Management
President and Chief Executive Officer, Heather Allen, CAWA
Heather Allen is the President and CEO of HALO Animal Rescue and is also the co-founder. She has held this position since 2001. She has worked in every position and has helped create each element of its existence up to this point. Her job is overall management of HALO's operations, fundraising and strategic/financial planning.
Heather is a Phoenix, Arizona native. She graduated from Shadow Mountain High School in 1991 and graduated from ASU in 1999. She has a B.S. in Psychology, and a minor in family studies. Her mother, Michel Herstam and Heather started HALO in 1994, after working with a cat-only rescue that dissolved. Heather also worked as an office manager at a vet hospital for several years while HALO was growing.
Heather is a proud parent of two children. Their family includes a menagerie of pets including several dogs, cats, birds and snake. Heather feels fortunate to be able to mix her family life, her passion for animals and also earn a living all at once.
When asked where she saw HALO in the future, Heather said, "I am hopeful that HALO can continue to grow and cast our safety net further in to the community and surrounding areas to help even more animals. My goal for HALO is to grow and partner with like-minded agencies to save the homeless animals and provide the services our community needs to make it happen". Heather has earned her CAWA certification, making her part of an elite group of Animal Welfare Administrators committed to excellence in the management and operation of local animal welfare and control organizations.
Co-Founder and Thrift Boutique Manager, Michel Herstam
Michel Herstam is the co-founder of HALO Animal Rescue. Michel was born in Michigan, but was raised in Phoenix starting at age five. Michel was a graduate from Arizona State University with an English degree. Michel worked in Corporate America for 35 years as a customer service manager for Salt River Project. This job fed her family of three girls, but not her soul. So while working full time and raising a family she dedicated her nights and weekends providing shelter and love to wayward dogs and cats.
Michel began her rescue work while volunteering with Kitty Love, a local cat group, in 1992. Kitty Love dissolved, but not before Michel had begun to realize the extent of the pet homelessness problem in Maricopa County and was volunteering every weekend at the PetSmart Adoption Center and fostering hundreds of animals in her home each year.
In 1994 Michel's house became HALO Animal Rescue Headquarters where she and her daughter volunteered their time to HALO's operations which was much smaller in scale than it is today. By 2006, HALO had a handful of staff working full time from Michel's home to provide for the animals that she selflessly gave her home to. In July 2008, Michel finally got her home back as HALO moved in its first physical shelter facility on 35th Avenue and Camelback Road. Michel opened up the HALO Thrift Boutique in 2006 and is the full-time manager (as a volunteer), with all profits going directly to the shelter.
Michel feels, "through respect, honor, sacrifice and commitment HALO,
I can be part of the solution so that all homeless animals have a loving home".
Director of Finance and Administration, Karl Meinhausen
Karl Meinhausen is the Director of Finance & Administration at HALO Animal Rescue. He began working for HALO in 2008.
Karl grew up in Tucson, Arizona, but has lived in the Phoenix area since 2000. His formal education is in Culinary Arts. He enjoys designing furniture, hiking, and cycling in his spare time. He is an advocate for all animals and is vegetarian. Karl has a beautiful daughter, two rescued cats and a Golden Retriever.
His hope for the future of HALO is for "one day, to come in and have Heather say, 'Sorry, we are no longer needed, there is no one to rescue'. Then maybe we can take a guilt-free vacation."
Director of Operations, Kim Zikmanis
Kim Zikmanis is the Director of Operations for HALO. Kim has worked for HALO since 2005.
Kim was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. She graduated from Shadow Mountain High School in 1990. Kim was a manager at PetSmart for several years before joining HALO's team. Kim is married and has two children, a boy and a girl. Among the family pets are several dogs, pythons and a bearded dragon. As a child, Kim was involved in the 4-H program for dogs and wanted to learn all she could about their care.
When asked what she loved best about her job, she replied, "Being able to make a life-saving difference every day for animals that may not have otherwise had a chance at love."
Outreach Manager, Erin Denmark
Erin Denmark started as a HALO volunteer in 2010 when she and another volunteer were caregivers for the animals in CEO, Heather Allen's, foster house on her property. She was working in the corporate world but decided that working in an environment where she could combine her organizational, administrative and communication skills with her love for animals would make her happiest. "I'd rather be happy than rich." Denmark said.
Erin started at HALO in 2011 as an Animal Care Specialist on HALO's cat team. From there she moved into Customer Service and Public Relations/Fundraising, then onto HALO's Development Department as the Outreach Manager.
Erin is married and has a wonderful son along with three kitties, one of which was a "foster failure" - or a success, depending on how you look at it. When asked about the future of HALO she states, "I believe that HALO has an important role in the community and I'm glad to be a part of something so great! My hope is that all the rescues can come together to help the animal homelessness and overpopulation problem."
