Amanda Kowalski
M.S., CPDT-KA, CAWA
Vice President, Animal Welfare
As San Diego Humane Society’s vice president of animal welfare, Amanda ensures consistency and excellence in all of our animal welfare services, facilities and staff and guest experiences.
Amanda is dedicated to animals and has a passion for research, education and collaboration. She is known for loving “crazy ideas” and encourages her team to innovate, be creative and think big. She is a huge source of support (and baked goods!) and always brings her best to the table, especially when her team needs her most. Amanda specialized in behavioral care in shelters for more than 15 years before taking on this role, including seven years leading our Behavior Center, which has helped more than 4,000 shelter animals — who otherwise would have been out of options — since its beginning in 2013. She also played a crucial role in designing the new state-of-the-art Behavior Center facility, which opened in 2019 as the first of its kind in California, and was the first vice president of behavior programs at San Diego Humane Society.
Amanda holds a Master of Science in animals and public policy from the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University along with a certificate in Applied Animal Behavior from the University of Washington. She is a certified animal welfare administrator (CAWA) through the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement, a Fear Free-Certified Professional Trainer, a Certified Professional Dog Trainer (CPDT-KA) and the vice president of the board of directors for the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers.
