Who We Are
We are dedicated to using our skills, knowledge, and passion to move our 501c3 organization forward. We push ourselves and always strive to do better. Meet our Compassion Connections team members:
Julielani
Founder and President
With Kai as her muse, Julielani wants The Life of Kai: Compassion Connections to connect people to their pets to strengthen the guardian/companion bond. As a Red Rover humane educator, she wishes a more compassionate future for all animals by teaching children empathy. She desires a strong community of fosters to help homeless animals find their forever families. She believes connections are the solutions for many animals related issues.
A scientist, she is a strong advocate for a science and evidence-based foundation in understanding all animals, including dogs. A CTC (Certificate in training and counseling) graduated from the Academy for Dog Trainers she works with rescues, shelters and guardians and their pets.
She is a board member of Unleashing the Possibilities Inc., an animal advocate 501c3 organization in Yolo County, where she resides. She is also a director for the Chang Foundation, funding the Davis High School music mentor program for more than a decade.
Kelly
Board Member - Vice President
Kelly adopted her "special needs" senior "Penny" from a shelter fully aware of her generalized anxiety diagnosis and an abusive past. She is dedicated to making Penny feel safe and happy. See Penny's adoption video on our Youtube Channel.
After graduating from college, Kelly spent time in Peru, volunteering with a grassroots organization educating children about exotic animal trafficking. She wrote and published an educational children's story in Spanish called "Encontrando el madidi" for the local children teaching them wild animals belong to everyone (see Kelly's E-book on the resources page.) She was also an educator with the Green Ninja teaching San Jose middle school students science subjects through personal engagements.
She is an excellent addition to our organization and a great go-to person for educational needs and legal advice. Kelly is also fluent in Spanish allowing us to possibly expand our future humane education to be more inclusive.
Kelly currently lives with Penny in Portland and is a staff environmental lawyer for the Crag Law Center providing free and low-cost legal services. She loves to hike and climb. She delayed law school in 2019 to finish the 2650 miles Pacific Crest Trail hike from Mexico to Canada.
Lani
Board Member - Secretary
Lani fostered Rodgers for All Breed Rescue when she was a junior at Colorado College. We depend on her for insights into our innovative "Canines in Colleges" project and the creation of NUZZLE, a college student foster registry. Rodgers was adopted shortly after his foster experience (see video). After graduation from college, Lani taught science to high school students with Naturebridge in outdoor classes. She is creative, knows how to motivate her students, and keeps them engaged. We hope for Lani to bring her teaching, her Spanish fluency, and fostering experience to help us grow and succeed in this groundbreaking endeavor. Lani received her Master in Environmental Management from Yale in 2022. Her new home will be in Fort Collins Colorado where she works for the Forest Service. She loves the outdoors and is an ardent rock climber. Lani is with Hunter.
Natacha
Advisory Board Member
Life of Kai welcomes Natacha, our first advisory board member. She is no stranger to the shelter dogs world and has a 10-year history of working with them. She met Sprinter when she joined a local rescue that took in Sprinter as their sanctuary dog - they felt he was unadoptable. For six years, Natacha visited Sprinter 4 days a week, taking him on walks and car rides. As years went by, her desire to adopt Sprinter grew stronger as their bond cemented and his trust in her flourished, but he must learn to get along with her husband. She gradually brought Sprinter home to meet Rob. The introduction was steady and slow, and it took another year for Sprinter, Natacha, and Rob to feel comfortable as a family. It was more than just a long journey of dedication and trust for them; it was a remarkable love story. Natacha became Sprinter's mom in 2018. When she is not spending time with him, Natacha paints and draws - she is a talented and accomplished artist who displays her work in numerous galleries in Reno. She also teaches French, her native language, at a Waldorf school from first grade to eighth grade.
Life of Kai supports social and emotional learning through our Kind is Cool project, where we read Red Rover curated stories about animals to young children to teach empathy. For these youngsters, art activities can be a fantastic way to reflect on what they learn and to follow the changes in their perspectives. Natacha can help guide us through the reflective processes.
We are fortunate to have Natacha on board to help us grow kinder and more compassionate. She will help us "make all dogs happier," as with Sprinter.
Update: We lost Sprinter in Dec. 2023. He was 13. We will miss him terribly and he will always be in our hearts. RIP sweet boy!
Kaidog
Chief of Research & Development
Hailing from the streets of San Bernardino at a young age of 6 mo. roaming as a stray, Kai is a survivor and a thinker. We got Kai just in time, as he overstayed his 5-day limit at a high kill shelter. Wicked smart, paying attention to details and so very affectionate with those he trusts, he worries about everything. It has taken years for us to convince him he is safe and so very well-loved. Often looking like Doby the house-elf, Kai is our toys, treats, and food puzzles tester. He helps us flush out new training plans, participates in fun cognition studies, keeps us on our toes with our training skills, and earns his keep as a demo dog for our training videos. He is invaluable to us and loves to work hard when he is not sleeping. Turning 11 in May 2023, he is sleeping more these days. We pay him well with peanut butter: his favorite food group. Check our blog "Happy Dogs, Happy Guardians, Happy Homes.” He taught us so much, from just being a companion pet, to training, to practicing husbandry to performing fun tricks like riding a skateboard. Yep! he rides and sometimes dances.
Hunterdog
Reading Assistant
Hunter is our honorary team member and Kaidog's best friend. He is not ours but he spends lots of time with us and we love him. We recruited Hunter for his extreme sociability with people and kids. He assists with our reading session and plays a crucial and calming role in our humane education program. His specialty is laying down just about anywhere. He just turned 12 in 2023. This special skill makes Hunter perfect for his assistant job. Kids love dogs, kids love watching Hunter sleep. A win-win for us.
UPDATE: Hunter is now “officially” ours without being adopted. His grandma passed away in April 2023. He has been with us since 2018 so life as usual for him. Welcome Hunter!