Meet the Team

Puppy Jake Foundation's team is made up of leaders dedicated to our country and our veterans. We are animal lovers, entrepreneurs, Iowans and patriots. Meet the Puppy Jake team members and read their story.

Jeff Link

Board President and Board Treasurer

Jeff Link works as an Iowa-based entrepreneur, lawyer and communications consultant with a deep background in government and politics at the state and federal levels in the U.S. and abroad. Link’s experience in government, paid media strategy, data analytics, public opinion-research and crisis communications and offers a strong background for clients. Link’s work in campaigns has dovetailed with his experience in government. Link was the first staff member of Gov. Bill Clinton’s campaign in Pennsylvania in October of 1991 while working for Pennsylvania’s Speaker of the House, Robert W. O’Donnell. Clinton secured the nomination in 1992 with his win in Pennsylvania and went on to win the White House in November carrying Pennsylvania in the general election.

After successfully managing Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) 1996 reelection campaign, Link served in Washington, D.C. as Sen. Harkin’s Chief of Staff from 1997 until 1999. In 1999 Link returned to Iowa to obtain his law degree from Drake University. He graduated in 2002 with honors and won the National Moot Court Championship in New York City in 2001.

During law school, Link founded Link Strategies, served as the Gore-Lieberman 2000 state director in Iowa which defeated George Bush by 4,144 votes out of 1.3 million cast. Link also led Gore’s efforts from 1997-2000 to win the Iowa Caucus and secure the nomination against Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ). Link managed Senator Harkin’s 2002 reelection campaign while finishing law school in May of 2002. Senator Harkin was reelected to a fourth term in November 2002. In 2008 Link served as Deputy Director of Paid Media and Research to the Obama for America Campaign. In that role, he coordinated all paid media and polling in 25 states including seven battleground states (VA, NC, FL, CO, NM, NV, MT). President Obama won 6 of these 7 battleground states in 2008.

In addition to directing the message development through polling, focus groups, web tests and ad testing in these target states, he directed the advertising strategy and media mix with TV and cable buys, created state-specific ads, direct mail and collateral materials. Also, Link managed the Spanish language messaging for the campaign through advertising, polling and focus groups.

Link’s political work has also taken him to Aruba, where he managed the opposition party in Aruba’s parliamentary elections. The election, held in July 1994, saw the opposition party, the Aruba Volks Party (AVP), win a plurality, form a government and elect Henry Eman as Prime Minister. In 2009 Link again advised the AVP during the parliamentary elections and successfully saw Mike Eman elected as Prime Minister in September. Adding to Link’s international experience, he worked in Ukraine as the advisor to Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s campaign for President in Ukraine. In 2009 Yulia was successful in advancing to the run-off election held in 2010. Link advised the Hungarian Socialist Party during their parliamentarian elections, conducted public opinion research for President John Mahama’s successful election in Ghana (2012) and for Raila Odinga in Kenya (2013).

Becky Beach, KPA-CTP, ABCDT

Board Secretary

Rebecca Beach (Becky) is a fundraiser, event planner and consultant. In early 2013, Becky founded Puppy Jake Foundation. Becky is from a long line of military service and patriotism. Both of Becky’s grandfathers served as doctors in WWII, her father as a doctor in the U.S. Army, and her husband as active duty in the Vietnam War. Her love of animals led her to become a Certified Trainer from the Animal Behavior College (ABC). She and her husband, Charlie, reside in Des Moines, IA with their dogs.

Becky’s wide and diverse range of clients in her political career has included Senator Charles Grassley, President George H.W. Bush, President George W. Bush, Lamberti for Congress and others. Her political career began in 1978 while serving as Personal Assistant to Barbara Bush for four years. She is currently on the Finance Committee for the George W. Bush Library Center in Dallas. After working in the Reagan and Bush administrations, Becky returned to her home state of Iowa in 1993. Becky’s current projects, in addition to Puppy Jake Foundation include Terrace Hill Restoration project, On With Life capital campaign, The Iowa Barnstormers, and Pacific Battleship Center (USS Iowa).

Her dog training professional affiliations include:

Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP) Graduate 2015
Karen Pryor "Puppy Start Right" course, Graduate 2015
Animal Behavior College (ABC) graduate 2015
Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT), member
National Security Roundtable (NSRT), Command and General Staff College, April, 2012
TAGteach International Certified Primary Level Certification, 2015
TAGteach International Certified Level 1 Certification, 2015

Simon Conway

Board Vice President

Simon Conway is a talk show host and broadcaster. His show is heard on multiple Iowa radio stations including his home station, the iconic News Radio 1040 WHO - the most decorated radio station in American history. He handles Afternoon Drive from 4-7pm each weekday.

