Meet Our Board of Directors
Melodie Smith
President
Term: 04/1/2025 - 03/31/2027
Melodie has been involved in the animal rescue world since 2015 when she took in her first foster. She joined the UMGDR team in 2020 when her family fostered, fell in love with, and ultimately adopted their first Great Dane, Ranger. Since then, she has been an active volunteer, attending adoption or other outreach events in the community, assisting with transports, and has fostered two special needs Great Danes.
Melodie loves working relentlessly to find soft-landing spots for dogs in need. She also enjoys being a self-appointed dog/human match maker for her family, co-workers, and friends whenever possible. In addition to volunteering, Melodie is an Operations Manager for a large insurance company. She loves her job and is extremely passionate about helping people, so she considers her rescue work and educating the public about the importance of adopting from a rescue whenever possible an extension of that.
Melodie lives on a farm in central Iowa with her husband, two children, and various animal friends.
Michelle, Sammy and Marley
Michelle Gorman
Secretary
Term: 04/01/2023 - 03/31/2025
Michelle has been a member of UMGDR since 2015 when she first adopted Mabel from the rescue. Like her husband has said she never settles, go big or go home. She first started volunteering with
transportation and home visits. She has helped with the Indiana dogs and South Dakota pups to road trip to transport them back to rescue with another volunteer. When she saw the plea for the need for a reference checker and placement coordinator, she thought she can help with that also. She volunteered for both and continues to do both. She has help cover other areas as reference checker until they can get coverage and will take on extra dogs as placement coordinator in her queue to help the rescue. She
helped organize the first online auction for fundraising with the help of others that raised over $11K. Now Callie runs successfully for the rescue, but she still assists the fundraising team. Her husband Rich is the one that has always wanted a Great Dane, but little did he know they would have two or more at most times. Bailey was their first Great Dane; she was a severe epileptic but the best Dane ever. They rescued Gracie from MN WI Rescue, and she lost her battle. They than rescued Mabel with UMGDR and was adopted out but passed from osteosarcoma.
Currently she resides in Champlin, Minnesota with her husband of 36 years. They have two adult sons who live in the twin cities with their families. They have 2 granddaughters, a grandson and one on the way this summer. Currently they have Sammy 4 ½ Blue and Marley the brindle (one of Harriet Sue) potato litter pups 2 1/2yrs.
katie schmeisser
Director of Home Visits and adoptions
Term: 04/01/2025 - 03/31/2027
Katie has been a dedicated member of the Upper Midwest Great Dane Rescue (UMGDR) team since 2023. She stumbled upon UMGDR while searching for a new volunteer position after being dedicated to the same volunteer position for almost 15 years at a local organization. With UMGDR, she has greatly enjoyed working closely with the Foster and Adoption side of the rescue as the Placement Team Lead. She has also lent her talents to transportation efforts and various other projects that support the rescue’s mission. Passionate about UMGDR’s commitment to prioritizing the well-being of the dogs, she is excited to be part of the organization’s continued growth and impact.
A lifelong dog lover, Katie has shared her home with many large-breed dogs, but Great Danes hold a special place in her heart. She currently resides in Northeast Wisconsin with her beloved Dane, Nugget, and a rabbit. Outside of volunteering, Katie enjoys a career in the travel industry, exploring new destinations, and savoring unique cuisines.
Angie shipman
Director of Intake
Term: 02/1/2025 - 04/01/2027
Angie started with UMGDR in July 2024 as a Foster Home Coordinator when she was looking for a way to do something to give back and feel like she was able to make an impact. A friend told her about the rescue needing help and it was the answer she was looking for.
Angie is allergic to dogs and has no dog experience so as they say “Those who can’t do, volunteer in other ways.” Okay, maybe no one says that but Angie does have 2 rescue cats and by acting as the Director of Intake for UMGDR she finds great satisfaction in being able to rescue Danes by getting them out of difficult situations and helping them land safely in a new home.
Angie lives in Iowa with her two daughters and two rescue kitties.
Pauline, Lexi and Jericho
Pauline Schmidt
Treasurer
Term: 09/11/23 - 8/31/25
Pauline has been a volunteer with UMGDR since 2019. She first started volunteering with transportation, fostering and has helped with public events to represent UMGDR.
She has always loved the breed and has had Great Danes for many years and is known as “those Great Dane people” in the town of Charles City, Iowa along with her husband Bryan. Where they have raised 2 boys (Craig and Alex) who are now raising their own families. Even before joining the rescue, she had taken in Danes locally that needed a home, having up to 4 at one time. In 2019, she responded to a plea to foster a dog who was being returned to the rescue, Jericho shortly came into her life to not only warming her heart but also her couch. After adopting Jericho to her family with her current Dane (Lexi Lou), she continues to help transport and foster, while hoping to grow the volunteers by attending events with her current fosters and sharing their stories.
Pauline is a CPA and works as the Financial Controller for McKenna Pro, which is a professional photograph lab. She has provided banners for events with the rescues new logo and showcasing foster/adopted dogs. Being original from Canada her and her family enjoy vacationing at their cottage in northern Quebec every summer. There at the lake is where she was able to teach her Dane, (Tache) to swim with a pool noodle and a bungy cord. Being able to travel with all her Danes has never been a question. So, when she walked in a Car Dealership showroom to see if one could stand up in a new SUV, no one was surprised, except the sales person. Since joining the rescue, she grateful for all the volunteers that have help her learn about caring for rescued dogs, and this also has allowed her to meet and help the public understand rescued dogs and the needs they have.
Pauline says, “I look forward to serving UMGDR as a member of the board and helping in such a worthy cause.”
susan carpenter
Director of Foster Homes
Term: 04/01/2025–03/31/2027
Susan has been volunteering with UMGDR since 2023. At the time, she and her husband had a 7 year old Lab and a 2 year old Dane. She swore she was “just going to volunteer”, and wouldn’t be bringing any more dogs home. Well, that didn’t last very long. Susan and her husband began fostering Sandy in the fall of 2023, and adopted him not long after. She has since continued to volunteer in other capacities including home visits, transport, plea writing, and temp fostering when the need arises.
Susan is passionate about helping these amazing dogs find their forever homes and live their best lives. Her first foster, Sandy, posed both medical and behavioral challenges. Susan’s experience fostering has highlighted the importance of patience, consistency, proper training, and the significance of having support from the rescue. Her mission is to offer the foster homes the resources and support that they need while she is in this position.
Susan currently resides in Roseville, MN with her husband Austin, 3 dogs (Reagan, Murphy & Sandy), 3 chickens (Angelica, Eliza, & Peggy), and several fish tanks.
Sonja, Moose and Blue
SONYA MALVICK
Director of Transport
Term: 10/1/24 - 09/30/26
Sonya has been involved with UMGDR since November 2020 when she first adopted Moose from the rescue. Little did she know that it was just the start of her involvement. Sonya first started volunteering as a transporter and then slowly joined the transport team. She worked under Matthew eventually taking on the role of Lead Transport Coordinator in 2022. Most recently, Sonya jumped in to help with home visits when a call went out for help.
Sonya has had a passion for Danes since meeting her sister’s first Dane, Titus, a Blu back in the early 2000’s. Her sister used to joke that her Danes loved Sonya more and always were excited when she came to visit. For years Sonya longed for a Great Dane and eventually found her way to the UMGDR website, and the rest is history.
Sonya lives in Waukesha, WI with her husband Ron and dogs Blue (Weimaraner) and Moose. She has a 24-year-old son Hunter who lives in the area. Ron is always eager to help with fundraising events like the Pet Expo and is a huge support to Sonya and the rescue efforts.