This month we’re getting to know one of our newer Ohio Animal Foundation board members, Alice Nee Henry. Alice joined the board in October, 2023, and will be focused on leveraging OAF marketing and communications activities to help advance our mission.
Tell us more about yourself.
Like other OAF board members and volunteers, I have a passion for animals and promoting animal welfare. My day job is working as the strategic marketing manager at The Ohio State University Health Sciences Library. You wouldn’t think there would be a lot to market at a library, but there is! I keep busy developing strategic approaches to how we talk about our services and reach our target audiences. I get to exercise my creative muscles by coming up with campaigns and doing graphic design. I also do a fair amount of writing. I love my team and I have fun every day – it’s hardly work when we’re having so much fun!
Why did you join the OAF board?
My husband and I moved to Columbus in June, 2020, at the very beginning of Covid. We were familiar with the city because we both graduated from Ohio State. After living here mostly in lockdown, I was really looking for a way to give back to the community in a way that also allowed me to support animals. I saw OAF was looking for new board members and initially applied for the social media position. After I spoke to the Executive Director, Jill, she suggested that maybe I could make an impact as a marketing board member instead.
What do you like most about being an OAF board member?
I love that not only can I give back to my community, but I can give back in a way where I can leverage my 20+ years of experience in the marketing and communications field to support animal welfare. I truly believe in OAF’s grant-funding mission, and I plan to do what I can to help OAF fund more animal and wildlife advocate organizations. I’m excited to see how far we can go!
Do you have any pets?
We have two rescued cats: Piper joined our family in 2018. Some hikers heard her meowing from inside a porta-potty by the path on a 90+ degree day. They brought her to a rescue that unfortunately could not intake her on the spot. My daughter and I “happened” to be at the rescue (doesn’t everyone go to animal rescues every once in a while just to love on the animals there??) and I made the split second decision to bring this scraggly kitten home with us. Piper is still very vocal (her voice saved her life, after all!), very much a diva cat, and she loves only one person – my husband. Figgy is our “Covid cat” – we adopted him in 2021 from a Dayton-area rescue. As a 16 week old kitten, he was already 10 lbs (twice the size of his litter mates) and he had a cloudy eye due to an eye infection he had when he was trapped as a baby. (That’s actually a pretty cool story – the vet used Figgy’s own blood plasma as a treatment for his eye infection, and because of that intervention was able to save his eye and his vision.) Figgy is the purest, most affectionate soul. He’s just the best boy. My dream is to foster kittens someday, because I know Figgy would be the best “mom” to those babies.
What are three fun facts about yourself?
- I’ve played the piano since I was 4 years old. When I was in high school, I took piano lessons for two years from a world-renowned concert pianist from Bratislava. I also taught private piano lessons for about 11 years while I took a break from working outside the home to be a stay-at-home mom.
- I’ve lived in Ohio pretty much my entire life. I was actually born in Columbus and now that I’m back in Columbus, it really feels like my life has come full circle!
- My husband, Todd, and I have two grown kids – Tyler, who will be 26 in April, and Caitlin, who is 24. Both kids live in Columbus, and we love that. We see them all the time! Tyler is a United States Marine. He recently graduated from Columbus State and plans to get his bachelor’s degree from Franklin University. He works in software development. Caitlin is an Ohio State grad and works as a data analyst consultant.
And a bonus fun fact… I am a die-hard Buckeyes fan. O-H!