Hailing from London, England, Simon has run a number of very successful businesses including a Corporate Communications Company in England and property management and real estate brokerage companies in Florida. Before any of that, he was a journalist in both Israel and England.

Simon became involved with Puppy Jake Foundation almost from the very beginning and has held a number of highly successful fund raisers as well as contributing to raising awareness of PJF.

His other charitable works include children’s cancer charities and the Pacific Battleship Center where he is a member of the Board of Trustees.

Mary Crouse

Board Member

Mary Crouse is an accomplished administrative partner with 14 years of experience, providing thorough and skillful support to senior leaders. She is a resourceful and proactive problem solver who can prioritize tasks independently in a high-performance work environment. Mary creates excellent working relationships with both internal and external customers at Wells Fargo.

Mary and her husand have raised, or are training four service dogs for wounded Veterans. Her husband served in the US Army. In addition to assisting Puppy Jake Foundation, Mary is State Coordinator for Missing In America Project, a non-profit organization that locates, identifies and inters the unclaimed creatmated remains of American Veterans.

Arika Hammond

Youth Member (non voting)

Arika Hammond is currently a Freshman in Cherokee, IA. Her parents are June and Tracy Hammond.

Arika enjoys dancing, singing, and performing with the Cherokee Community Theater. She is also a member of the CMS Student Council, Cherokee County Sharp Shooters (Archery 4-H Club), and Cherokee County Cavaliers (Horse-based 4-H Club). Arika has a passion for animals and loves caring for her Bichon (Theo), Snowshoe cat (Simon), her pony (Rosie), her horse (Scooter), and a host of farm cats.

Arika is proud to be a part of Puppy Jake Foundation and enjoys telling others about its mission at various fundraisers and veteran events in Northwest Iowa and Southeast South Dakota. Her volunteer efforts have helped raise several thousand dollars for Puppy Jake Foundation.

Maggie Donovan

Office Manager

Maggie graduated Loyola University Chicago with a degree in Spanish and Ethics & Moral Philosophy and moved back to her hometown of Des Moines a year later. Maggie’s fondness for charitable work began when her dad started volunteering with the Salvation Army on a weekly basis and was encouraged by her mom, a retired administrator with the Des Moines Public Schools. Her love of Labrador retrievers comes from her last dog, a Chocolate Lab mix named Biff. This all made Puppy Jake Foundation a perfect fit. Maggie and her husband reside in Des Moines with their bulldog, Boo.

Brenda

Foster Family for JEFF

Brenda works at Kemin Industries in Des Moines. She and her husband Bob have been involved with dogs since 1990 when they started showing basenjis. She also became involved in lure coursing and obedience. After moving to Minnesota, Brenda was active in training and working their German shepherd in search and rescue. Brenda and Bob now live in Ankeny with their two sons, Dakota and Jake. They share their home with two German shepherds, Mac and Gypsy, and a basenji, Nikon. With the help of her family, Brenda is excited to work with Puppy Jake Foundation to support our veterans by currently raising Jeff.

Vicki

Foster Family for CABLE

Vicki has been proud to be a part of the Puppy Jake family since 2014. Vicki raised and trained Hazel who was placed with her Veteran in December 2018 and she is now fostering sweet boy, Cable. After retiring from Wells Fargo, she found that raising a service dog for the Puppy Jake Foundation was the perfect way to give back to our veterans who have sacrificed so much for us. Vicki lives in Des Moines with her husband, Bill, and their Sheltie, Connor.

Kris

Foster Family for Capt. Bill

Kris is currently fostering Captain Bill, an English Cream Golden Retriever. Kris learned about Puppy Jake Foundation at a program to her PEO chapter shortly after PJF's inception. It is an ideal organization to marry up 3 of her great passions: the privilege of being a Patriotic American, coming from a long line (2 grandfathers, dad, uncle and brother) of Veterans/returning the favor of SERVING Veterans who so willingly protect her freedoms, and PUPPIES! Kris is an avid Cyclones fan where Captain Bill gets exposure to season football and basketball games, the annual Big XII basketball tournament and a road trip to an away Big XII football stadium each fall. In Kris' professional life, she serves as a mortgage loan specialist for Premier Lending Alliance, where providing home loans for Veterans is also a privilege.

Stefan and Mary

Foster Family for BRUCE and ANDY

Mary and Stefan enjoy donating their time and energy to Veterans organizations. Mary is the State Coordinator for Missing in America Project. Mary and Stefan are Patriot Guard Rider volunteers and currently fostering BRUCE a very sweet, high-energy boy as well and ANDY, another golden retriever.