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Animal Care Manager, Alannah Goetzenberger
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Born and raised in Arizona, Alannah has grown up with a passion for animals. Throughout her life she has had a variety of different pets including dogs, cats, reptiles, and birds. She began volunteering and fostering with her mom when she was a teenager to lend a hand with all of the different kitten litters over the years. Alannah joined the HALO team in 2017, starting out as an Animal Care Specialist. From there she joined the Transport Team as an Animal Resource Coordinator before becoming an Animal Care Manager. Alannah hopes to continue the amazing work HALO has accomplished over the years in saving animals from many different communities.
Animal Care Manager, Jordan Chester
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Jordan was born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, and moved to the Phoenix area in December of 2019. Jordan joined the HALO team in January of 2020 as an Animal Care Specialist. Shortly afterward he joined the Dog Inventory Team and he also joined and led the Dog Evaluation Team before becoming an Animal Care Manager. In Jordan’s spare time he enjoys working with his 5 dogs (3 of which are from HALO), reading, and playing video games. Jordan looks forward to helping HALO fulfill its mission of helping homeless pets find loving furever homes.
Animal Care Manager, Stephanie Chavez
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Stephanie, born in Ohio but raised here in the Valley, has always had a love for animals, having grown up having multiple family pets from dogs to cats and even snakes. Her proximity to HALO's first shelter on 35th Ave and Camelback sparked her aspiration to join the organization early on. Stephanie started with HALO as an Animal Care Specialist, at the Deer Valley PetSmart location in 2020. Her desire to be hands-on in animal welfare led her to transition to HALO's main facility in 2022. Throughout her tenure, Stephanie has taken on various responsibilities, from serving on the intake and medical teams to her current position as an Animal Care Manager, and fostering when needed. During her downtime, you can find Stephanie in a variety of activities. Whether she's immersing herself in a captivating book, binge-watching her favorite shows, or venturing out for hikes and exploration with her dog Aten and cat Potato (both previous HALO pets).
Stephanie remains steadfast in her dedication to HALO's mission. She hopes to continue making a meaningful impact in the lives of homeless pets across the Valley and the Southwest region.
Animal Resource Manager, Scott Peterson
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Scott started his journey with HALO in the fall of 2018 as an Animal Care Specialist and moved into his role as the Animal Resource Manager.
Scott was born in Texas and moved to Arizona in 2004 where he currently resides with his dog Beo-Woof and cat Toki. His formal education is in Psychology and Animal Science from the University of Redlands. During his time at the University of Redlands, Scott would arrange volunteers from his Fraternity, Kappa Sigma Sigma, to help walk and socialize dogs for one of the local rescues in the San Bernardino area. Scott has grown up and worked with dogs, cats, and chickens for most of his life. He is a fan of professional basketball and football. Scott hopes to continue the amazing work HALO is doing for the community and the animals.
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Volunteer & Foster Coordinator, Abby Hebert
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Abby Hebert is our Volunteer and Foster Coordinator at HALO Animal Rescue. Abby started at HALO as an Animal Care Specialist in 2018 and joined the management team in summer of 2019. Abby is a daughter of an Air Force veteran and was born and raised on a military base in Japan before relocating to Luke AFB in 2006. Abby graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 2015 with a B.A. in Film, Television and Theatre with a concentration in theatre acting and costume design.
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After graduating college, Abby initially worked in the insurance industry for 3 years before making the career shift into animal welfare. Working in animal care has been more rewarding than the insurance industry and she knows she made the right choice moving to HALO because, it is true, money can't buy happiness.
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Abby has had rescue animals her whole life and currently has 4 rescue cats at home. In her spare time, she enjoys going to concerts, traveling and trying new, delicious food when she can. She looks forward to continue helping improve animals' lives and helping the community by living by and educating others on HALO's mission.
Adoption Manager, Amy Andrews
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​Amy was born and raised in northern California and she relocated to Phoenix in 1989. Her love of animals started right away; from the time she was a kid she was forever bringing home strays. Amy has raised two amazing sons and is blessed with two beautiful grandchildren. She has 5 cats that allow her to serve them. She feels extremely lucky to have the opportunity to work in a field she’s passionate about. In 2008 Amy started her animal welfare journey with MCACC, It was there that her passion grew and she learned about the challenges that face our community and it’s pets. After 12 years of proudly serving with that organization, it was time for a new challenge. She felt lucky to become part of HALO in 2019 so she could continue to learn and grow in a field that’s her passion. “There really is nothing better than seeing a pet get its forever home,” states Amy. “My hope is to be able to continue serving the less fortunate pets of our community, until they all have homes.”
Customer Service Manager, Iliana Rende
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Iliana grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Phoenix in 2014. She has always found herself volunteering at local shelters and rescues growing up and knew animal welfare is where she wanted to end up. Iliana joined HALO in August of 2021 as an Animal Care Specialist before becoming a Customer Service Representative in November 2021 and then Customer Service Manager in November 2022. In her off time, she loves taking her dog Nova (a previous HALO) on road trips or local adventures. She also loves spending time relaxing with her rescue cat, Piston, at home. Her hope is to help advocate and be a voice for our four-legged friends and help save many lives here at HALO.