About Us

Executive Director Lauren Brinkman founded Underdog in 2012 after volunteering with other humane organizations throughout Wisconsin for about 10 years. Lauren’s deep care for animals led her to form a rescue and vet clinic that helps the neediest of animals, while providing a quality experience for our adopters, volunteers, and clients.  Under Lauren’s leadership, Underdog has grown to save thousands of lives through our 150+ foster homes with support before, during, and after adoptions take place. Lauren and her family live on the north side of Madison with their rescue cat, Snax. 

Meet Dr. Lenore! She grew up in the Fox Valley area in Wisconsin and absolutely loves Madison. Her main passion in life is to reduce the number of unwanted animals, and provide a good quality of life for the animals she cares for. This is why she's very excited to be a part of the Underdog team. In her free time, she is always with her dog Olive (who's a street dog from the Caribbean), doing outdoorsy activities or agility. 

​Meet Dr. Lenore! She grew up in the Fox Valley area in Wisconsin and absolutely loves Madison. Her main passion in life is to reduce the number of unwanted animals, and provide a good quality of life for the animals she cares for. This is why she's very excited to be a part of the Underdog team. In her free time, she is always with her dog Olive (who's a street dog from the caribbean), doing outdoorsy activities or agility. 

Tarek has a passion for helping small nonprofits fundraise and has long been drawn to supporting animal welfare. He joined Underdog as the Development Director in August of 2023. Tarek and his family have a strong love for animals and adopted a kitten through Underdog in 2021. They currently have two domestic short haired cats and a leopard gecko.

Tarek Said has a B.A. from John Carroll University in Cleveland, OH and completed the Nonprofit Management Certificate Program at Northwestern University. He has a 15-year track record of helping a variety of progressive nonprofit organizations reach their goals. Tarek credits his chosen professional career to an early four-year stint of institutional fundraising at the YMCA of the USA in Chicago, IL. While there, he had the privilege of working closely with several experienced and seasoned development professionals who were responsible for raising tens of millions of dollars in support of innovative human services programs across the United States. After moving to Madison, Tarek joined a youth serving nonprofit, Forward Learning Youth & Young Adults (FLYY) as Development Director. Tarek has led FLYY in many roles since 2014 and has helped it grow into a mental health agency serving over 100 youth and families through therapy and case management programs throughout Dane county.

Kaitlin Jenkins is Underdog's Foster Coordinator. She has been working in the animal rescue field for the last 20 years. Kaitlin began fostering with Underdog upon moving to Madison in 2018, and eventually joined our volunteer application processing team as well. She enjoys working closely with our foster homes to ensure that both our foster families and adoptive families have a wonderful experience adopting from Underdog. 

Jolene Zimbal has always been an avid animal lover. She grew up working at horse stables, competing in horse shows and dog shows as well as fostering dogs for her local shelter. Jolene
graduated from Madison College’s Certified Veterinary Technician program in 2014. From there she began her CVT career in Large Animal emergency medicine at the University of Wisconsin.
Though she truly enjoyed working with horses, cattle, pigs and more, the overnight shifts were becoming too much. For the next year, she spent her time as an assistant manager of another clinic before making her way to Underdog in the fall of 2019. Not only does she work within the rescue but also assists in the vet clinic with her CVT experience. Jolene married Zachary in 2020 who she met at Madison College and he is also a CVT. Together they have three dogs; Douglas, Armando and Charlotte as well as a horse named Ruby. Jolene competes with her
Chihuahua, Armando, in a sport called Barn Hunt regularly. Her goal is to begin competing with her horse

Emily Hernandez-Elizalde joined the Underdog team as a Veterinary Assistant in March 2021. She has worked hard and quickly took on more of a Vet Tech position. When asked why she wanted to work in the veterinary profession, this is what she had to say. “Animals have always given me so much love, comfort, and joy. I choose to work as a Vet Assistant because I want to give that love back to the animals that need it. I graduated from UW-Madison with a Bachelor’s in Legal Studies but realized I needed to change my career path to find something more meaningful to me. My position at Underdog fulfills that desire. I am very happy to be working at Underdog because I’m able to see the progress that rescue animals make, especially when finding their forever homes. It can be challenging, but I have learned and grown so much. I look forward to continuing to assist in the care of all the pets that Underdog sees.” In her spare time she loves painting, camping, and hiking with her boyfriend and dogs, Lucy and Marceline. Lucy is her rescue dog that she adopted as a puppy during COVID and Marceline is an adopted Underdog! Lucy and Marceline brought her so much happiness during a time of uncertainty and has contributed to her desire to help other rescue pets.

Lucy Chiaro joined the Underdog team in August 2021 as a Veterinary Assistant. She helps keep the clinic clean, wraps surgical packs and assists with appointments. She enjoys working at Underdog because she gets to learn new things everyday. She has spent the last 6 years working with animals, and has loved every minute of it. When asked why she wanted to be a Vet Assistant, this is what she said. “The animals in my life have always been there for me for comfort and support, without me ever asking. I want to return the favor by making sure they are taken care of just as well as they took care of me.” She currently has 2 cats, 4 rats, 2 guinea pigs, a chinchilla, a tarantula, and a gecko. In her free time she likes to be outdoors camping, foraging, and drawing.

France began working with Underdog in 2020 as a receptionist. She has two dogs and two guinea pigs. Being an animal lover, France has had many dog-related jobs. After high school, she began working at a doggy daycare and currently France also works as a groomer for Grooming Tails. All these dog-related jobs helped encourage France to join the Underdog team.