Born in Wales, Yvonne studied literature at the Universities of Exeter (BA) and at Kansas, Lawrence (MA). She has been a commissioning editor and author since the 1970s, specializing in non-fiction illustrated books.

She has also authored a pop-up animals book for children called Animals Everywhere! As an annual summer visitor to Kárpathos for many years, she has been especially aware of the plight of the island’s strays, and is working with Animal Welfare Kárpathos to make life significantly better for them.

Evie is a Greek-American attorney working in the United States where she has practiced for several years. Evie holds a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Pittsburgh, has a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, and completed studies both in the United States and in Italy.

In her spare time, Evie has organized several fundraisers for charitable organizations and is devoted to her communities both in Pittsburgh and in Karpathos, and spends most summers in Aperi with her family.

Evie’s commitment to animals began in Karpathos when at a very young age she began fostering kittens and finding them forever homes. She has remained an animal rights advocate and continues to use her voice to assist the animals of Karpathos.

When Deanne is not rescuing animals she is making wonderful creations (be it paintings, soaps etc) and vice versa. Deanne Alexander resides in Illinois (USA) and visits Karpathos island annually for several months at a time. At her village, Pylles, Deanne feeds dozens of cats and sponsors their feeding throughout the winter months as well. A family of animal lovers, the Alexanders have adopted many cats from Karpathos and have all volunteered numerous hours for Animal Welfare Karpathos.

Deanne owns and operates the Sweet Thyme Soaps shop through which she has also created a special soap in an effort to fundraise for Animal Welfare Karpathos. She brings positive and creative energy to the AWK board and always has fantastic fundraising ideas which she passionately sets in motion as well.

Elias is a Greek-German living in Cologne, Germany with his American wife and their sweet but gluttonous cat, Temmie. He works as an IT management consultant for a multinational company, holding a master's degree in Web and Data Science and a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Koblenz in Germany. He also completed studies at both the Athens University of Economics and Business and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece. 

With family on Karpathos, Elias visits the island every year and takes care of the strays in his part of town. AWK caught his attention during the spay/neuter program of 2021 during which he spent his time catching strays in Pigadia.

Elias has always valued volunteering for various organizations and causes. He is currently a legal guardian for people with disabilities and a member of multiple NGOs concerned with IT policy. In the past, he represented thousands of students as an elected member of his university's governing body, and actively volunteered in his hometown's local politics and various church activities and camps.

Zoe grew up on Karpathos island, where she learned to love and respect nature and appreciate its beauty. While traveling around the world, she dedicated her time and energy to working and volunteering for various humanitarian projects with several NGOs. She has been an advocate in support of vulnerable children, survivors of sexual assault, and refugees. Every time she returns to Karpathos she often rescues and fosters strays, as there is always a need for help on the island.

Dr. Jane Goodall is the famed primatologist and UN Messenger of Peace whose scientific discoveries in the 1960's redefined the human kind and the way we perceive animals.

Dr. Jane Goodall founded the Jane Goodall Institute through which she has been able to promote the conservation of chimpanzees, a critically endangered species. In addition, she developed the free and international educational program Roots & Shoots, whose goal is to inspire kids and young people to take positive actions for animals, humans and the environment. The program is being implemented in over 60 countries (including Greece) and has over 200.000 young active members.

Dr. Goodall has received many honours for her environmental and humanitarian work, as well as others. She was named a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in an Investiture held in Buckingham Palace in 2004. In April 2002, Secretary-General Kofi Annan named Goodall a United Nations Messenger of Peace. Her other honours include the Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement, the French Legion of Honor, Medal of Tanzania, Japan's prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, the Gandhi-King Award for Nonviolence and the Spanish Prince of Asturias Awards, to name a few.

In her 80's Dr. Jane Goodall continues to travel the world 300 days a year in an effort to bring hope in people's lives and inspire and empower all of us to improve our communities through positive projects. An avid animal advocate, she has brought significant legislative changes in many countries for the improvement of animal welfare.

Dr. Goodall has visited Greece three times and has had two successful tours in 2016 and 2018. She has seen first hand the number of strays in all the locations where she traveled and has publicly encouraged the Greek government to take action for the improvement of animal welfare in the country.

Vena is a Greek-Australian who was born in Sydney, Australia, and currently resides in Pyles village of Karpathos.

Her parents are both from Karpathos and used to own a family restaurant business in Australia from 1958 to end of 2014. Through the years, Vena spent long periods of time living on the island of Karpathos. She graduated the early grades of her schooling in Australia and later finished high school in Athens, Greece. She then continued her studies in Australia, where she received a Microcomputing Support Certificate and a Health Fitness and Sports Training Certificate at the Western Institute of TAFE Australia. When she came back to Greece she worked at the local Gym for the Municipality of Karpathos for several years, before she decided to focus her time on her family and more specifically her three beautiful daughters (triplets!).

Ms. Kamaratos has always shown a demonstrated interest in helping her community from a very young age, no matter where she is in the world.

Between 1987-1989 and 1997-2005 she served as the president of the Women’s club of Pyles. After moving to Karpathos permanently to care for her family and her beloved father, she was elected President of Pyles village. Through this position she fights daily for the rights of citizens (both animals and humans) of the village and represents them in meetings held at the municipality.

Vena is not new to animal welfare concepts or actions. She was one of the very first members of the very first association for the protection of animals in Karpathos, which was formed in 2002. She participated actively in the selection of the name and the creation of promotional material. In addition, she has spent time trapping strays for the numerous sterilization campaigns that have happened over the years and has saved many newborn strays that were found abandoned in her path. Just last year alone she was able to trap 60 cats from Pyles, who were spayed/neutered through the municipality’s sterilization campaign program. A true animal advocate, Vena was nominated and elected to be part of the honorary board of AWK due to her exceptional work and consistent dedication to animal welfare throughout Karpathos.