Meet Our Officers
Chad Hendrickson
President
Chad Hendrickson serves as President of the Humane Society of Schuyler County and has been a Board Member since 2020. Chad currently also serves on the Boards of The Schuyler County Industrial Development Agency, The Town of Reading Planning Board as Chair, The Schuyler County Cornell Cooperative Extension Committee as Treasurer, The Schuyler County Farm Bureau as Vice President and as the Environmental representative to the Southern Tier Central Regional Planning and Development Board. He has also served as Chair of the Schuyler County Planning Commission and on the Boards of The New York Wine Grape Growers Association, The Schuyler County Environmental Management Council and The Farm Bureau State Membership Board. Having been employed at Lakewood Vineyards for 15 years in production and sales, Chad currently serves as the winery’s wholesale manager. He holds a degree in horticulture and recently completed Cornell’s CALS LEAD NY (Class 16). Chad makes his home in Reading with his wife Anisha and two sons.
Michael Lausell
Vice-President
Michael was born and grew up in Puerto Rico, and made the Finger Lakes area his home when he was 20 years old. Michael received a Bachelor of Science. from New York University in Musical Theatre, and his law degree from Syracuse University College of Law, where he received the Onondaga County Bar Association Award for his work at the College of Law Public Interest Law Firm. He spent many years working as a staff attorney at Legal Assistance of the Finger Lakes, providing representation to low income clients in civil cases in Yates, Wayne, Seneca, Ontario and Livingston counties. After an absence from the area for seven years to care for his parents in Puerto Rico, Michael returned to his farm in Hector in 2011 and began raising beef cattle using the techniques of rotational grazing to improve soil fertility. He was elected to the Schuyler County Legislature in 2013 and is currently in his second term on the legislature. He is a member and secretary of the Valois-Logan-Hector Fire Company and secretary of the Schuyler County Democratic Committee as well as serving on the boards of Schuyler Headstart and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schuyler County. Michael has adopted numerous strays over the years, including one found on the beach of his father’s hometown in Puerto Rico. Most recently, he adopted Walter from the Schuyler Humane Society, and looks forward to helping the organization further its mission.
Sarah E.J. Collier, JD
Treasurer
As an equestrian herself, Sarah enjoys bridging her passion of personal financial planning with the equine and agriculture community. Whether her client is a business owner, horse owner, or is an EQUINE sport fan, Sarah understands the importance of taking a tailored approach by creating a customized financial plan to assist them in achieving their short and long term financial goals.
Sarah’s interest in the agriculture community began early on growing up with horses on a small hobby farm and being an active member of the local 4-H Youth Program.
Expanding on her personal experiences, Sarah received her Juris Doctor from Albany Law School with a designated concentration in Equine, Racing and Gaming. Sarah has been recognized in the American Bar Association Tort, Trial & Insurance Practice Fall 2018 newsletter for contributing her research on The Safety in Agriculture Tourism Act and has been actively speaking on liability, estate planning and other equine and agriculture related financial planning topics for the horse owner. Her biggest achievement thus far is presenting on the topic of estate planning for the horse owner at the 2019 Equine Affair held in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Lydia Wickham
Secretary
Lydia graduated Magna Cum Laude from the State University of NY at Fredonia in 1985 where she received a BA in Music and a BS in Business Management.
Her early career was with Walt Disney World where she served in the Guest Relations Division, and later as project Manager overseeing television and film production for the Walt Disney World Property.
Beginning in 2002, Lydia served as the Regional Humane Resources Representative for Cargill,Inc. for ten years. Lydia left Cargill in 2012 to become the Director of Human Resources for Alternatives Federal Credit Union based in Ithaca, NY. In 2017, she joined Cayuga Addiction Recovery Services as the first Human Resources Director to be a part of the meaningful work of that organization.
In addition to her work with CARS, Lydia serves on the Board of Directors for (and sings with) the Canata Singers of Elmira, NY, is a member of the Hector-area Lions Club, and proud mom of her adopted rescue dog, Nova.
