Our Team
Dog-Harmony is as 501(c)3 non-profit. Our team members work hard in all roles to uphold Dog-Harmony's mission to reduce shelter dog populations through humane education. Our team members are community professionals, volunteers, and (most importantly) dog lovers just like you! Want to get involved? Find more information about Dog-Harmony's mission and learn how you can volunteer. Are you a business looking to give back to the community? Learn more about our sponsors and how you can support us through your business.
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Authors
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Board Members
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Andrew Farmer
- Board member
- Volunteer
Andrew Farmer is a realtor that recently joined Live30A Real Estate, whose tagline is “real estate with greater purpose,” in South Walton County, Florida.
A longtime resident and real estate agent in the well-known County Highway 30A beach community, Andrew works with families, investors, and developers interested in the most coveted neighborhoods along 30A. Andrew leverages his creativity, passion for marketing, and years of experience in real estate and the vacation rental industry to go the extra mile for each of his clients.
When Andrew isn’t selling homes, he is spending time with his 10-year-old son, Hudson, and their dog, Vivian.
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Christie Solomon
- Board member
- Volunteer
- Author
- Photographer
Christie serves as Dog-Harmony's Treasurer and Social Media Manager. Christie is Owner & Principal of Elevate Next, LLC. She has her MBA in International Business from Thunderbird School of Global Management with more than 10 years of corporate experience in the US and abroad. In 2019, Christie formed Elevate Next, which provides organizations with customized consulting solutions to Elevate them to their Next level of profitability, performance and effectiveness. Christie’s philanthropic focus is on animal rescue and education, and she can frequently be seen with with her dog, Chloe, adopted from Dog-Harmony in 2017.
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Clare Bassett
- Board member
- Volunteer
Clare Bassett is a single mother of three grown children who moved to Florida from Michigan less than 10 years ago. Originally born in England, she has owned and taken care of many different animals from a hedgehog to a horse! When her children were in elementary school, she started on a long career of volunteerism that culminated in a lifetime achievement award for volunteering from the Clarkston school district. She started and ran many educational and fun programs for children that are still in use today. Clare also served on the PTO board for a total of 10 years and multiple school district committees. That need to volunteer in areas close to her heart brought her to Dog-Harmony, and she loves to help with all the different events.
Today she does many different jobs for a long list of clients, including one of her favorites which is pet sitting!
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Janie Schmidt
- Board member
- Volunteer
- Author
Janie currently serves as the Chairman of the Board for Dog-Harmony. Born in Miami, Florida and raised in North Georgia, Janie is a revenue manager for St. Joe Hospitality after years of experience serving in various marketing and public relations roles for hotels, small businesses, agencies and nonprofits alike. With formal communications and hospitality education from Piedmont College and Florida State University, her versatile knowledge and skill allows her to accomplish just about anything she sets her mind to.
When she’s not setting room rates or analyzing trends, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Josh, and her dog, Finn.
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Ken Kraft
- Board member
- Volunteer
Ken was born in Wilmington, Delaware and has spent most of the past 28 years here on the Gulf Coast of Florida. Always having a hand in sales he has worked in everything from art, ladies shoes, clothing, and luggage. After a detour dabbling in lifeguarding-firefighting-EMT work, he has spent almost 17 years in the jewelry industry. The last 15 years he has worked for McCaskill and Company in Miramar Beach in sales and merchandising. After McCaskill and Company donated a timepiece for a Dog-Harmony event, Ken realized it was time to both adopt and volunteer. His girl’s Paisley and Lola are both chihuahua rescues, with Lola coming from Dog-Harmony. When not at work or with the dogs, you can find Ken at the gym, yoga, the beach, practicing martial arts, skiing, mud-running, cooking, watching movies or out enjoying live music.
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Linda Cooper
- Board member
- Volunteer
Linda is an Executive Recruiter and a graduate of the University of Alabama with 25 years of experience in Accounting and Human Resource Management. She has lived and worked in Tuscaloosa, AL and Destin, FL, where she currently resides with her wife and senior rescue dog, Crystal. Her hobbies, other than spoiling her dog, include tennis, pickleball, reading, cooking, and spending time with friends and family.
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Founder
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Nancy Bown CPDT-KA
- Founder
- Board member
- Volunteer
- Staff
- Author
- Trainer
Nancy Bown is a graduate of the Animal Behavior College in Santa Clarita, California, and a Certified Professional Dog Trainer – Knowledge Assessed (CPDT-KA). She is a Animal Behavior College Mentor Trainer trainer and an Intermountain Therapy Animals evaluator.
While operating her dog daycare and dog training business, she saw how many dogs were being relinquished or returned to shelters because the owners and dogs weren’t given the proper education and training to build forever lives together. She also noted that otherwise good dogs were being turned in to shelters because children did not know how to interact with dogs, such as running up to strange dogs to pet them, or pestering and grabbing grandma’s Chihuahua while it was eating, resulting in bites. So she created Dog-Harmony Inc., a different “breed” of rescue, focusing on humane education for children and the community while also offering training necessary to keep dogs in their homes.
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Photographers
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Trainers
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Volunteers and Staff