​The SVI Board of Directors

Dr. Shelley Lenz, Founder and President
​Dr. Shelley earned her Ph.D. in pharmacology from University of Pennsylvania in 1996. She earned her DVM degree from Ohio State University in 2001. She worked as an equine vet at the prestigious Hagyard-Davidson-McGee in Lexington, KY until 2004. Realizing her vocation in life is to bring quality and accesible veterinary care to rural areas,  she moved to the Great Plains of North Dakota and also began to work internationally serving the underserved.  While serving in the international animal welfare community, she realized a large gap in the long-view for sustainability for animal welfare as well as the interconnectedness between animal welfare, human health and productive agriculture. Based on this need, she founded SVI in 2014. 

Denise Sandvick
Denise Sandvick began her path to living a purposeful life growing up in Chicago. Her travels took her as single parent to Arizona where she supported herself and family while studying business management and working in a legal office. After 10 years on that path she started her career in interior design for a large residential builder in Arizona and pursued this passion for over 12 years.  She took the risk to explore new opportunities with her family and became a small business owner in a rural town in North Dakota and an international volunteer for NGOs. Her unique life experiences bring a strong energy for women's issues, compassion for the vulnerable (both human and non-human), and an understanding of both rural and urban community development. She has a flare for fashion and Classic Cars....both which actually contribute to her unique ability to relate to almost any community!

Dr. David Turoff
​Dr. Turoff has owned and operated an ambulatory equine-predominant practice in Northern California since 1983. He began doing international volunteer work in 2001, and this now occupies about half of his professional time.  His volunteer work is focused on the countries of Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Peru. He serves as trip leader and coordinator for Latin American equine programs.  His primary clinical focus is dentistry for working equid populations, with an emphasis on portability and versatility of instrumentation, and development and use of interventions specific to the target population. He is fluent in Spanish.

Dr.  Abbie Shepard Fields
​Abbie has lived in Nicaragua since the mid-80s and is a long-time animal advocate. Deeply troubled by the horrific conditions faced by working horses in the country, she and her son Ben (currently studying veterinary medicine at Cornell) reached out to vets in the US, acting as local contacts, obtaining permits, helping translate, and assisting visiting delegations of equine vets. Abbie has supported SVI’s mission in Nicaragua since its founding, and dreams of helping SVI start a clinic in Managua—where animals face the harshest conditions—that will serve working equines and the stray and roaming dog and cat population. She is also a psychologist, teaching at the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA), where she recently earned a PhD in Social and Human Sciences.

Dr. Raul Casas-Dolz
​Dr.  Casas is an associate veterinarian focusing on equine surgery/ lameness and small animal orthopedics and imaging.  Dr. Casas received his veterinary degreee from University of Pennsylvania in 2004. Originally from Puerto Rico, Dr. Raul has ten years of experience teaching equine veterinary techniques to students throughout Latin America. Currently, he assists with the coordination and leading field clinics in Central America. He gives lectures at Central American Vet schools and programs. He also provides opportunities and mentorship for SVI sponsored Central American veterinarians to attend and participate in externships/internships for more advanced hands on training in the United States.  Dr. Casas-Dolz is a native Spanish speaker.

Dr. Tanya Ten-Broeke
​Dr. Ten-Broeke currently owns and operates a busy progressive small animal hospital in Gladstone, Oregon. After a short career in environmental engineering, she earned her DVM in 2002 from the Atlantic Veterinary College in Prince Edward Island, Canada. Dr. ten Broeke worked in both equine and small animal hospitals before purchasing Gladstone Veterinary Clinic in January of 2007.  She has been working in international animal welfare for over 16 yrs and continues to actively participate in the field courses and project planning.