Meet the Team
West Place is made possible by a long list of talented, kind, and generous
Board Members, a small but mighty staff, and dozens of daily volunteers.
Each individual plays an important role in the day-to-day operations of the sanctuary.
Wendy Taylor
Founder &
Executive Director
Wendy Taylor began West Place in memory of her beloved animals who perished in a house fire. From that traumatic experience, she gained strength and focus and West Place was born. She left the practice of law after twenty years and has dedicated her life to improving the lives of animals who have been victims of cruelty, abuse or neglect.
Wendy is a Level II licensed wildlife rehabilitator, and also sits on the State of RI Animal Welfare Council, which recommends new laws go before the legislature.
Staff/Administration
Patrick Cole
Director of Development
and Communications
Terry Somerson
Operations Manager
Sarah Mullen
Animal Care Manager
Board of Directors
Thomas has worked in various engineering, sales and management roles at APC/Schneider Electric for the past 20 years primarily in electrical and mechanical aspects of the data center business. Currently the Business Development Manager for Modular Data Centers and Design Services he is responsible for strategy development and implementation for Prefabricated Systems for Data Center, Edge Compute and non-IT applications.
Thomas is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a B.S. in Civil / Environmental Engineering, and the current chairman of the board of West Place Animal Sanctuary.
Thomas D. Humphrey
Board Chair
Peter Rodriguez
Board Secretary
Taylor Rego
Sergeant At Arms
Samantha Currie
Board Member
Special Teams
Pam Dow
Green Thumb Volunteer Supervisor
Tom Freitas
Handyperson Volunteer
Supervisor
Jesse Dufault
Volunteer
Videographer