2011, when she was hired as a birthday party host and camp counselor in the humane education department. Currently she serves as our director of people operations, a promotion that she earned in 2020. She previously held the position of manager of humane education for five years, and in this role improved programming to educate children on basic pet care and safety, before transitioning to oversee human resources in 2016. 

Kari earned the Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) credential in 2019, making her a recognized expert and leader in the HR field. Kari is a magna cum laude graduate of Christopher Newport University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and earned her master’s degree in public administration from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Kari currently lives in Mechanicsville with her husband, two sons and two adopted dogs, Elton and Casper.

Brit’nee Haskins, DVM
Veterinary Medical Director and Veterinarian-in-Charge

Dr. Haskins began her work at the Richmond SPCA as a veterinary assistant in 2012 in our pilot Clinic for Compassionate Care, also working as an assistant in our shelter veterinary services department on weekends.

Dr. Haskins left her position at the Richmond SPCA in 2014 to pursue her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree, which she received in 2018 from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine.

In 2019, she joined us as an associate veterinarian at the Susan M. Markel Veterinary Hospital after spending a year at the Friendship Hospital for Animals in Washington, D.C. as a rotating doctor in small animal medicine and surgery. After we opened our satellite Smoky’s Spay & Neuter Clinic in 2022, Dr. Haskins split her time helping patients and clients in our full-service veterinary hospital and Smoky’s before moving full-time to Smoky’s.

Dr. Haskins was promoted to be our Veterinary Medical Director and Veterinarian-in-Charge in 2025. As Veterinary Medical Director at the Richmond SPCA, Dr. Haskins oversees the provision of all professional veterinary services. This includes services delivered to pets in the care of the Richmond SPCA awaiting adoption, as well as patients of the Susan M. Markel Veterinary Hospital and Smoky’s Spay & Neuter Clinic.

Dr. Haskins’ favorite part of her work with the Richmond SPCA is having the opportunity to meet the members of our community (humans and pets) exactly where they are and helping her patients in any way that she can. When she’s not providing veterinary care to patients of the Richmond SPCA, Dr. Haskins can be found doing yoga, on a run or gardening with the help of her dog Mamacita and her cat Medici. 

Carol Anne Baker Lajoie (she/her)
Chief Advancement Officer

Carol Anne oversees fundraising, marketing and humane education activities for the Richmond SPCA. She joined us in 2019 as our director of development before being promoted to our chief advancement officer in 2022.

Prior to joining our team, she served as director of development and external relations for the Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University and chief development officer for the YWCA of Richmond. Carol Anne spent 11 years at the Virginia Historical Society before joining the YWCA. She holds a bachelor of science degree from VCU and a master’s from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Carol Anne served on the board of the Virginia Association of Fundraising Executives and is a past chair of Impact 100, a women’s grant making collaborative. Her passions include Bruce Springsteen, making up songs about her dogs and being around smart women. She lives with her husband, adopted dogs and a flock of highly demanding chickens in North Chesterfield.

Dori McGuire (she/her)
Director of Communications

Dori joined the Richmond SPCA advancement team in 2025. She oversees communications for the organization’s programs and services, including media relations, social media, and our website. In her role, she also champions our advocacy efforts, working toward better legislation and protections for animals. 

Prior to joining our team, Dori spent more than 15 years in public relations and brand marketing for iconic brands like Hanna Andersson, Hamilton Beach, and Discovery TV networks. She served on the board of directors for Girls on the Run of Greater Richmond from 2019-2021.  

A Baltimore native and NC State alumna (Go Pack!), Dori’s lived in Richmond for ten years and shares her home with her husband, two daughters, two quirky hounds, and two awesome cats. In her spare time you’ll find Dori running her way through RVA, singing Taylor Swift songs with her kids, and breezing through audiobooks. 

Lisa Clarke Rivadeneira (she/her)
Chief Operating Officer

Lisa’s summer internship with the Richmond SPCA in 2008 was the start to her career in animal welfare. After graduating in May of 2009 from Virginia Commonwealth University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications, Lisa continued to volunteer until she joined the staff in early 2010. She has held positions in communications, volunteer management, human resources and development before she was promoted to become our chief operating officer in 2019.

Lisa has a cat, a dog, two kids and a husband who keep her busy.

Carly Sgueo
Senior Director of Shelter Operations

Carly was hired in 2003 in the Richmond SPCA’s animal care department, which she now oversees as senior director of shelter operations. In this role, she also supervises the adoption center, pet support services and shelter veterinary services teams. Her teams are responsible for the intake, daily care, provision of veterinary treatment, training and enrichment and adoption of nearly 4,000 animals each year.

Carly is a graduate of Coastal Carolina University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in history. Her family shares their home with two dogs and a cat, all of whom they have adopted from the Richmond SPCA.

Ariel Youmans
Director of the Susan M. Markel Veterinary Hospital

In 2025, Ariel became our Director of the Susan M. Markel Veterinary Hospital, which provides quality care at a reduced cost to pets in the Greater Richmond region. Ariel and her team help to ensure that all families have access to affordable treatment options for their dogs and cats, regardless of financial hardship.