We are Delighted to Welcome our Subject Matter Experts

Angie Arora MSW RSW 
Compassion Fatigue Specialist
Trauma-Informed Social Worker & Wellbeing Coach
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Angie Arora, MSW, RSW, is a social worker supporting the human needs that arise from human-animal relationships, specializing in veterinary wellbeing, pet loss, and equity issues within veterinary medicine.

As a certified Compassion Fatigue Specialist and Veterinary Social Worker, Angie provides trauma-informed therapeutic coaching and training to help animal-care providers foster self and community connection so they can reconnect to themselves and their work in new and improved ways. Angie teaches at Seneca College where she facilitates a course on acute self-care for veterinary professionals and is actively involved in relevant veterinary medicine initiatives with organizations including blendvet, the Canadian Collective for Equity in Veterinary Medicine, the Toronto Zoo, and veterinary hospitals.

Aaron Eckler Hon BSc MBA
Senior Director, Practice Services | Vet Alliance
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Aaron entered the veterinary industry in 2012 after completing his MBA in 2002 and working for several years in human medicine. He has engaged with hundreds of owners, managers and teams, supporting practice management and performance by improving their understanding of business fundamentals.

He joined the Vet Alliance team in 2020 with the goal of building out best-in-class support for practices, helping to provide tools and resources needed to empower owners and teams to keep their practices healthy, so that they can keep pets healthy. He is not only passionate about business and finances, he is passionate about education and empowerment so that people can better understand their circumstances, and therefore, make better decisions for the health of their practices and teams. His mission is to build long-lasting relationships based on integrity, respect, and lasting value.

Shona Kowtecky BSc DVM FFCP 
Senior Manager, Practice Services | Vet Alliance
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Shona Kowtecky is a fear-free certified veterinarian, educational content creator, speaker, and consultant who thrives on exploring new ideas, understanding how things work, and connecting the dots between seemingly unrelated concepts. As a proud Vet Alliance team member, she helps Canadian practices and individuals discover practical strategies to navigate complex challenges and opportunities.

With nearly two decades of experience in the veterinary profession across many different roles and types of practices, she offers a unique perspective on how medicine and finances inextricably intertwine to impact our patients, clients, teams, businesses, and ourselves… because nothing exists in isolation! Having been on “all sides of the money conversation”, she believes that each of us can optimize outcomes and enhance experiences when we’re brave enough to have transparent conversations and lean into curiosity, intention, authenticity, humility… and a healthy sense of humour. An avid outdoor enthusiast, she is grateful to call BC home.

Adam Little DVM
Founder and Vet Technology Expert
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Dr. Adam Little is a veterinarian and entrepreneur known for his innovative approaches to animal and human health. Educated at the University of Guelph with a BSc and DVM, he further distinguished himself as the first veterinarian to attend Singularity University, focusing on the intersection of technologies such as AI and healthcare. His professional journey includes serving as the Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. He co-founded GoFetch, which has delivered significant cost savings in pet care through its loyalty and subscription services. Dr. Little has also contributed to the veterinary field through his board memberships with Veterinarians Without Borders, the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association, and the Catalyst Council.

Heather Quilty RVT B.Ed CVBL GDBA 
Educator and VT Curriculum Development, College of the North Atlantic
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Heather Quilty is a career RVT who has made education and exploration a guiding principle in her journey. She prides herself on being an RVT first and has enjoyed the variety of opportunities that have come her way because of that proud designation. She has worked in a variety of roles, from companion and farm animal practice to management and recruiting. Throughout her journey Heather has returned to formal education several times, she holds a Bachelor of Education (Post-secondary), a Graduate Diploma in Business Administration and is currently working on a Masters in Employment Relations. Her current role ties together her passions for education and the RVT profession as she is the program lead, building and supporting the brand-new veterinary technician program in St. John’s, Newfoundland. She can link academic theories to practical applications and help build real world solutions for veterinary practices and their teams. As a die-hard advocate for RVTs and veterinary teams, she has a goal to make the 20-year veteran the norm and not the exception.

Erin Thorp P.Eng. ACC CPQC 
Founder ELF Solutions, Author & Leadership Consultant
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What better keynote for uniting the people of veterinary medicine, than a Canadian woman, author, speaker and coach who has discovered the power of empathy? By profession an engineer, Erin Thorp’s personal and professional experiences gave her insight into the spectrum of emotions that people face. On one side, people with big, messy, uncontrollable, and unpredictable emotions that lead the way and make others uncomfortable. On the other side, people who compartmentalize and minimize emotion, unsure if they even have emotions, and rarely showing them. In 2017, she authored Inside Out Empathy, a book that explores using the superpower of empathy to build effective teams.

She believes that emotional intelligence and technical excellence aren’t mutually exclusive. That the skills often categorized as “soft” — connection, empathy, vulnerability — are actually the most difficult to learn, but are key to creating leaders who make an impact in their personal lives, their company’s, and the world. We know that, on a veterinary team, these skills are key for all. So, we invite you to join us for unitED, and experience Erin for yourself as she allows us to end our day with a powerful keynote created specifically for the people of veterinary medicine.