Joel joined DCHS's Board of Directors in November 2017. He’s passionate about providing both domestic and wild animals with environments in which they can thrive, and educating the public about the importance of animals in our lives and communities. As a US Navy veteran, he wants to help develop programs that bring animals to veterans who suffer with PTSD or other service-connected disabilities. When he first came to Wisconsin in 1979, Joel worked as an Executive Budget and Policy Analyst in the State Budget Office for the state’s income support programs, developmental disability centers and mental health institutes, and the state Veterans’ home at King, WI. He also worked in the Wisconsin Department of Revenue’s Budget Office, and in the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Budget and Policy Office, where he worked closely with wildlife and fish management programs, the Endangered Species program, and the parks, recreation and forestry programs. After that, he worked in health care for more than 20 years, first managing a family-practice clinic, moving on to managing physician compensation and HMO reimbursement for the UW Medical Foundation, then becoming the Executive Director of Southwest and Southcentral Wisconsin Area Health Education Centers.He also served as the Chair of the Wisconsin Academy of Rural Medicine’s Admissions Committee for 10 years and on the UW School of Medicine and Public Health’s Executive Admissions and Scholarship Committees.

He has an undergraduate degree from Northeastern University, Boston, MA, in Theater, a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Maine, and a Master’s Degree in Health Services Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Joel spent many years acting in community theater in Madison and Middleton, and serving on the Board and as Treasurer of Madison Theater Guild. For 20 years, he taught dance aerobics and Spinning at local health clubs. He and his wife, Shannon, and daughter, Chloe, are the proud parents of Max, a yellow lab rescue; Charlie, a black and white tuxedo kitten rescue; and Ralph and Alice, their Red-eared slider turtles.