JACKIE OTT JAAKOLA

PRESIDENT AND CEO | EVERYCAT HEALTH FOUNDATION

I bring enthusiasm and a heartfelt purpose to improving the lives of animals while building community with the people who love them.

HOW HAS AN EXPERIENCE IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE MOTIVATED YOU?

Through life’s challenges animals have always brought me joy—their trust, their instinct, their love, their charisma, and uniqueness. Sharing that joy, those relationships, is something that everyone should experience if they have the desire. Giving back to that human-animal connection as a career has been very rewarding. From animal training, to recreating with animals, to animal health research, to fostering animal adoptions, to wild animal rescue, I’m committed to putting my skills, energy, and passion into making a difference for animals and the people who care for them. Helping animals and their people isn’t just something I do—it’s who I am.

WHAT IS YOUR SINGLE, MOST SIGNIFICANT STRENGTH AND HOW HAVE YOU UTILIZED IT TO MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT WITHIN AN ORGANIZATIONAL OR COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP ROLE?

Strategic, empathetic leadership. Leading teams and collaborations is the way to achieve results bigger than you could do alone. I’ve brought this strategic and global mindset to the animal welfare community. Tackling, achieving, and celebrating success in a shared mission is so much more impactful and rewarding when you strike the balance with empathy and strategy to forge ahead.

WHAT IS YOUR “SECRET SAUCE?”

Smile and mean it—it’s up to you to find the joy in every journey. Life is too short to travel any other way.

DESCRIBE YOUR OWN OUTLOOK ON LIFE IN SIX WORDS.

Share joy and be quietly bold.

EVERY DAY I AM THANKFUL FOR challenges, colleagues, creativity, community, and people who care (and cats…of course, cats)!

637 Wyckoff Ave. | Ste. 336 Wyckoff, NJ 07481 | 888.963.6946 | Ext. 701 info@everycat.org | everycat.org | facebook.com/EveryCatHealth | instagram.com/everycathealth | youtube.com/@everycathealth | linkedin.com/company/everycat-health-foundation | linkedin.com/in/jackie-jaakola-a666297/