Meet the Marin Humane Society
Board of Directors

Robert Sanderson, President
Laura Goff, Treasurer
Grace Bransford, DVM
Ken Catton
Jim Clark, DVM
Patrick Culhane
Carol Florsheim
Kathryn Horton
Polly Johnston
Marianne O’Connell
Elaine Sichel
John Thompson
Bruce Wagman
G. Mitchell Wilk

Robert Sanderson, President

Before retiring in 2001, Bob spent 31 enjoyable years in a variety of technical and management positions at Fair Isaac. During that time, Fair Isaac pioneered the use of credit scoring which is used worldwide by lenders to solicit new accounts and approve applications for credit cards, loans, and mortgages. The company grew from 13 employees to more than 1,500, and became listed on the NYSE. Before joining Fair Isaac, Bob earned a Ph.D. at UC Berkeley. 

In retirement, Bob has participated in community activities, served on non-profit boards, and traveled, including several safari trips to Southern and Eastern Africa. Bob first became acquainted with MHS through their Behavior and Training department, and he joined the MHS Board in 2003.  He is motivated by MHS’s values, the breadth of the programs, and the quality of the staff and volunteers. 

Bob and his wife Shirley have lived in San Rafael since 1988. They currently are full time servants to Chloe, their senior Dalmatian.

Grace Bransford, DVM

Grace Bransford is a small animal veterinarian practicing in San Anselmo. A lifelong resident of Marin, she was raised in Mill Valley where she currently resides. Prior to veterinary school, she had a ten-year career in advertising and marketing in San Francisco. She volunteered in the adoptions department at the Humane Society during that time and that experience served as a springboard to veterinary school at UC Davis. She was also the Marin Humane Society’s first veterinary student extern during the summer of 1997.

Grace is active in a number of veterinary related organizations, serving on councils and committees for both the American Veterinary Medical Association and the California Veterinary Medical Association.

Grace enjoys spending her time with animals of all sizes, being a former horse show competitor and a previous volunteer at the Marine Mammal Center. Along with her veterinary skills, she is also a certified human Emergency Medical Technician.

She is a graduate of Stanford University and received her DVM degree from UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. She lives with her partner Steve and their black Lab, Max, the official greeter at Ross Valley Veterinary Hospital. Two felines, Tex and Gris, also share their house when Max isn’t barking at them.

Jim Clark, DVM

Dr. Jim Clark grew up in Marin County before receiving his undergraduate and veterinary degrees from U.C. Davis. He began practicing in Napa in 1988, where he developed a special interest in emergency medicine. After relocating to San Diego, he established a regional veterinary emergency practice and served as a college professor teaching anatomy and physiology. In 1993 Jim and partner Dr. Steve Dana founded the Pet Emergency & Specialty Center of Marin. In 2002 he earned an MBA degree and relocated his family to Marin County. He completed a fellowship in emergency and critical care medicine at U.C. Davis in 2003.

Jim currently works as an emergency clinician and assists in the management of several emergency and specialty veterinary practices. He and his wife Tammi live in Novato with their two daughters, four dogs, one cat, and one mouse. Over the years Jim has served in a number of organizations benefitting both people and animals. He is currently the president of the Marin County Veterinary Medical Association. Jim has a strong interest in the health and welfare of all animals.

Patrick Culhane

Patrick was born and raised in Southern California and finished his formal education at Stanford with an MS in Statistics. He came to Marin as a young adult and never left. He works in the field of marketing of consumer credit, having spent 15 years at Fair Isaac, and developed and marketed the “FICO” score. 

Patrick spends a good deal of time in Lake Tahoe, mostly in the summer, and enjoys boating and hiking. Two-year-old Dempsey, his Kerry Blue Terrier, keeps him from taking anything too seriously!

Carol Florsheim

Carol is President and Creative Director of Paperproducts Design in Novato. With a lifelong passion for animals, Carol considers herself fortunate to be serving her 7^th year on the MHS Board. 

Carol shares her life with her husband Roel and her Bernese Mountain Dog, Oliver. Carol was raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and attended university in Miami.

Kathryn Horton

Kathryn has over 25 years work experience in the event/tourism/hospitality industry and is currently working as Senior Director of Convention Events and Services at the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau, a nonprofit entity.

Kathryn lives in San Anselmo with her trusty yellow lab of 12 years, Cody.

Polly Johnston

Polly moved to the Bay Area in 1981 and worked in real estate in San Francisco before moving to Tiburon in 1985 to be on the marketing staff for Point Tiburon. She currently works for Coldwell Banker in Belvedere, subscribes to ACT, Fine Arts Museum, MOMA, the Commonwealth Club, Marin Theatre Company and Magic Theatre. She loves jazz and the San Francisco 49ers and feels honored to be on the MHS Board.

Marianne O'Connell

Marianne grew up in Marin County and began her career with Bank of America in the late 1960s. She retired in 2001 as a Managing Director in charge of short-term fixed income securities trading. 

In 2001, Marianne volunteered at MHS in customer care and then as a Pet Pal. She later joined the Board and has served as both Treasurer and President.

Marianne lives in Sausalito with her husband and her little Jack Russell Terrier, Skippy.

Elaine Sichel

Elaine is an educator on the human-animal bond and has published several books on animal sheltering. She has been affiliated with MHS as a staff member, volunteer or Board member for over 21 years. In 1995, Elaine was named the MHS Humanitarian of the Year.

She shares her home with Pet Partnership alum Will, a 2 ½ year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix.

John Thompson

John is currently President of The Animals & Society Institute which sponsors academic studies of our relationship with animals, teaches therapists how to intervene in the link between animal cruelty and human abuse, and provides templates for stricter animal protection laws. Before joining the MHS Board John spent two years volunteering in the shelter’s Animal Care department. There he saw the sadness of broken trust expressed in the eyes of discarded pets. At the same time he learned to appreciate the many ways that MHS goes beyond its basic mission of rescuing and re-homing animals to serve and enrich the lives of a wide spectrum of human and animal clients. He also recognized MHS’s uniqueness in its ability to reach beyond county boundaries to help animals in other communities, and to function as a living international classroom that teaches innovative practices to other shelter professionals. 

John is a former investment banker and magazine publisher. He was also a cofounder of a small business investment company. 

Two dogs and two cats, all shelter animals, infuse John’s Marin County home with spontaneity and joy.

Bruce Wagman

Bruce is a partner at the Schiff Hardin law firm in San Francisco, and he practices animal law exclusively. He represents many animal protection organizations and individual clients in the animal law field. He co-authored the casebook used in law schools, teaches animal law at four Bay Area law schools, and is Chief Outside Litigation Counsel for the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF). He focuses on several areas of animal protection, including hoarding, captive great ape protection and the elimination of exotic animals from entertainment, and farm animal cruelty. He was involved with a case in North Carolina in which ALDF successfully sued two dog hoarders and rescued over 350 dogs from a life of cruelty and disease. He is on the board of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, which provides lifetime care for chimpanzees rescued from research, entertainment and private homes, and also advocates for the end to such exploitation. He was the lead lawyer in another ALDF case that in 2006 rescued three chimpanzees being abused so that they could perform in television and film, and putting the "trainer" out of business. 

Bruce is owned by 3 dogs, 5 cats and 1 wife.