Andie

Foster Family for SPIRIT

Aundrea (Andie) Cox has been a part of Puppy Jake Foundation since January 2016. Her first pairing was with a Yellow Labrador named Digger. They did great together and had a lot of fun too. Unfortunately, due to some intense allergies and separation anxiety, Digger was re-careered. Aundrea gladly adopted Digger and has now certified him as a therapy dog. Still desiring to fulfill her commitment to Puppy Jake Foundation, she took on the responsibility of fostering and training another dog. Aundrea wanted to dedicate a thank you towards her school because of how supportive they have been with Digger going to school daily too. By setting up and proceeding with a school-wide fundraiser, Aundrea raised over $2,000 from the students at her school in order to grant them the naming rights to a puppy that would join Puppy Jake training team. With that, Aundrea was paired with a Golden Retriever named Spirit during the summer of 2017. With a house full of wet noses and wagging tails, the future looks fun and furry!

Dr. Ara Robinson

Psychiatrist to the Board

Dr. Robinson grew up in Southwest Iowa. He completed his undergraduate studies at Drake University, medical school at Des Moines University, and his adult psychiatry residency at the University of Iowa. He has experience with child/adolescent, adult and geriatric patients in both the outpatient and inpatient settings. His primary practice, Iowa Psychiatry, is located in Urbandale, Iowa.

Kristi

Director of Special Forces and Director of Communications

Kristi is a R.N. and has worked at Iowa Lutheran Hospital since 1989. Her husband Chris and their two adult children support her love of Golden Retrievers and volunteering. Kristi first learned about Puppy Jake Foundation while attending classes at Canine Craze with their current Golden, Cody. Cody is a Therapy dog and listens to 1st graders read at Horizon Elementary. Kristi has made over 500 visits to the school in the last nine years with her past Therapy dogs. She is excited to support the mission of PJF and can't begin to thank the veterans and their families enough for their service. Kristi's first service dog, Milton, graduated in 2016 and she had Milton and Mo at the same time for months!

Jenn Hirakawa

Veterans Outreach Coordinator

Jennifer Hirakawa is from Ewa Beach, Hawaii were she attended Pearl City High School, Academy of the Pacific, and Graduated from Kaimuki High School in 1988. Jennifer attended De Anza College, in Cupertino, CA where she enlisted in the Army in 1990 as a military police officer.

Jennifer retired from the Army in May of 2012 with the rank of Master Sergeant (MSG). Jennifer’s military career included many postings and positions, to include Military Police patrol, Team Leader, Squad Leader, Platoon Sergeant, Military Police Investigator, Military Police K-9, Training NCO, Military Police Customs NCO, Recruiter, Deployed Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, Equal Opportunity Advisor, and the Senior Enlisted EOA for the Iowa National Guard. Jennifer was stationed at Ft Eustis, VA; Berlin, Germany; Schweinfurt, Germany; Fort Carson, Colorado and the State of Iowa. During Jennifer’s career she deployed multiple times for both short and long deployments (IFOR, SFOR, OEF) and others.

Jennifer’s love for animals and specifically dogs and horses came early in her life when her parents got her a German Shepard from Hawaii Protection Dogs. Jenn began working with her dog (JP) and volunteering at the Hawaii Human Society when she was in middle school walking the dogs, and learning from the trainers there and HPD. Jennifer continued to work with and train dogs during her military career while stationed in Germany and in Colorado.

In 2012 after Jenn retired from the Army, she graduated from the Animal Behavioral College with Honors and began training dogs and humans to help them form a better human-canine bond. Jenn has worked with all different breeds and temperaments, including working with Service Dogs. Jennifer is excited to be part of Puppy Jake Foundation’s staff working with Military Organizations in the capacity of Military Outreach Coordinator. As a veteran herself she understands the loopholes, dilemmas, and issues that veterans may have navigating the military and VA systems. She looks forward to helping Veterans achieve their goals of independence and hopes to help veteran organizations understand the benefits that service dogs bring to fellow veterans.

Her professional affiliations include:

Association of Professional Dog Trainers (APDT)
International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC)
Truly Dog-Friendly Coalition of Trainers
Pet Professional Guild (PPG)
Committee member of the Winterset Dog Park
American Kennel Club (AKC) S.T.A.R. Puppy Trainer and Evaluator
American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Certified Evaluator
APDT Canine Life and Social Skills (C.L.A.S.S.) Trainer
APDT Canine Life and Social Skills (C.L.A.S.S.) Certified Evaluator
Co-Founder of the Iowa Modern Dog Training and Behavioral Trainers Network
Co-Founder of Adventure Dogs of Iowa
Life Member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Life Member of the Disabled American Veterans (DAV)
Many other veterans groups and organizations

Erin Topp

Trainer

Erin started her dog-training journey at the young age of ten, when she enrolled her grandmother’s beagle, Julio, in a local 4-H dog project. Dog training and canine behavior has since become her passion. Erin has continued to enhance her training education and canine knowledge. She has taken countless seminars and workshops over the past ten years from various trainers and leaders in the field. Erin has participated with her five personal dogs in competition obedience, agility, K9 Nose work®, and lure coursing, and she has been teaching group classes since 2008. Erin is excited to part of the Puppy Jake team and use her skills to help give back to the veterans that have given us so much. Erin has recently joined the staff of Karen Pryor Academy as Communication Director.

