Heartland's Staff
Meet the dedicated team who carry out Heartland’s mission of inspiring compassion for all.
Staff Leadership
Jen Korz
Executive DirectorJen has been dedicated to non-profit work for the entirety of her 25-year career. After earning her degree in Social Work, she advocated for a variety of vulnerable populations, eventually finding her ultimate passion working with and for the animals. After working many years in fundraising and advocacy for a nationally-recognized animal organization, she changed gears and served as part of the administration team at an arts-based early childhood education landmark in Madison, Wisconsin. Jen brings expertise and connections in development, project management and strategic planning, but considers her passion and conviction for the mission of Heartland as her most important assets. While Jen was raised on the east coast, her family has Midwestern roots and she has been a resident of Madison since 2005. In her spare time, she enjoys eating her partner’s vegan culinary offerings and spending time with their two daughters (both of whom are campers at Heartland) and their four spoiled rotten rescue dogs.
Alecia Torres
Shelter DirectorAlecia has lived in Wisconsin since 1993 when she left Illinois to attend UW-Madison. She fell in love with Madison and never wanted to leave, so her parents and brother followed her to the area to be together. Alecia earned her degree in social welfare, but her strongest love has always been animals. She has lived with animal companions her entire life and is passionate about animal rights issues, especially pertaining to the plight of animals used for food and other human purposes. She followed farm sanctuaries for years before finding out about Heartland and attending their very first fundraiser. Alecia started as an animal care volunteer, but her responsibilities grew until working for Heartland became a full time job. Her favorite friends at the sanctuary are the turkeys, hens and roosters. Alecia lives in Madison with her husband Rob, their Lab-Pit mix Sophie, and their cat Tuco.
Maggie Bayerl
Therapeutic Programs DirectorMaggie joined our team after falling in love with Heartland’s mission while bringing children here for field trips. Maggie is originally from Grand Rapids, MI and attended Grand Valley State University, earning her degree in Recreational Therapy. Maggie moved to Madison in 2014 and completed her Master’s of Education in Family and Parent Education. Maggie has worked in a variety of roles in the nonprofit sector with both children and adults with disabilities. She currently lives on a small farm just outside of Madison with her husband, their three dogs, eight chickens, and eight alpacas.
Jamie Monroe
Communications DirectorJamie started volunteering with Heartland Farm Sanctuary in 2011 as an animal caretaker and is now our Communications Director. She is originally from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and graduated from Northern Michigan University, earning a degree in writing/journalism. Jamie moved to Madison in 2008 and currently lives with her partner and their rescued animal friends (including rescued chickens adopted from Heartland!) on Madison’s north side.
Ellen Schneiderman
Development DirectorA lifelong Wisconsinite, Ellen got married and moved from Milwaukee to Madison in mid-March. Animals have always been a huge part of her life and she has run a successful force-free animal training business for nearly 25 years. Ellen loves helping people gain a better understanding of their pets, and teaching them how to build a partnership through positive reinforcement. After volunteering with the Raptor Program at Schlitz Audubon Nature Center in Milwaukee, Ellen was asked to join the staff and spent four years training birds of prey, educating audiences about raptors, and raising funds. Building on her core interest in education, her acumen at fundraising, and her project management experience, she then became the Director of Development for a local Milwaukee private school where she increased donations and grant awards, even during the pandemic. Ellen has two college-aged children, a new husband, a 25-year-old Ball Python named Rambo, and a future dog or two (or three). Even though she’s still not sure which lake is where or what direction she’s going, Ellen is thrilled to be in Madison and bring her skills and passion to Heartland Farm Sanctuary!
Shelter Staff
Alecia Torres
Shelter DirectorAlecia has lived in Wisconsin since 1993 when she left Illinois to attend UW-Madison. She fell in love with Madison and never wanted to leave, so her parents and brother followed her to the area to be together. Alecia earned her degree in social welfare, but her strongest love has always been animals. She has lived with animal companions her entire life and is passionate about animal rights issues, especially pertaining to the plight of animals used for food and other human purposes. She followed farm sanctuaries for years before finding out about Heartland and attending their very first fundraiser. Alecia started as an animal care volunteer, but her responsibilities grew until working for Heartland became a full time job. Her favorite friends at the sanctuary are the turkeys, hens and roosters. Alecia lives in Madison with her husband Rob, their Lab-Pit mix Sophie, and their cat Tuco.
