Kevin Corcoran

President

Kevin joined the Summit Board of Directors in 2017 and assumed the role of President in 2020. Kevin is an AVP- Washington Sales and Account Services at Providence Health Plan. Prior to his current role, Kevin was the Regional Sales Director with PacificSource Health Plans. He has also served as the Director of Sales and Account Management for United Healthcare in the states of Washington, Alaska, and Montana. In this role, he was responsible for the under-100 employee market and associations and trust clients. 

Carlene Schmelke

Carlene has been volunteering for Summit Assistance Dogs for the last 20 years.  She joined the Summit Board of Directors in 2023.  Carlene has been employed at IDEX Health & Science in Oak Harbor, WA for the last 15 years, currently as the Procurement Director.  IDEX Health & Science, LLC is the global leader in life science fluidics, microfluidics, and optics for analytical instruments and diagnostic instruments, including DNA Sequencers.  She currently leads a team of Buyers that supports engineering and manufacturing.  She has been in Supply Chain for the last 30 years.  Carlene has always had dogs of her own and shares her love of animals and helping others with her husband, David and their two dogs.

Stephanie Drenchen

Treasurer

Stephanie is a Principal Software Engineering Manager at Microsoft. After graduating from the University of Washington with a degree in Computer Science in 2002, she has spent over 16 years working at Microsoft on products such as System Center, Cortana, and Windows Search. She joined manufacturing startup Bright Machines in late 2018 as a Senior Director, building a team of software engineers and scientists working on building intelligent industrial robots. She returned to Microsoft in 2022 and currently leads an engineering team within Industry Clouds and Solutions.  Her involvement with Summit started through the Microsoft Giving campaign, and she raised a puppy in 2011 through the Summit program. She is a proud Summit supporter and hopes that others will join her by empowering people with disabilities to greater heights. 

Susan Bohn

Sue Bohn is the former Vice President of Product Management at Microsoft, where she led a global team advising Microsoft’s strategic customers. After a distinguished thirty-year career at Microsoft, spanning marketing, evangelism, and engineering roles, Sue retired in 2023. Her earlier professional experiences include working for a client/server startup in the Bay Area and several mainframe software companies. Sue holds a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Minnesota Moorhead. Beyond her tech career, Sue is a classically-trained pianist, avid reader, fine wine enthusiast, and dog lover. Her journey with Summit began through the Microsoft Giving campaign, where she was inspired by sponsoring a puppy and discovering the profound impact service dogs have on people's lives. As a proud owner of a beloved labrador, Sue, along with her husband Tom, deeply values the special bond between dogs and their owners. Sue is passionately committed to Summit’s mission of empowering people to lead independent and fulfilling lives in partnership with a service dog.

Michael Hughes

Elected to the Board of Directors in 2015, Michael is a Senior Portfolio Manager with Northern Trust. Prior to joining Northern Trust in 2019, Mr. Hughes was the Chief Investment Officer at Cornerstone Advisors Inc.. In his role of Chief Officer, Michael was directly accountable for managing and directing the investment team in traditional and non-traditional global manager research and selection, asset allocation and risk management. His involvement with Summit stretches back over a dozen years, when he referred a very good friend to Summit to get his first mobility service dog. Mike and his wife Sally live in Mill Creek with their Summit career-change Labrador, Kelly.

Meg Jones

Meg is the Regional Director of Government Relations for PacificSource Health Plans, where she serves Washington’s newest commercial nonprofit community health plan through legislative and regulatory advocacy and community engagement leadership. Meg has a wealth of leadership and legislative experience, gained over many years of service in both corporate and nonprofit sectors. 

Leslie O’Brien

Leslie became involved with Summit in 2016 and joined the board in 2020. Leslie is the Director of Channel Partnerships at One Medical, where she brings exceptional leadership, problem-solving, and client retention skills focused on building the foundation for a superior client experience. She lives in Seattle with her husband and two children. She enjoys choral singing, jogging, and spending time and traveling with her family. She is proud to support Summit's tremendous and impactful work. 

Kerri Villeneuve

Kerri is the Vice President of Growth for Optum Healthcare Company. She is a highly accomplished sales leader with a proven record for exceeding sales goals, building market share and increasing local market revenue. Kerri also has expert knowledge in disability training. She graduated from the University of Montana with a Bachelor of Education, Health and Human Performance and has been a board member for Pacific Northwest Insurance Council for 8 years. Kerri joined the Summit Board of Directors in 2024.

Kelly Schwarting

Kelly Schwarting is the Director of the Washington state Health Care Authority (HCA) account at Regence BlueShield, where she oversees the administration of the HCA Uniform Medical Plans, serving over 413,000 public and school employees and their families.With a proven track record in strategic planning, execution, and complex relationship management, Kelly brings a wealth of expertise to her role. Outside of work, Kelly is an outdoor enthusiast who enjoys hiking and riding bikes with her husband, Jim. 