Erin holds a Bachelors of Science from Iowa State University College of Business, with a major in Marketing and a minor in Journalism. Topp worked for Blackwell Publishing/John Wiley & Sons, Inc. for eight years, assisting in the publishing of professional veterinary reference books. Erin continues to assist the Story County Veterinary Clinic, and has since the age of 18.Erin's professional affiliations include:

Karen Pryor Academy Certified Training Partner (KPA-CTP) Graduate 2015
Certified Professional Dog Trainer - Knowledge Assessed 2013
Association of Professional Dog Trainers (ADPT) since 2013
American Kennel Club (AKC) S.T.A.R. puppy evaluator
American Kennel Club (AKC) Canine Good Citizen (CGC) Evaluator
C.L.A.S.S. Certified Instructor
Story County 4H Dog Project Superintendent
Decades of volunteer experience working with animal shelters and rescues

Kelly Bass

Assistant Trainer

Kelly started with training with Puppy Jake Foundation in October 2018. Kelly successfully completed Karen Pryor Academy’s Dog Trainer Professional course in August 2019 and received her is CTP-KPA certification. She has taken classes with American Kennel Club (AKC) Breeding and continues to learn as much as she can in regard to training.

Animals of all varieties have fascinated Kelly since an early age – from goldfish to geckos, rats to guinea pigs, dogs and cats to chickens and pigs. (And yes…Kelly has owned all of the above at some point or another in her life!). She has turned her love of animals and teaching into a career. Kelly has worked as a dog daycare manager, pet sitter and dog walker and then landed her dream job as a dog trainer with Puppy Jake.

Kelly is married and has a son, along with her animals and lives in Des Moines.

Lorraine Bailey

Assistant Trainer

After training several of her own dogs over a 25-year period, Lorraine decided to volunteer as a foster for Puppy Jake Foundation, a non-profit that raises and professionally trains service dogs for wounded military veterans. Her first dog with Puppy Jake Foundation was Clarence, who was placed with a veteran in January, 2014. While training Clarence, Lorraine also worked with three puppies as a Special Forces Trainer. After placing Clarence, she then took in Ray to be his foster. Shortly thereafter she agreed to foster George as well. A few months later George was re-careered but she was able to work with Ray until his placement with his veteran in September, 2016. One week later, Loyal was ‘paroled’ from the prison program and Lorraine began as his foster with placement with his veteran scheduled for March, 2017.

In addition to being a foster, Lorraine has also volunteered her time as an assistant trainer for multiple PJF litters. Later this year she will be filling in for a few months as a substitute trainer.

Lorraine is a graduate of Animal Behavior College’s Dog Trainer certification program and has completed a three-day and a six-day seminar with Tellington T Touch. She hopes is currently working on her certification in T-Touch. Lorraine has also volunteered several hours at Animal Rescue League in Des Moines and A. Heinz 57 Animal Rescue in De Soto, IA.

Lorraine’s dog training professional affiliations include:
•Animal Behavior College (ABC) graduate 2016
•Various Tellington T Touch workshops and seminars
•Animal Rescue League, Des Moines,IA
•A. Heniz 57 Rescue, De Soto, IA

Janice Rosenberg

Assistant Trainer

Janice Rosenberg is fulfilling a lifetime bucket list of becoming a dog trainer. She has studied with Puppy Jake Head trainer, Renee Jetter for over 6 years at Canine Craze with her Australian Shepherd, Butters. She has also worked with agility trainers, Scott Jetter, Jenny O'Brien Konior, and Renee White.

Last spring, she attended the Ken Ramirez seminar sponsored by Puppy Jake Foundation highlighting Karen Pryor Clicker training. Janice is now enrolled in the Karen Pryor Academy for Professional Dog Trainers and expects to become certified in the spring.

Janice and her husband Kent live in West Des Moines, IA.

Show Your Support

Service dogs can perform tasks, improve mobility and provide unconditional love. Raising and training dogs can be expensive, but those costs pale in comparison to what our Armed Forces members have given for this country. Help us improve our heroes’ lives at home and in our communities.