Meet Our Staff

Rachel McPherson
Founder and Executive Director

Rachel McPherson, a native Mississippian, is the Founder and Executive Director of The Good Dog Foundation (Good Dog).  She brings her experience as an entrepreneur and community activist to Good Dog. Prior to founding Good Dog, she was a producer for film and television. Her company, Southern Voices, produced dramatic adaptations of southern literature, including “The Wide Net,” an adaptation of a Eudora Welty short story, in 1985. In 1984, her film “Signals through the Flames,” a feature-length documentary on the history of Julian Beck and Judith Malina’s Living Theatre Company, received an Academy Award nomination for documentary film of the year. It was featured in film festivals, was broadcast on Canadian and European television, and enjoyed theatrical release in the United States and in Europe.

Rachel is active in numerous professional and cultural associations, serving as a leader in fundraising, development, event planning, and production efforts. She is an active board member for the Prospect Park Alliance. Having been inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at the University of Mississippi, Rachel is the past chair of the Ole Miss Women’s Council. She is a founder and coordinator of the Way Up North in Mississippi Picnic, held annually in New York’s Central Park. Rachel previously served her community by being a member of the board of New York Methodist Hospital and the Berkeley Carroll School, where she now serves as a life trustee.

Originally having set out to produce a documentary on therapy dog services, Rachel fell in love with the work, stopped making the film, and founded Good Dog. Under her leadership, Good Dog helped change New York State law to allow therapy dogs into health care facilities. Good Dog now makes more than 300,000 visits to people in health care, social service, community organizations and schools in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massachusetts each year. Rachel was named New Yorker of the Week by New York 1 News in May 2006 for creating and running Good Dog.

Rachel lives with her husband, two children, three dogs, including Fidel, a Good Dog, and a rabbit in New York City.

Moschell Coffey
Director of Strategic Growth, Communications and Operations

Moschell “Mo” Coffey is the Director of Strategic Growth, Communications and Operations at Good Dog. She manages the long-term planning, development, communications and operational activities of the organization.

Additionally, Mo serves as the manager of the Fellowship for Emerging Leaders in Public Service (FELPS), a seven-month fellowship that focuses on the career development of young public service leaders.  FELPS is a program of the Research Center for Leadership in Action at New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

Mo previously served as the program coordinator at the National Center on Philanthropy and the Law at NYU School of Law, which explores a broad range of legal issues affecting the nation's nonprofit sector. Mo has also worked as a project associate with the United Nations Capital Development Fund to develop a knowledge management strategy for UNCDF as well as a project assistant in the Office of the Dean at NYU Wagner where she conducted research regarding student debt and public service education funding.

A graduate of Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, Mo earned an honors BA summa cum laude in international relations with a minor in Spanish. Mo holds a Master of Public Administration in Public and Nonprofit Management and Policy with an International Policy and Management specialization from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. 

Mo lives in Manhattan with her husband and enjoys volunteering with their two Good Dogs.

Eric Conley
Volunteer Coordinator

Eric Conley is the Volunteer Coordinator at Good Dog.  Eric is a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and a graduate of DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois, where he received his BFA. He comes to Good Dog with more than 10 years of business experience in the areas of customer service, administration, training/teaching, client service systems-processes and outreach experience.

Prior to making a career change to focus on bringing his skills to the nonprofit sector, Eric was an actor on stage and screen in both Chicago and NYC with numerous credits including roles at The Goodman Theater and on the soap opera One Life to Live. Eric currently lives in Brooklyn with his wife and their feline companion, Desi.

Ali Fine
Development Associate

Ali Fine is the Development Associate at Good Dog. She is thrilled to be with Good Dog allowing her to combine her experiences with community outreach and her passion for animals.

Ali previously served as a campaign associate at Project Bread – The Walk for Hunger, an organization dedicated to alleviating, preventing, and ultimately ending hunger in Massachusetts and the host of the nation’s largest one-day fundraiser for hunger. Ali also worked with Dan Klores Communications in sports marketing to assist with 2010 U.S. Open and Citi Field events, as well as provided media and communications assistance to The World Society for the Protection of Animals, focusing on the Eat Humane campaign and writing for the Compassionate Travel blog.

An honors graduate of Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, Ali earned a BA in sociology. Originally from Boston, Ali currently lives in Astoria, NY and enjoys volunteering as an Adoptions Counselor at the ASPCA.

Kathleen O'Reilly
Visit Coordinator

Kathleen O’Reilly is the Visit Coordinator at Good Dog. She is excited to be a part of an organization that enhances the quality of life for so many people.

Prior to joining Good Dog, Kathleen interned at Right to Play, an international nonprofit that uses sport and play to promote child development. Kathleen attended the George Washington University in Washington, DC where she earned a BA in Political Science with a minor in Economics. While at GWU she was part of the student group International Alternative Spring Break that raised funds to complete a construction project on a school in Oaxaca, Mexico. She is a native of Long Island, NY, where she currently resides, and enjoys spending as much time outdoors as she can.

For more infomation

The Good Dog Foundation
PO Box 1484
New York, NY 10276
Toll-Free: (888) 859-9992
Fax: (888) 861-7312
info@thegooddogfoundation.org

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