Sue Meinzinger

Founder & Executive Director

Sue’s love of animals started in early childhood. She trained her first dog at nine years of age and through this early experience developed a life-long interest in animal training. Sue spent many years first training horses, then later moving on to train dogs professionally. An entrepreneur at heart, she started and managed a couple of small businesses, including her own pet dog training business. When introduced to the concept of service dogs in the late 1990’s, Sue was intrigued and inspired by the thought of using her skills to make a difference in the lives of people. After graduating from The Assistance Dog Institute in Santa Rosa, where she gained an education in training assistance dogs for people living with disabilities, she founded Summit Assistance Dogs. She has served as the Executive Director of Summit Assistance Dogs since its founding in 2000 and she remains very enthusiastic and committed to her life’s calling.

Rita Cooper

Administrative Manager and Dog Adoption Coordinator

Rita joined Summit in 2008 after relocating to the PNW from the Midwest. She brings with her a lifelong love of dogs, an understanding of how they positively impact our lives, and over 20 years of experience as an office manager with GE Commercial Finance and Deloitte and Touche. Summit is a perfect fit for her, encompassing her skills and passion to help better the lives of others. Rita and her husband share their home with three dogs (two of which are Summit released dogs) and one cat. She enjoys kayaking, hiking, playing with her dogs, and traveling.

Lindy Langum

Trainer

Lindy started out in the marine animal training and husbandry field after graduating from college, beginning with clicker training fish, then sea turtles and all the way to dolphins. In 2009 she moved to the Pacific Northwest and decided to stay when she rescued a dog who presented many behavioral challenges but gave her the perfect reason to learn more about canine behavior. She graduated from the Northwest School of Canine Studies in 2010 and has been training and helping people build better bonds with dogs since. Lindy started out as a volunteer teaching the Seattle area Summit foster home classes in 2016 and has now become a staff instructor and trainer at Summit Assistance Dogs.

Jen Walker

Client Services Coordinator

Jen’s background serving pets and people started twenty years ago in animal sheltering. She has extensive experience in community education, companion animal behavior and training, volunteer coordination, and program management. She is a certified dog trainer, has coached handler-trained Service Dogs teams, created humane education programs, and partnered in juvenile justice and animal sheltering projects. Jen is devoted to continuing her education through webinars and in-person coursework, voracious reading, and learning from those she works with daily. “Any day I haven’t learned something from the dogs, is a day I haven’t been paying enough attention!” 

Renee Hammer

Client Services Coordinator

Renee joined Summit Assistance Dogs in 2025. For the last 9 years, Renee was the Director of Operations for a non-profit service dog organization in California. Her work included client services, puppy raising, service dog training, and dog handling including detection and apprehension K9s. Renee is extremely happy to be back home on Whidbey and continue her passion to make a positive difference in the lives of others. Prior to working in the service dog field, Renee worked for law enforcement and was a small business owner.

Heather Anderson

Kennel Manager

Heather was born and raised on Whidbey Island and began volunteering with Summit in late 2020 as a puppy raiser. Heather joined the Summit staff in summer 2021 as the weekend Kennel Technician and Puppy Raising Program Assistant. Heather loved having pet dogs growing up and raised and trained her current dog, Ita, who is now beloved by all in her family. Heather always had dreams of working with animals or helping people and is thrilled to be a part of the Summit team to help create life-changing service dog partnerships and continue her own canine training education.

Kat LaRue

Puppy Raising Program Coordinator

Kat LaRue is from Kayenta, Arizona, and grew up on the Navajo Reservation. She recently moved to Whidbey Island after living in Portland, Oregon for the past 10 years, where she spent five years working at the Oregon Humane Society. During her time working in the shelter, she facilitated hundreds of successful pet adoptions and saw the huge need for service dogs of all kinds in her community. Particularly passionate about canine behavior and body language, Kat is on a mission to use that knowledge to strengthen the bond between people of all backgrounds and their canine companions. Kat is also a published writer and spends her free time writing poetry and nonfiction, when not exploring Whidbey Island with her own dogs, Ruby and Opal.

Mark Bunje

Facilities Project Manager

Mark joined the Summit staff in 2014 as Facilities Project Manager, after volunteering for many months conducting feasibility studies during Summit’s search for a property. He retired from the Shoreline, WA Fire Department as their Fire Chief in June 2013, after serving the Shoreline community for more than 25 years. Mark’s background also includes 20 years as a general contractor and a degree in marine engineering.

Carlin Padgett

Community Outreach Coordinator

Carlin was born and raised in Yakima Washington where his family manages twenty acres of vineyard. He graduated from Western Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in Business & Sustainability, exploring the interdisciplinary relationship between environmental resources and business practices. Carlin joined Summit in 2024 spurred by his interest in disability advocacy and love of animals, including his six year old black Labrador, Kona. In the evenings he enjoys reading murder mystery novels and exploring the local restaurant scene.

Lynne Jordan

Development Associate

Lynne served as the Director of Philanthropy for Summit from 2018 - 2021 and returned on a part-time basis in 2024 to assist in the development and outreach program. In addition to a professional background in non-profit fundraising and administration, Lynne is an active community volunteer with several Washington state-based organizations.

Ernest Coronado

Kennel Technician & Facilities Assistant

Ernest joined Summit in 2025 as a Kennel Technician & Facilities Assistant. Originally from Colorado, Ernest is excited to explore Whidbey Island and all it has to offer. With experience working in shelters and training his own dog, Emperor Kusco, Ernest is ready to put his talents to work at Summit. When not working, he spends time in the great outdoors fishing and hiking.