Stephanie Weis
Shelter AssistantStephanie grew up in Madison and has had a soft spot for all animals as far back as she can remember, beginning with a giant earthworm. 🙂 She studied zoology in college and planned to become a vet until chemistry dashed those dreams and she switched majors to focus on her second passion - kids. Stephanie earned a BS in Elementary and Middle School Education with an emphasis on science. She taught fourth through seventh grades for 23 years until leaving to spend more time at Heartland where she began as a twice weekly animal care volunteer in January of 2011. Over time she excitedly took on various other roles including animal care staff, camp counselor and programs director. She even did an early stint on the board of directors. Currently her part-time work is spent in Memorial High School’s library and at Heartland as assistant to the shelter director. She considers herself so lucky to be able to continue to work with both kids and animals as well as with like-minded people. She lives just a couple of miles from the sanctuary with her husband, her rescued one-year-old dog and 18-year-old-cat who, by strange coincidence, share identical coloration. She also has two college kids who come and go.
Tera Runde
Ambassador + Medical AssistantTera began volunteering at Heartland in February 2014 and her regular shift evolved into training and animal enrichment. She particularly loves working with the mini pigs and llamas, but is in the process of helping all the animals get comfortable being handled for veterinary care. She regularly assists our Medical Supervisor, Vickie, with vaccinations, hoof trimming, medications and more. Tera also serves as an Ambassador, leading private and public tours and representing HFS out in the community. Tera especially loves being known as “Percy’s human” (Percy is one of our rescued potbellied pigs) and taking him on field trips to businesses and schools. Tera lives with her husband, son, and her own herd of four rescued potbellied pigs.
Barbara O’Connell
Animal Care StaffBarbara’s first career was in the medical field taking care of people. When she retired in July 2014, she knew she wanted to become more involved with animals. She started volunteering at the Dane County Humane Society in Madison and one of her fellow workers, Terry Ryan, mentioned that she volunteered at Heartland Farm Sanctuary. In the cold month of February, Barb started as a volunteer at the farm and fell in love! The animals and people at the barn are her true inspiration, and she hopes to be a part of Heartland Farm Sanctuary for a long time. Barbara shares her human home with her husband, Larry, and two dogs, Ella and Basie.
Vickie Hoehn
Medical SupervisorVickie grew up spending summers and vacations on her grandparents’ farm where she was able to feed her love of animals and hard work! Combined with her twenty years of experience as a PA, she has found a great fit at Heartland. Vickie has worked in hospitals and clinics and has taken her skills on volunteer disaster relief trips to Myanmar, Belize and most recently New Orleans, after Hurricane Katrina, where she learned construction skills. She now uses her medical and building skills at Heartland. She performs regular animal health checks, works closely with veterinarians, and manages medications and treatments for all of Heartland's rescued farm animal residents.
Michelle Hogan
Animal Care StaffMichelle moved to Madison from the Chicagoland area in December 2013 and started volunteering at Heartland doing animal care the following April. Michelle lives with her fiancé and their three dogs. They also foster for several organizations so they usually have a few foster animals (dogs, cats, and birds) at home, as well. Outside of Heartland, Michelle spends most of her time with her dogs, but also enjoys baking vegan desserts, reading too many books at one time, and listening to true crime podcasts.
Carrie Richardson
Animal Care StaffCarrie was born and raised in Richland Center, Wisconsin. After earning her Associate’s in Arts and Sciences at UW-Richland, she transferred to UW-Platteville. She graduated with a Bachelor’s in Social Science Comprehensive in 2008. Carrie always carried a deep concern for animal welfare and in March of 2014, began volunteering at Heartland. She is also a full-time Accounting Clerk for a non-profit healthcare organization.
Patty Peters
Animal Care StaffPatty grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and earned her bachelor’s degree in History and Social Studies from Cleveland State University. Since childhood, she has always felt a close bond with animals and found comfort in their company. In the summer of 2012, Patty took a public tour at Heartland, was immediately hooked, and started volunteering on animal care shifts. She also enjoys taking some of Heartland’s animals on field trips into the community. Patty lives with her husband, two daughters, and their dog. She thinks one of the best perks about having a minivan is being able to transport farm animals in it.
Krysta Koralesky
Animal Care StaffKrysta was born and raised in La Crosse, Wisconsin and has degrees in Conservation Biology and Environmental Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Krysta loves learning about animals and nature, and has always found farm work to be fulfilling. She started volunteering at Heartland in October of 2015 and has been part of Heartland animal care staff since April 2017. Outside of Heartland, Krysta works in administration for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and lives in Madison with her two cats, Lily and Diana.
