Dianne McGill

Dianne McGill serves as Pet Peace of Mind’s President and Executive Director.  She founded Pet Peace of Mind in 2009 to ensure hospice and palliative care patients have the support they need for their animal companions. In 2015, she engineered the spin-off of Pet Peace of Mind into a free-standing nonprofit to enable future growth and expansion of the program.

Dianne is the former Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of the Banfield Charitable Trust. She joined the organization in 2006 as its first Executive Director and guided the nonprofit’s expansion to develop and launch of Pet Peace of Mind, Meals on Wheels Pet Care Assistance Program,  and six other  national programs. During her tenure, the charity was thrice awarded Charity Navigator’s four-star rating for operational transparency and financial stewardship. In 2013 and 2014, Charity Navigator also named the charity to its national top 10 list of impact-to-income public charities.

Dianne has served as an officer and director for seven nonprofit boards of directors and is an experienced nonprofit management consultant.  Her other leadership roles include senior level positions with Associated Press, McClatchy Company, and Gannett Newspapers.  Dianne graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Management & Organizational Development. She also holds certificates in Community Mediation and Organizational Training. She and her husband Paul own an orchard in Oregon where they live with 27 chickens, 2 roosters,  and a rescue dog named Calvin Klein.

Robert Lester, DVM

Dr. Lester holds degrees in Microbiology with high scholarship, Veterinary Science cum laude, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine cum laude from Oregon State and Washington State Universities. He completed the American Association of Veterinary Medical Colleges Leadership Academy.  He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer WellHaven Pet Health. He was previously Assistant Dean for the College of Veterinary Medicine at Lincoln Memorial University. He spent his early career as a small-town mixed animal practice owner before joining the founding team at Banfield Pet Hospital. During his career, Dr. Lester has held leadership positions in medicine, operations, franchising, human resources, professional relations, and academia.

Dr. Lester serves on a variety of professional, university, and college committees, boards and task forces including as a two-time gubernatorial appointee to the Oregon Veterinary Medical Examining Board, a state delegate to the American Association of Veterinary State Boards, the American Veterinary Medical Associations Council on Education site team, is a past Banfield Charitable Trust Grant leader, on the National Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners Job Analysis SME Working Group, and on the board of the North American Veterinary Community.