Pet Food Institute CEO Joins Pet Partners’ Board of Directors

Listen to this article

Pet Partners, which registers therapy animals for animal-assisted interventions, welcomed Dana Brooks, president and CEO of Pet Food Institute (PFI), to its board of directors.

“Dana’s industry experience and leadership make her a great addition to our team and we’re thrilled to have her on the board,” said Annie Peters, president and CEO of Pet Partners.

Pet Partners is a leader in improving human health and well-being through the human-animal bond, registering nine species of animals with their human handlers as therapy animal teams. Pet Partners teams make more than 3 million visits per year in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, libraries, airports and at employee well-being events. Pet Partners also advocates for legislation that promotes human health and well-being through its grassroots advocacy program and educates handlers and the public about the positive impact of animal-assisted interventions (AAI).

Brooks has more than 30 years of experience across the food and agricultural industries, including leadership roles in federal and regulatory outreach. Prior to PFI, she served as the senior director of government affairs for Land O’Lakes, Inc., where she managed state affairs and industry relations. Brooks has also held the positions of corporate advisor of government affairs for Elanco Animal Health and senior vice president of government relations for the National Milk Producers Federation.

Brooks earned her bachelor’s degree in agriculture from the University of Arkansas-Monticello and a master’s degree in agribusiness from Kansas State University.

Founded in 1977 and grounded in the underlying research of AAI, Pet Partners considers itself the gold standard in therapy animal visitation and says it is widely credited with expanding the field of AAI. Pet Partners is led by its board of directors and advised by members of its Human-Animal Bond Advisory Board.