Emily Eklof
Ambassador + Rehoming CoordinatorEmily started working for Heartland as a Sanctuary Ambassador in February of 2019 and then started fielding their rehoming requests in December of 2019. She was born and raised just outside of Madison, WI. She graduated from UW-Madison with dual degrees in English literature and Gender and Women's Studies. She currently lives in Madison with her partner, their cat and four rescued chickens who are all spoiled rotten.
Ana Rudy
Animal Care Staff + Volunteer CoordinatorAna grew up in Madison, just four miles from Heartland Farm Sanctuary. After various stints in the tech industry, Ana discovered Heartland by chance after following other farm sanctuaries on social media. Starting out as a volunteer in 2017, Ana immediately loved the messy work, like-minded people and amazing animals. She joined the Animal Care Staff in 2018. She will tell anyone willing to listen how special Heartland is and how blessed she feels to have found her true purpose, passion and bliss. Ana lives on the near west side with her husband, Mo, and rescue dachshund, Peanut.
Joe Aussem
GroundskeeperJoe completed a doctoral degree from the UW in 2009 and has lived in Madison ever since. Joe has a deep respect for all animals, is passionate about animal rights, and considers working at Heartland Farm Sanctuary as a perfect place to put this care into action. Joe started volunteering at Heartland in 2018. Joe’s other interests include running, hospice care, managing a vineyard, type 1 diabetes, meditation, and being a proud dad to a rescued cat.
Terry Miller
Animal Care StaffTerry moved to Madison from Pennsylvania to take a nursing position in hospice. She has been an avid animal lover since childhood and is dedicated to volunteerism. After volunteering for WI Badger Honor Flight for five years, she decided to direct her attention to her love of animals. She found Heartland Farm Sanctuary was just a few miles from her home and started as a volunteer in the fall of 2016. After 25 years in nursing, she is looking forward to her retirement and spending more time at Heartland.
Jenni Vance
Animal Care Staff/Assistant Medical SupervisorJenni lives in Madison with her wife, daughter, and their two dogs, Jack and Trudy. For the past 4 1/2 years, Jenni ran an in-home daycare, which she started after her daughter was born prematurely. This year, their daughter will start kindergarten and Jenni will return to healthcare, and hopefully spend more time at the sanctuary!
Anna Burr
Animal Care StaffAnna started volunteering at Heartland in September of 2018 as an animal care volunteer. She quickly realized she had found her true love when she started working closely with the pigs! Dogs are her first love, however, and she has been working full-time in the petcare industry for the past nine years. In addition to working at the farm, Anna operates a dog walking and pet-sitting business in the Madison area and works part-time at a doggy daycare. Anna grew up in Sun Prairie and has lived in Madison for the past ten years. She currently lives with her partner and their dog, three cats and two bunnies. When she isn’t working, Anna enjoys spending time with family, gardening, bird watching and listening to podcasts.
Thomas Gasper
Groundskeeping InternThomas started volunteering at Heartland in February 2021 and loved spending time with the staff and animals. He is excited to join the Heartland team for the summer because he has always been intrigued by tractors and farm machinery. He is looking forward to caring for the grounds at Heartland and making friends with the animals and staff. Thomas loves biking, video games, and his dog named Bear.
Program Staff
Maggie Bayerl
Therapeutic Programs DirectorMaggie joined our team after falling in love with Heartland’s mission while bringing children here for field trips. Maggie is originally from Grand Rapids, MI and attended Grand Valley State University, earning her degree in Recreational Therapy. Maggie moved to Madison in 2014 and completed her Master’s of Education in Family and Parent Education. Maggie has worked in a variety of roles in the nonprofit sector with both children and adults with disabilities. She currently lives on a small farm just outside of Madison with her husband, their three dogs, eight chickens, and eight alpacas.
Emily Eklof
Ambassador + Rehoming CoordinatorEmily started working for Heartland as a Sanctuary Ambassador in February of 2019 and then started fielding their rehoming requests in December of 2019. She was born and raised just outside of Madison, WI. She graduated from UW-Madison with dual degrees in English literature and Gender and Women's Studies. She currently lives in Madison with her partner, their cat and four rescued chickens who are all spoiled rotten.
