Our Board Members

Senior Vice President US Pet Health Vet Business Unit

Julia Loew currently serves as the Senior Vice President of US Pet Health. In her role, Julia leads, develops, and executes the commercial strategy for the sales organization and the pet health portfolio within the US veterinary channel. She is driven to achieve results through an exceptional customer experience while developing a highly engaged and motivated team. Prior to her current role, Julia was Vice President of Global Companion Animal Marketing.  Previous roles to this included an international assignment as the Senior Director of Commercial Operations Companion Animal for Europe, Middle East and Africa and additionally, Senior Director of Channel Strategy and SalesForce Excellence for North America. Julia joined Elanco 12 years ago and has served in several roles spanning both Companion Animal and Food Animal businesses. Prior to joining Elanco, she spent 10 years at Bayer Animal Health, Veterinary Products Laboratories and Columbus Serum Company

Senior Regional Manager, MWI Animal Health

Meggan has over twenty years of experience delivering sales results in animal health. She has served as a manager at MWI Animal Health since 2011 and leads a remote team of sales professionals throughout California and Nevada. Prior to that she was a Territory Manager for eleven years during which time she served on the President’s Council and earned several awards including Most Valuable Team Member.

Meggan has a sincere interest in empowering women in the animal health industry to achieve their professional aspirations. She serves on both the MWI Animal Health and AmerisourceBergen Women’s Impact Network Operating Committees. She also serves as both Vice Chairperson and Treasurer for WILMAH and is a contributor to the Marketing Committee. In addition, she is a member of the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association.

Meggan holds both an MBA and a Bachelor of Science degree in Equine Science from Colorado State University. She resides in the Sacramento area with husband Jay, twin girls Abbey & Haily and multiple animals including her little flock of chickens.

Heidi currently manages partnerships and alliances on the west with Vetsource, She holds a B.S. in Animal Science from UC Davis. She has twenty years of strategy, business development, and alliance management experience on both the human and animal health side. She has held various positions at Aratana Therapeutics, Sutter Health, Glaxo Smith Kline and Pfizer Human/Animal Health. Heidi also serves as Board Member of the East Bay SPCA in the San Francisco Bay Area. Heidi lives in Moraga, California with her husband, Jon, their children Ty and Taylor, and their three cats, Arlo, Zander, and Sala.

Global Strategic Talent Management Advisor

Lesli is the Global Strategic Talent Management Advisor at Elanco. She is responsible for improving the quality of talent and succession planning through specific Talent Management interventions.

Lesli joined Elanco in 2014 as the US Category Manager for pain, surgical, and dermatology companion animal brands, assuming the role of US Category Manager for Parasiticides in 2015 and Director of Global Marketing for Parasiticides in 2017. Prior to joining Elanco, she worked in sales in both primary care and specialty roles for Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca, as well as was the Global Director of Business Development and Marketing for BioConvergence, a contract manufacturing organization for both human and animal health companies.

Lesli has been actively involved in the foundation of WILMAH, Women in Leadership and Management in Animal Health, serving as the organization’s Secretary and leading the Marketing Committee since its’ inception. She is passionate about developing current and future female leaders in the industry and creating a culture that empowers women to achieve success. 

Lesli earned her Bachelor’s in Management from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University and her Masters in Clinical Counseling from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

She resides in Fishers with her husband Tim, their two girls, Addy and Gwen, and their puggle Sydney.

Head of Marketing, Poultry

Jessica is currently the Marketing Director for the Pet Vet Therapeutics for Boehringer Ingelheim. She graduated from Miami University of Ohio with a degree in Marketing. Jessica has more than 15 years’ experience in sales and marketing in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to her current position, Jessica was the Director of Therapeutics and Vaccines for Merial and prior to that a Product Manager for Allergy, Women’s Health, and Gastroenterology. Jessica lives in Georgia with her husband Russ, her two boys Tyler and Jacob, and her two kittens Gunner and Wally.

Executive Vice-President, Sales, LifeLearn, Inc.

