Our Leadership Team

Wolf Connection® is truly blessed to have attracted the most amazing team of people one can wish for. These are the people that make Wolf Connection possible. Please take a moment to meet them.

TEO ALFERO

CEO and Founder

www.TeoAlfero.com

Originally from Argentina, Teo moved to California in 1999. He comes from a family lineage of educators and legislators who have supported youth development in his native country. Embracing those values, and in line with his own caring nature, Teo developed a passion to reach out to young people in need of mentoring and guidance.

After three years in the army, Teo became a rock climber and adventurer. As such, it was natural that his first mentoring experiences involved young people joining him on mountaineering and outdoor exercises. The goal of these programs was to offer a rite of passage experience that would help kids and families gain a sense of confidence and accomplishment.

Once in California, Teo simultaneously spent 10 years under the tutelage of senior instructors at Cleargreen, Inc., and 4 years with Mind Works, Inc. under the mentorship of its founder Master Business and Personal Coach Larry Pinci, PhD. Teo is part of the Cleargreen, Inc. team conducting self-discovery seminars around the world. He is the visionary of various youth and education programs designed to support teens and young adults in their mid and long term goals, creating a community of inspired young men and women… a new generation of leaders. Over the years, he has been a court advocate with the CASA program, a registered foster father, a trainer for the Safe School Ambassadors program, a mentor and a life coach for adolescents and young adults.

In his private coaching practice, Teo has specialized in working with boys from various social backgrounds, guiding them into a constructive dialogue in order to express themselves and find ways to deal with their personal life challenges.

Teo has been working with young men and women, and their families, since 1996, and with captive exotic animals since 2002.

AMANDA BEER, PhD

Director of Programs

Amanda’s longing for a more creative, experiential approach to human growth and empowerment, as well as a synchronistic move to Los Angeles, led her to Wolf Connection. Amanda is a licensed psychologist and educator, and at Wolf Connection® she collaborates with the wolf pack and human program team to facilitate powerful opportunities for awareness, connection, healing, and growth. Amanda earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her clinical training and experience has focused on multicultural competence, group interventions, and mindfulness-based approaches to wellness. At a post-doctoral level she has engaged in intensive training focused on psychological trauma and healing. Amanda has been actively involved in teaching and research throughout her career. Consistent with her commitment to social justice as a therapist, she has presented and published a number of empirical studies focused on social, cultural, and training issues (e.g., inmates’ experiences, White privilege, multicultural learning environments, etc.). Amanda is deeply honored to work in an environment where in-the-moment experience and willingness to learn from the wolves and the land surpass any of her aforementioned credentials.

REE MERRILL

Director of Development

Ree had been in the entertainment industry for over 12 years in NYC as an actress and screenwriter when she decided to move West with her husband. Just days before the move, she found out she had breast cancer. The first year in LA was filled with doctors, hospitals, surgeries and chemotherapy. When she started to come out of the fog, a friend of hers that volunteered at Wolf Connection advised her to check it out. Ree read about it online and quickly applied to be a volunteer. Working with the wolves, she saw a strength in herself that she thought was long dead. Inspired daily, she kept volunteering and learning more and more about these incredible animals and wonderful people. She started working the programs and began to witness the amazing transformation in the kids. Frowns to smiles, tears to relief, hearts broken to beginning to heal all opened Ree’s eyes to a part of life that she never knew.

ANNETTE GOLDEN

Director of Operations

Annette Golden’s personal commitment to pursue a life of service has led her on a journey that has uniquely prepared her for her current role as Director of Operations for Wolf Connection.

Annette’s professional experience includes operations, compliance, client care and human resources in the financial services, heath care and legal industries. Additionally, her direct experience with start-ups gives her the skills and stamina to thrive alongside rapid growth.

When Annette moved to Los Angeles from Chicago in 2013, she found Wolf Connection while searching for volunteer work to replace the hospice work she was doing in Chicago. She immediately joined the volunteer team and fell hard for the wolves, the land and the people.

Wolf Connection’s Mission deeply resonates with Annette’s dedication to service and she is honored and grateful to have found an opportunity to serve in a manner that combines her experiences, skills and passion.

Annette has earned a black-belt in Tae Kwon Do, loves old school Soul / Motown and 70’s music and is re-learning her native language, Spanish.

ELENA ALBANESE

Manager of Pack Services

I was looking for something meaningful to do for my birthday and searched for ‘local wolf sanctuaries’ to visit. I contacted Wolf Connection for their semi-private hike that Easter Sunday and I immediately signed up, and so as they say…the rest is history!

I was completely enamored with the beautiful people that run the organization as much as I was with the wolves. Once I came to Wolf Connection® and met the 4-legged and 2-legged creatures, I never left! I became a volunteer about a month later and haven’t looked back. I’m now a Wolf Connection’s® Co-Lead of Pack Services! It’s the most magnificent and rewarding thing I’ve ever been a part of. I’m so proud and honored to be a Pack Member where I continue to learn and grow and nurture relationships with all the people and the incredible animals on the compound.

CLARALYNN SCHNELL

Executive Assistant

Claralynn is a native of the Pacific Northwest and has a love for nature, animals and kids. Wolf Connection has allowed her to merge her talents and dive into the greater good. Claralynn served for 5.5 years in the US Army and uses that loyalty, dedication and determination at Wolf Connection. Claralynn is mom to two handsome little boys, Logan and Kolten. Between her love of being a mom and wanting the world to be a better place for her children to grow up, Claralynn has embraced everything that Wolf Connection stands for.