Meet the Board of Directors
The CCADT would not be possible without the outstanding commitment of our volunteers. Our leadership team gives endless hours of strategizing, fundraising, and providing educational input to ensure our communities become resilient to disasters. Here is an introduction to our Board of Directors.
Naomi E. Tobias, CEO & President
Naomi is the founder of CCADT. Since 2007, she has lead efforts in California's central valley to educate on disaster preparedness for animals. In 2011, she founded the CCADT which assists emergency responders with displaced animals during disasters.
Debi Geary, Vice-President
Debi is CCADT's Kern County Division Supervisor. In 2017, Debi was instrumental in developing the seventh county of the Central California Animal Disaster Team. For the last six years she has served as an appointed Commissioner on the Kern County Animal Services Commission.
Mary Souders, Secretary
Mary joined CCADT in its infancy in 2012 and has deployed to dozens of natural disasters with the team. She trained over 100 volunteers throughout the San Joaquin Valley and developed CCADT’s policies and procedures for our volunteers and disaster response systems.
Jeff Kermode, Treasurer
Jeff is CCADT's Public Information Officer for our Kern County Division. He has an impressive law enforcement background that has expanded over 40 years. His past positions included being the Chief of Police in Tehachapi and afterward, the interim Chief for the Bear Valley Police Department. Currently, he serves on the Tehachapi Unified School District Board of Trustees and owns his own business - The JJK Group, Inc.
Katrina Poitras, Director
Katrina has been employed with the American Red Cross - Central Valley chapter since 2009. Currently, she serves as the Disaster Program Manager for Mariposa and Madera counties. She has supervised response staff and volunteers during numerous wildfires, single/multi-family fires, and other incidents. In the photo, she is with Dante, her trained therapy dog.