SPCA SERVING ERIE COUNTY APPOINTS JENNIFER GURZ STONEBRAKER AS ORGANIZATION’S NEW CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

January 3, 2024
By: SPCA Chief Communications Officer Gina Lattuca

SPCA Serving Erie County President/CEO Cait Daly, together with the organization’s board of directors, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jennifer Gurz Stonebraker as the SPCA’s new Chief Operating Officer.

Gurz Stonebraker is well-known in our community, particularly to organization donors, as the SPCA’s Chief Development Officer, a position she has held since 2016.

Prior to her work on the senior leadership team, Gurz Stonebraker was an SPCA Adoptions/Admissions Counselor in 2002, then joined the Development team in 2003. She has more than 20 years of experience in non-profit fundraising, donor cultivation and stewardship, special event planning and management, grant writing, direct marketing, website management, and corporate sponsorships.

Daly says, “I’m so excited to begin the new year and a new era for the SPCA by announcing Jen’s shift to COO. Promoting from within shows the strong internal talent we have at the SPCA. Jen’s leadership is going to move this organization forward into the newest phase of the animal welfare industry, one in which our humane society is recognized and utilized as even more of a vital community resource.”

“We are very excited to announce Jen’s appointment as our new Chief Operating Officer,” says SPCA Board of Directors Chairperson P. Jeffrey Birtch. “This is an important job at which she will excel. Jen has been with the SPCA 21 years; we know what she can do and how well she can do it, and after all these years she has earned the utmost respect from everyone at the SPCA.”

SPCA Board of Directors Vice Chairperson Sara Dayton adds, “Jen has been instrumental to our organization for many years and is truly dedicated to our mission and our vision. She is so deserving of this promotion, and we look forward to her continued leadership as COO for years to come!”

“I am as passionate about the mission of the SPCA Serving Erie County as I was on my first day with the organization 21 years ago,” Gurz Stonebraker shares. “As a fundraiser, I have sung the praises of the work done by the SPCA because I wholeheartedly believe in the difference the SPCA has made in the lives of animals and the people who love them. I have watched the SPCA evolve over the years to meet the needs of our community and serve as a leader in the animal welfare world. I am excited and honored to bring my leadership and fundraising experience to the operations side of the organization in a way that will help the SPCA continue to thrive and grow.”

Gurz Stonebraker assumed her position as COO January 1, 2024.

Click here for more information on the SPCA Serving Erie County and its leadership team.