Heather is the EVP of Sales for LifeLearn. She graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in marketing communications, and now has more than 15 years of experience in the veterinary industry. Heather has delivered superior business results at Advanstar Communications (DVM Newsmagazine and CVC/Central Veterinary Conference), Veterinary Learning Systems (Compendium, Veterinary Technician and Vet Forum magazines) and VetStreet, among others. Heather is a strong supporter of veterinary technicians and has worked with the North American Veterinary Technician Association to develop continuing education programs for the advancement of vet techs and their critical role in the veterinary industry. She is a tireless advocate for continuing education for the entire health care team and is passionate about collaborating with key opinion leaders across all specialties. Heather is a volunteer in her community and is a Board Member of the Cleveland Eyebank Foundation, as an ambassador/spokesperson for organ donation.

Meat Scientist, Merck Animal Health

Jennie is a meat scientist on Merck Animal Health’s technical services team. She received her bachelor and master degrees in animal science and food science at Oklahoma State University. After completing her doctorate in meat science and muscle biology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Jennie taught high school food classes, provided food sanitation training for large foodservice organizations and helped small processors gain HACCP compliance. At Merck, Jennie has worked on meat quality, sustainability and animal well-being research, as well as consumer sensory and messaging studies. She interacts with foodservice organizations, retailers, associations and governments to answer their questions about animal agriculture. Jennie also serves as adjunct professor at several universities and has taught college classes on meat science, food analysis and dairy processing, among other topics. Jennie grew up on a cow/calf ranch in New Mexico, and now lives on her husband’s family farm in Indiana with their four children.

Vice President of U.S. Cattle Sales, Zoetis

Kristin Kasselman has more than 20 years experience in Animal Health and she is currently responsible for leading Zoetis’ Cattle Division Sales in the U.S. She is a member of the Cattle Leadership Team and former President of the Zoetis Women’s Council. Prior to her current role, Kristin served as a Regional Business Director and Area Business Manager in the Petcare Division. Kristin began her career with Pfizer Animal Health in 1999 as a Customer Service Representative. She has held multiple roles of increasing responsibility within the Cattle and Equine division, including Associate Territory Manager to Senior Territory Manager and Associate Director Operations Cattle. Kristin has also contributed in leadership roles to several operational excellence work-streams, including the One Zoetis strategy business initiative, and multiple other task forces. Kristin and her husband Bryan reside in Stilwell, KS.

Senior Director, Business Development, Pegasus Laboratories/PRN Phramcal

Betsy is the senior director of business development for Pegasus Laboratories, Inc. and PRN Pharmacal. Originally from Wisconsin, Betsy attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor of science in agribusiness. While at ASU, Betsy interned for Blalock & Associates Commodities and Farnham Companies, Inc. After graduation, Betsy worked for Farnham as a marketing assistant on the equine team, and later moved to the strategic alliance team. Betsy then moved to Ohio and secured a position in veterinary sales at Ralston Purina (Nestle S.A.). At Purina, she specialized in developing and building expansion territories. She later worked at Veterinary Products Laboratories (VPL) as director of marketing, director of sales and marketing and business unit director. When VPL was acquired by Pegasus, Betsy was an integral member of the transition team. She currently leads business development, which is responsible for sourcing new products via licensing and acquisitions, and the Pegasus Contract Manufacturing Team. Betsy lives in Alexandria, Virginia with her husband, Tracy, a colonel in the U.S. Air Force and their Westie, Duncan.

Global Animal Health Business Manager, Boehringer Ingelheim Animal Health

Nikkia began her career at Boehringer Ingelheim in January 2013.  She is currently the Global Animal Health Business Manager for the Global Commercial Business Group.  In her role, Nikkia is responsible for providing strategic insight and support across Boehringer Ingelheim’s global portfolio of livestock and companion animal brands.

Previously, Nikkia was the Head of Marketing for the US Pet Health Care business where she focused on helping to define the retail strategy for FRONTLINE Plus and a broader product pipeline for the FRONTLINE franchise. 

Nikkia graduated with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business.  Prior to joining Boehringer Ingelheim, she worked in the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry marketing Duracell Batteries (Procter & Gamble), Quilted Northern Bath Tissue (Georgia Pacific, now Koch Industries) and Graco strollers & travel systems (Newell Rubbermaid).

Nikkia lives in Atlanta with her husband (Tony) and two children (Braden and Riley).  In her leisure time, she enjoys traveling the world and dreams of returning to Kenya, where she spent 3 months working with women led co-operatives.