Officers
Remus Tomici, President
Vice President, RIK Enterprises
Remus has been a lifelong animal owner and understands firsthand the role pets play as part of the family. Motivated to give back, he became involved with the organization after recognizing the meaningful impact it has on animal welfare in the community. He was elected to the Board of Directors as a Trustee in 2018.
Professionally, Remus serves as a Senior Vice President at RIK Enterprises, a family office based in Beachwood, Ohio. He grew up in the Seattle area and earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Washington, followed by an MBA from the University of Chicago. After more than a decade working in Southern California, he relocated to Northeast Ohio, where he lives with his wife, son, Siamese cat, and Australian Shepherd.
Lisa Parente, CPA, MBA, Vice President
Senior Tax Manager, Neitzel, Luke & Salopek, Inc.
Lisa has always shared her home with at least one dog—along with the occasional lizard or goldfish—so it’s no surprise to anyone who knows her that she has a deep affection for animals, especially dogs.
After attending several FAPL events, Lisa felt compelled to do more than just show her support from the sidelines. Motivated by the organization’s impact and aligned with its mission, she reached out to Board members to explore how she could get involved. That connection led her to join the Board in 2019 as a Trustee, where she brings her passion for animals and her belief in the power of community to the table.
Professionally, Lisa is the Tax Manager at Neitzel, Luke & Salopek, Inc., a Westlake-based accounting firm. There, she oversees the firm’s tax department and manages a wide range of tax and informational filings for both individuals and businesses.
Lisa holds a BA in Management and French from Hiram College and an MBA in Accounting from Baldwin Wallace University. She is also a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the State of Ohio. Lisa currently lives in North Ridgeville with her rescue miniature poodle, Oreo Mint Shake.
Peter Izanec, Treasurer
Retired
Peter Izanec was raised in northeast Ohio. After spending some time in Boston, Chicago, Little Rock and New York City, he moved back to Cleveland in 2003. Although he was a cat person growing up, his wife (a veterinarian) converted him into being a dog person, and he has had dogs for the past 20+ years. He currently has two rescue dogs (Cinnabon and Pocky), including one (Pocky – the white one) whom he adopted from FAPL. Peter has been a member of the FAPL Board since 2023, and began serving as its Treasurer in November 2025. Professionally, Peter is/was an attorney, having retired as a Partner at Jones Day at the end of 2025. Before becoming a lawyer, he worked as a management consultant in Boston. He received his B.A. from Williams College and J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Tiffany Sekeres, Secretary
Owner, Tiffany’s Flowers
Directors
David Humphrey, Trustee
Chief Executive Officer, Ohio Desk
David Humphrey grew up in Valley City, Ohio and many dogs, cats and horses were always part of the Humphrey home as his mother and aunts were always rescuing stray animals. He graduated from Ohio University with a degree in industrial engineering and worked for National Gypsum for a number of years.
Humphrey joined Ohio Desk in Cleveland in 1977 and then eventually bought the company in 1984 where he remains as CEO. Animals have always been part of his life, remembering that now living in Columbia Station for 38 years, not one of those years has been spent without at least one cat and one dog but usually with more. He became interested in Friendship Animal Protective League many years ago and has been supporting it ever since.
Outside of the business, Humphrey is a 35 member of the Rotary Club of Cleveland as well as a trustee and treasurer of that club and is now a Rotary Club of Cleveland Foundation Trustee. He has been a board member of Ohio Motorist Association and a 35 year member of the Vermilion Yacht Club. He has been on the board of trustees and an officer in that club. Humphrey is also an active member in the Strongsville United Methodist Church.
Steve Hosler, Trustee
Owner, Mehco Cutom Printing
My wife Kelli and I have been married 33 years and have twin 20-year-old boys, currently attending Miami University. We got our first dog together in 1991 and eventually ended up with four. We love big dogs and over the years we have had four Old English Sheepdogs (one from FAPL), a Bloodhound (FAPL), a Black Lab, and a Plott Hound (Second Hand Mutts). We currently have a Hound mix (FAPL) and a Doberman/Pit Mix (Second hand Mutts). Dogs bring so much joy to our lives, I couldn’t imagine not have one…or two!
I graduated from the University of Alabama with a degree in Computer Science in 1988. I spent eight years in the semi-conductor industry before joining the my father’s business, Mehco Custom Printing, in 1996. I have been the owner of Mehco since 2020.
I have been in the Elyria Rotary since 2002. I have also been a high school umpire since 2013. In my spare time, I enjoy sports, music and playing the guitar.
Linda Stepan, Trustee Attorney at Law, Roetzel & Andress, A Legal Professional Association
Pookie changed Linda’s life. When Linda adopted Pookie, she learned that this beautiful spirit had been left to die in a dumpster and then was scheduled to be euthanized for space at a shelter. Linda knew that she had to take action to save the other Pookies in the world.
Linda met Greg Willey when she and her husband, Rob, volunteered and fostered Beagles for the Cuyahoga County Shelter. They were inspired by Greg’s move to the Friendship Animal Protective League to save even more lives so they joined him there to volunteer and foster more Beagles. Linda is a partner at Brouse McDowell and she jumped at the opportunity to further serve Friendship Animal Protective League as a board member.
Linda and Rob strive to spend every resource that they can to further the mission of the Friendship Animal Protective League and save more Pookies.
Linda served proudly and diligently on the Board of Directors for 9 years. She is an enormous part of the renaissance of the organization. She continues to serve on the Operations Committee of Friendship APL during her rotation off the board.
shelter. Every penny raised by the sale of her toys stays with the shelter. Dawn hopes her skills as a broadcast technician will provide social media support for the shelter and awareness to animal welfare in Northeast Ohio.
Executive Director
Gregory Willey, Executive Director
Gregory Willey has been working in animal welfare for twenty four years. He graduated with a degree in communication from Cleveland State University in 2001. Shortly after graduating, he began working as the Volunteer Coordinator at Cuyahoga County Animal Shelter. During his eight years with the organization, he worked alongside his awesome team of staff and volunteers to build an incredible volunteer and adoption program. Notably, he became a certified Volunteer Coordinator through Kent State University and a certified animal control officer through the National Animal Control Association.
In 2009, Greg accepted the opportunity to become the Executive Director of Friendship Animal Protective League. For the past sixteen years, he has worked tirelessly to develop new programs to help the companion pets of Lorain County and Northeast Ohio. When he arrived, the shelter was struggling to provide the resources necessary to care for 1,100 animals annually. Today, they are thriving and providing care and services for over 6,000 animals a year.
Greg is a proud graduate of Leadership Lorain County (Best Class of 2013!). He was awarded the Emerald Award for Inspirational Leadership in 2017. He was presented the Key to the City of Elyria in 2016 by Mayor Holly Brinda. In 2024, he joined the Board of Directors for the Ohio Animal Welfare Federation and is currently serving as the Vice President. In 2025, he became a Certified Animal Welfare Administrator through the Association for Animal Welfare Advancement. Greg would not have accomplished any of this without the support of his family, his incredible board of directors and his dedicated team of staff and volunteers.
