Directors, Faculty, and Staff

Benjamin "Drew" Sanders: President and Chairman of the Board of Directors.  Drew is a 20 year veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He is a practicing mental health counselor who specializes in treating trauma. Drew has seven cats but also loves dogs.

Lynn Sebek DVM: Lynn serves as a Director on the Board and is a practicing Doctor of veterinary medicine. Lynn has four dogs. a cat and a horse who keep her busy when she's not helping other animals.

Robert Perez: Robbie served in the US Army's 25th Infantry Division and is an Afghanistan Veteran.  "Robbie" graduated with his service dog, Bale Son of Thor, from the AVSDA program in June of 2018. He is the Veteran Liaison on the Board of Directors, and also is assistant kennel manager at Peggy Moran's School for Dogs, LLC.

Eric Carlson: Eric is one of the founding members of AVSDA and also acting program director. Eric is a U.S. Army Veteran of the 3rd Ranger Bn. and has been with AVSDA since 2013. His "red dog", Jolene, has him well-trained.

Peggy Moran: Peggy has been training dogs professionally since she was 15 years old. She uses humane, relationship-based methods to provide dog education for people. Peggy developed the curriculum for the AVSDA online and in-person programs. She has been a behavioral consultant and guest lecturer to many organizations, animal shelters, and universities, and is an award winning dog writer. Peggy lives with her husband, Dave, and many companion animals on their five acre property.

Monica Moran-Pachl: Monica is the training manager at AVSDA. Her area of specialization is human/pet animal relationships, and her thesis during undergraduate studies in Anthropology at the University of Chicago was about pet dog acquisition. Monica is Peggy Moran's daughter and grew up surrounded by animals. She lives with her partner, Javier, along with her service dog, Arya; two German shepherd puppies, Orion and Nymeria; cats, Thomasina and Lori; and an African Meyers parrot, Zuri. 

Dr. Cari Neal Stevenson and Keith Stevenson: Cari and Keith are a dynamic duo and important contributors to AVSDA. Cari is a community psychologist and a psychology professor at Kankakee Community College. Cari is active in supporting veterans and has lead AVSDA research projects specific to service dogs. She has been instrumental in helping AVSDA move to the community college environment and is helping to create a human-animal studies associates degree program with an emphasis in assistance animals. Keith Stevenson is an expert in business media and has created many supporting materials for AVSDA.

Dawn Mattson: Dawn graduated from AVSDA with her service dog, Jake, and now she helps with an assortment of tasks including filing, sorting, editing, organizing office materials, and also with student record keeping.

Susan Zableckis: Susan assists both the veterans and dogs in our program in a variety of ways. She has fostered dogs in her home for veterans needing medical treatment, and also helps raise the puppies we place with local students.