CAT's Mission

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Betsy has a BA from Vassar College and has been a licensed real estate agent for over 20 years and a freelance editor for over 30 years. She began doing TNVR of feral cats in Connecticut in the 1980s, as well as fostering/socializing feral kittens for adoption, and was a board member/volunteer for several animal rescue groups there. In 2004, Betsy moved to California and volunteered with the SFSPCA and started a small TNR group in Pacifica. Moving to Virginia in 2012, she quickly became involved with Voices for Animals. In January 2018, she became director of the Community Cat Project program of VFA. As president of CAT, Betsy will preside over meetings, direct ongoing strategy and fundraise, as well as continuing to trap and transport feral cats, deliver food to colony caretakers, and track the inventory of humane feral cat traps. 

Sheila is a retired U.S. Army Officer who currently resides in Zion Crossroads. She has a BA from the University of Southern Mississippi and an MS in Acquisition and Contract Management from Florida Institute of Technology; Sheila also has a certificate in Business Process Management. Before leaving Hawaii in 2020, she was a Community Cat Caretaker and learned the value of the TNVR program and colony care. Since moving to Virginia, Sheila discovered CAT and began trapping, transporting, and caring for a colony in Troy, VA. She joined the CAT board in late 2023 and immediately dove in to support CAT’s financial management as treasurer.

Ashley is a commercial construction professional, a 2019 UVA Mechanical Engineering graduate, and a long-time cat lover and animal welfare advocate. Growing up, her family cared for stray cats and participated in nearby TNVR clinics in Northern Virginia. Starting in high school, she was President of the Interact Club of Western Loudoun and sowed roots with the Rotary Club; in college, she continued this service as President of the Rotaract Club and Lacrosse the Nations. Ashley came to find out about CAT and our mission, and since 2020, has supported the team through management of CAT’s administrative processes, building strategic business partnerships, and organizing fundraising efforts. Her love for cats and community will continue to be the driving force of the work she does for Cat Action Team. Ashley lives in the City of Charlottesville with her husband, their black lab Toph, and their four kitties Milo, Opie, Bean, and Huck.

After graduation from the University of Connecticut and completion of additional training in computer software development, Jo Ann Freeman had a multi-decade, information-technology career at a major group health insurer in Connecticut. She managed development of business software and headed the organization’s strategic planning group. After retirement, she was a long-term volunteer for Habitat for Humanity in Greensboro, North Carolina before moving to Virginia. After personal experience with a tickborne illness she founded BugBeWear, an online retailer of tick repellent clothing. BugBeWear worked with many Lyme Disease support groups to improve public knowledge of tickborne threats and effective approaches to tick-bite prevention. Jo Ann lives with her husband and two cats, Miss Pippi and Lucky, in western Albemarle county.  

Ashley is an attorney and former journalist. She has a BA from Texas Lutheran University, an MA from New York University, and a JD from the University of Virginia. Ashley is passionate about animals and has fostered cats and dogs for a variety of organizations over the past 20 years. She is also a board member of the Virginia LGBTQ Bar Association and a member of the Junior League of Charlottesville. Ashley is the proud mom of a blind and well-traveled cat named Billy, a horse named Chicken, and a dog named Gorby.