Amelia Air is a nonprofit dedicated to ending the pet euthanasia practice in the United States.
Our Mission: Stop euthanasia!
We are a small but mighty group of volunteers committed to one goal: save hundreds of animals each year. It breaks our hearts that almost one million shelter animals are euthanized in the US each year because they can’t find a home, and we’re working our hardest to reduce that number by saving as many pets as possible with each donated dollar. Remember: adopt, don’t shop! Your next best friend is waiting for you right now in a shelter and we encourage everyone to open their hearts to an adorable, adoptable animal.
To find out a bit more about how we operate, please check out our “details” page!
Our Team
Founder / Pilot - Dean Heistad
Dean has been a long-time aviator and life-long animal advocate, and a career technologist. His passion for animals began in his childhood when the local university research hospital allowed his family to rescue a “subject” that wasn’t viable for their animal research, so Rosie the family mutt was rescued. Dean found a deep passion for aviation as a teenager, and once successful in his career, he wanted to give back so he started flying charitable flights to provide free transport to ambulatory patients for Angel Flight and flights to rescue animals for Pilots n Paws. Seeing a gap in both funding and logistics, he rallied some very smart and passionate people around Amelia Air with the mission of saving animals with airplanes.
Co-Founder / Pilot - Petra Janney
Petra heard about Dean’s mission to rescue pets in planes, and decided right away to help him build Amelia Air from the ground up. After growing up in the wilderness of Maine, Petra fell in love with the natural world and has been doing everything she can to save animals ever since. She is also the founder of Hatcher, a technology consultancy dedicated to inventing a sustainable future for corporate clients across industries. Petra graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University where she explored the healthcare applications of 3D printing and tested concepts for recyclable photovoltaic cells. Petra is passionate about decarbonizing aviation and leveraging technology as a force for good.
Director of Audience Engagement - Stacy Schecter
Stacy joined Amelia Air in August 2020 and immediately launched the most successful fundraiser in our organization’s history, raising over $32,000 in two weeks with an incredible West Wing-themed sweepstakes. She now manages Amelia Air’s social media accounts and heads up the ongoing fundraising efforts! Outside of rescuing animals, Stacy is the Senior Supervising Attorney at Safe Horizon’s Domestic Violence Law Project in Brooklyn, New York. Stacy lives in New York City with her husband and young son, Nolan, who loves to help meet the dogs at the airport on rescue mission days!
Director of Data & Analytics - Nicole Mirando
Nicole joined the Amelia Air team at the start of 2021. Her profession is higher education where she serves as assistant dean at a NYC graduate school. Actively involved in dog rescue for about ten years, Nicole is an experienced foster (albeit limitedly because her own dog disapproves) and has been coordinating many administrative aspects for rescue groups before flying into Amelia Air’s mission. She is currently in school pursuing a doctorate of education alongside her other passion of helping save, and unconditionally loving, pets in need.
Veterinary Director / Pilot - Adi Chatow, DVM
Adi joined the Amelia Air team in early 2021. After a few years of working for ad-tech start-ups in the Bay Area and NYC, Adi decided to pursue her childhood dream of helping animals and becoming a veterinarian. She completed her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at UC Davis Veterinary School, class of 2022. She is now a general practitioner working with dogs and cats in New Orleans, and is also interested in animal shelter medicine. In addition to her devotion and passion for animal medicine and welfare, Adi earned her private pilot license in 2013 and has flown dozens of pets to safety.
Rescue Partnerships Lead - Veronika Lantseva
Veronika first got connected with Amelia Air in March 2020 when she adopted a scruffy Pekingese mix named Toby (f.k.a. Dumbledog) whom Amelia Air rescued in partnership with DC Paws rescue. She joined the Amelia Air team in the Fall of 2021. Veronika has been volunteering with rescues and shelters since she was 14 years old and has a particular soft spot in her heart for senior dogs, adopting three of them in the last few years. Outside of rescue, Veronika is an HR leader in the banking industry and volunteers at a shelter for domestic violence survivors.
Outreach Lead / Pilot - Paul Sullivan
Paul joined Amelia Air in the summer of 2021 after accompanying Petra, David, and Adi on a three-plane rescue in California. This experience reignited his lifelong dream of becoming a pilot, leading him to earn his private pilot certificate by the fall of 2022. With over eight years of experience as a personal assistant in Los Angeles, and a degree in film and public relations from Columbia College Chicago, Paul brings a creative approach to outreach, operations, and communications for Amelia Air. Combining his passion for aviation with a commitment to animal advocacy, he’s grateful for the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the important work done by Amelia Air.
Partner / Pilot - Dr. Rob Allen
Dr. Robert M. Allen pursued his interest in medicine and eye care at Pennsylvania College of Optometry, earning a Bachelor of Science and Doctoral degrees. He began his career in private practice, and soon after he started Ashburn Eyecare Associates and became a founding partner of Associates in Eyecare. As an acknowledgment of his academic and leadership achievements, he was named a fellow in the Virginia Academy of Optometry. As a former President of the Virginia Optometric Association, Dr. Allen is a nationally recognized leader of the profession, and he was named the Virginia Optometric Association’s Optometrist of the Year for 2017. He has also served as President of the Northern Virginia Optometric Society and served for eight years on its Executive Board. Dr. Allen serves as a business development partner & pilot for Amelia Air Rescue, flying at-risk pets from shelters to foster homes or new families. Dr. Allen is an avid pilot, holding commercial, instrument and multi-engine ratings, as well as being a former SCCA racecar driver. He lives in Virginia with his wife, daughter and two Goldendoodles.
West Coast Liaison / Pilot - Regi Elliott
Regi is a commercial pilot who is training to be a certified flight instructor, and a proud dog mum to 3 rescues from the streets of India. Regi has a MA in International Human Rights Law from the American University in Cairo, and has lived on 5 continents working in humanitarian aid and animal welfare. Now, at Amelia Air, she is realizing her dream of combining her passions for pet rescue and flying. She joined Amelia Air in 2023 as a volunteer pilot, and assists with fundraising, pilot coordination, and marketing. Regi also teaches Pilates and yoga, and enjoys hiking with her dogs and her human friends, too.
Public Relations Lead - Laura Lamando
Laura has had a family of rescued fur babies her whole life and loves being part of Amelia Air working to rescue more. She comes to Amelia Air charged with bringing in revenues through press partnerships and building upon our current branded merchandise program. She brings a 30 year career building and managing global brand consumer products and retail marketing programs for Foot Locker, The Coca-Cola Company, Paramount, FIFA and 2 Olympic Games. More recently, she worked on the manufacturing / agency side as the head of account services and licensing and managed programs for clients like Sundance Film Festival and Peanuts Worldwide. She recently launched a mental wellness Made in LA fashion brand and has a passion for sustainable purchasing.
Laura currently lives in Santa Monica, CA with her 2 fur babies Max and Brooklyn.
Volunteer Pilots
David Grant - Los Angeles, CA
Chris Miller - Leesburg, VA
James Lindsey - Leesburg, VA