Joaquin Villasenor, MVZ

Joaquin Villasenor, MVZ,  Executive Director and GSL Founder, received his Medico Veterinary Zootecnista from the Universidad de Guadalajara Mexico in 1982. After working with animal rescue organizations in both the United States and Mexico, Dr. Villasenor realized that despite the efforts put forth by well-intentioned rescue groups, the real problem of pet over-population was not being addressed. In 2001, Dr. Villasenor decided the focus on controlling pet population should be on spaying and neutering. With that in mind, Dr. Villasenor, together with Glen Larson, founded the Give Some Life Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in the United States. Its mission was to provide low-cost dog and cat sterilizations in Baja California Mexico. Today, the Give Some Life Foundation has spayed/neutered over 15,000 dogs and cats in addition to training newly-graduated veterinarians his techniques.

Rebeca Serrano, MVZ

Rebeca Serrano, MVZ, GSL Medical Director, graduated from the Universidad Autonoma de Baja California (UABC) in 1999. During her training that lead to her MVZ (Medico Veterinary Zootecnista), Dra. Serrano also attended the University of California at Davis in their School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dra. Serrano began her affiliation with Give Some Life in 2001 as a volunteer veterinarian and was a participant in the very first spay/neuter campaign, held in Tijuana, in November of that year.

In 2003, Dra. Serrano was named Medical Resident for the Tijuana spay/neuter campaigns. She continued in that volunteer role until her appointment in 2006 as the Medical Director of the Give Some Life Foundation, a post she still holds.

In addition to her volunteerism with Give Some Life, Dra. Serrano has a private veterinary practice – Centro de Diagnostico – in the Cacho District of Tijuana.

Robin Gunther, Director Business Development

Robin Gunther, Director, Business Development/Financial Administration is the newest member of the GSL team.  A former Director of Technologies at a major Fortune 500 company in the U.S. , Robin left the corporate world in 2007 to move to Mexico with her husband. As a life long animal lover, she initially volunteered at the City of Rosarito Dog Pound. She soon realized that focused efforts on the overpopulation problem such as sterilization practiced by GSL would have a much greater impact on the community in the long term.  Although responsible for financial administrative duties at the Foundation, she can often be found at the GSL monthly spay/neuter campaigns. In addition to caring for her own 6 dogs, Robin also finds time to foster sick and abandoned puppies at her home.

Carol Hanna, Director, Communications Administration

Carol Hanna, Director, Communications Administration, brings to GSL a career in nonprofit management, working for organizations whose goals were to advocate for those who could not—for whatever reason—speak for themselves. Most often these included the four-legged variety. In addition to her formal employment, Carol has long had a passionate commitment for women’s rights and social justice issues. She has a BA in English and has been a newspaper columnist and freelance journalist. Carol shares her home in Rosarito with Pearl, a min-pin, and Gracie, a Chihuahua.