Tera Runde
Ambassador + Medical AssistantTera began volunteering at Heartland in February 2014 and her regular shift evolved into training and animal enrichment. She particularly loves working with the mini pigs and llamas, but is in the process of helping all the animals get comfortable being handled for veterinary care. She regularly assists our Medical Supervisor, Vickie, with vaccinations, hoof trimming, medications and more. Tera also serves as an Ambassador, leading private and public tours and representing HFS out in the community. Tera especially loves being known as “Percy’s human” (Percy is one of our rescued potbellied pigs) and taking him on field trips to businesses and schools. Tera lives with her husband, son, and her own herd of four rescued potbellied pigs.
Julie Wulff
Education CoordinatorJulie grew up in Greenfield, Wisconsin and earned her degree in Elementary Education at UW-Madison. She has loved animals for as long as she can remember. Julie loved teaching Kindergarten and especially loved teaching themes and units about animals. Every time her class had a field trip to the farm, she never wanted to leave! After returning to the Madison area, Julie started volunteering at Heartland in April of 2018 and fell in love immediately and jumped at the opportunity to become an ambassador. Julie lives in Fitchburg with her husband, two children, three parrots and one floppy-eared bunny. Julie feels extremely lucky to be able to be a part of Heartland.
Callie Jordan
AmbassadorCallie joined Heartland Farm Sanctuary as a Camp Counselor and Sanctuary Ambassador in the summer of 2019. She is currently pursuing a degree in Zoology at UW-Madison and she hopes to continue working with animals after she graduates. In her leisure, Callie enjoys spending time with her sweet Old English Sheepdog named Cash and her energetic Bernedoodle named Chaz.
Amy Kurka
Humane Education ManagerWith 20 years experience teaching in Wisconsin public schools, Amy was a classroom teacher and an elementary school librarian before joining Heartland's team in 2020. Amy has lived and worked throughout Wisconsin and currently lives in Middleton with her husband, daughter, and their two rescued toy poodles. Amy's love for animals extends to all species, and she has personal experience caring for dogs, cats, chickens, horses, parakeets, guinea pigs and pet snakes. Amy's respite is being outside for walks, gardening, yoga and reading lots and lots of books.
Katelyn Becker
Experiential TherapistKatelyn joined our team after learning about Heartland's mission and was excited to combine her passions for supporting kids/families with her passion for animal compassion, healing and rescue. Katelyn is originally from central Wisconsin but moved to Madison to attend the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed a Bachelor's and Master's of Social Work with a Child, Youth and Family Welfare focus. Katelyn has worked in after-school programs, nonprofits and currently in a school social work role providing crisis stabilization. She lives with her husband, two dogs and one cat...with hopes to expand when they have more space!
Leah Fricke
Lead Recreational TherapistLeah is excited to be joining the Heartland team after moving home to Madison from Minneapolis. During a time of transition, the mission, values, and community she found here made her feel like it was the perfect fit. She is a recent graduate of UW - La Crosse with a degree in Recreational Therapy and a minor in Psychology. Before starting at HFS, Leah worked with geriatrics and interned in a TCU for spinal cord and brain injury. Although she loved her experiences, she is so excited to have an opportunity to work where all her passions intersect. As someone who loves working with people, animals, and nature, she found herself right at home at Heartland.
Administrative Staff
Kes Allen
Administrative CoordinatorKes was most recently employed as an adoption counselor and merchandise coordinator at Dane County Humane Society, and currently volunteers with House Rabbit Society. Kes shares their home with two dogs, two cats, three rabbits and four chickens (and one spouse)! When Kes isn't working in the Heartland office, they love to knit, read, play video games, and participate in karate and theater.
Direct Contacts
Planned giving, corporate and business partnerships, fundraising
- Ellen Schneiderman | Development Director
- Ellen.Schneiderman@HeartlandFarmSanctuary.org
- 608-352-0110
Shelter management and donations of barn supplies including feed/hay/produce:
- Alecia Torres | Shelter Director
- Alecia.Torres@HeartlandFarmSanctuary.org
- 608-577-6795
Communications & outreach, social media, website, special events:
- Jamie Monroe | Communications Director
- Jamie.Monroe@HeartlandFarmSanctuary.org
- 608-205-8508
Experiential Therapy Programs:
- Maggie Bayerl | Therapeutic Programs Director
- Maggie.Bayerl@HeartlandFarmSanctuary.org
- 608-205-8093
Administrative inquiries:
- Kes Allen | Administrative Coordinator
- Kes.Allen@HeartlandFarmSanctuary.org
- 608-440-1118
Animal surrenders and rehoming requests:
- Emily Eklof
- Emily.Eklof@HeartlandFarmSanctuary.org
- 608-440-1118