Meet Our Board of Directors
Aimee Dars Ellis
Board Member
Aimee Dars Ellis is Marketing Specialist at Atwater Vineyards. She received her Ph.D. from Arizona State University, her M.S. in Curriculum Design and Informational Technology through the University at Albany (SUNY), her M.B.A. from the University of Oklahoma, and her B.A. from the University of Chicago. A long-time vegan, Aimee is passionate about animal welfare. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, George, and rescue pugs, reading, and crafting. Aimee also serves on the Board of Directors of the Watkins Glen Public Library.
Kimberly Manning
Board Member
Kimberly Manning is a communications professional with more than 20 years’ experience in marketing, marketing strategy, communications, and public relations. She has helped companies and organizations, both private and not-for-profit, define the voice of their brand and tell their story.
Kim started her career as a process validation engineer, however, she soon realized that her passion, and one of her best skills, is communication. She has led marketing and communications for Team Capital Bank, Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, Sunny Coast Lithuanian Center and others, creating cohesive messaging and strategies that helped to build the brand. Passionate about teaching her craft, Kim has been an adjunct professor at Cedar Crest College and Northampton Community College.
Kim is a member of the Board of Directors of Lithuanian Americans and Allies for Democracy, and a former board member of the Lithuanian Cultural Center of Philadelphia, the Weller Center for Health Education, and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital.
She holds a B.S. in Sciences from Villanova University and an M.A. in Environmental Arts from Syracuse University where she was awarded the Masters Prize.
Kim speaks three and a half languages, enjoys knitting, reading and spending time in the outdoors. Kim and her husband live in the Finger Lakes with their American Bully and three cats.
Erin McMurrough
Board Member
Erin McMurrough works in the trenches of the Finger Lakes craft beverage scene–she’s the brand manager for Lakewood Vineyards and also part of the Stamp family. She is WSET3 certified and holds an introductory certificate from the Court of Master Sommeliers. A lover of words, she is a contributing writer and former editor of Edible Finger Lakes and she was the Events and News Editor for the Finger Lakes Wine Gazette. A native of Chicago, McMurrough has a background in theatre production and has lived and worked in Chicago, London, New York, Sydney and Perth. Since moving to the area in 2012, she has fallen in love with the Finger Lakes–the beauty, the food, the wine and most of all, her husband, vineyard manager Dave Stamp, their daughter Quinn, and Australian shepherd Cake Pan.
Vern Smith, J.D.
Board Member
Verne R. Smith, Esq. is a past chair of the Animal Law Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and adjunct professor of Animal Law, Business Law, and Personnel Law. He earned his B.A. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania, and his J.D. from the Dickinson (Penn State) School of Law. Verne recently retired from the active practice of law and a career in higher education administration which included positions as the associate dean of business at two graduate schools. Dedicated to advancing the rights, interests, and welfare of non-human animals, Verne enjoys living in the Finger Lakes region with its abundant wildlife and scenic beauty. Verne is also the author of “The Law and Feral Cats,” published by the University of Pennsylvania’s Journal of Animal Law and Ethics, 3 J. Animal L. and Ethics 7 (2009), online at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1513534 and “Animal Hoarders: Good Intentions Gone Awry or Inexcusable Cruelty,” published by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (2008), online at https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2224101.
Ellen Tremante, DVM
Board Member
Dr. Ellen Tremante, our newest board member, hails originally from Long Island. She obtained her undergraduate education at the State University of New York at Geneseo, earning a Bachelor of Arts in History in 1996. Dr. Tremante then returned to the State University of Stony Brook to complete her prerequisites for veterinary school. In 2006, she graduated from the University of Minnesota with her DVM degree. Following that, she successfully completed a one-year rotating internship at Long Island Veterinary Specialists.
In March of 2009, Dr. Tremante relocated to the Ithaca area, where she worked at Colonial Veterinary Hospital until August of 2018. At that time, she transitioned to Veterinary Care of Ithaca.
Outside of her professional life, Dr. Tremante enjoys spending her free time hiking and being with good friends and loved ones. She resides in a farmhouse in Mecklenburg with her six cats (five of which were adopted from the HSSC) and her dog, Mary.”