We are thrilled to share an opportunity that will help transform the future of veterinary medicine by paving the path for the next generation.

Over the last two years, kindhearted donors like you have helped us expand our mentorship and development programs to youth ages 13-17. We have safely and successfully opened our doors to welcome young individuals from diverse backgrounds and provide them early access to guidance, career exploration, and vital resources to foster their passion for veterinary medicine. Many aspiring veterinarians make critical decisions about their future at a young age, but without exposure and mentorship, that path can seem out of reach for underrepresented communities.

Now, we need your help ensuring our resources reach those needing them. At Pawsibilities Vet Med, we are committed to making the veterinary field more inclusive and reflective of the diverse world we live in, and we need your help making this vision a reality.

What Sets Up Apart:

Despite the critical importance of mentorship, there are few mentoring programs in the veterinary profession that are virtual, free of cost, have a long-term focus, and/ or are centered around individuals from any and every community that has been historically marginalized. Pawsibilities Vet Med is the first organization to offer such a virtual community in the veterinary field.

What Did We Do in 2024?

Successfully, we achieved many of our 2024 goals, which included expanding our resource database, adding 30+ hours of professional development to our learning center, and continuing to recruit and support our mentors and mentees. Starting over was hard and a lot of work, but now our virtual community has over 70 members! Over the last year, over 200 individuals have completed or are currently undergoing our Inclusive Mentoring Training.

Additional goals that we accomplished in 2024 include:

Launched our learning center, which now has 16 hours of content, including a multi-hour workshop on veterinary school applications.
Presented 7 seminars and panels at NAVC, 2 workshops at AVMA, 3 at GVMA, 1 at Iowa State CVM, and 1 regarding the Australasian NAVLE— a total of 12 hours.
Connected with mentors and mentees to learn how to best meet their needs.

With your generous gift, you can help us easily surpass our 2024 goals and foster diversity, equality, and inclusion in veterinary medicine by leaps and bounds in 2025.

Why Donate?

Pawsibilities Vet Med serves many historically underrepresented groups in veterinary medicine and helps them to feel seen, heard, represented, and supported in our community.

Your donation will directly change lives. Here's how:

$50 supports new mentees and mentors and ensures that they receive a thorough and welcoming onboarding experience, as well as the tools, guidance, and confidence to build strong relationships and succeed at all points in their veterinary career path.

$100 covers free access to veterinary science learning tools, such as interactive online courses, webinars, and virtual labs, allowing students to gain critical practical experience.

$250 assists with outreach efforts to local schools and community organizations in underrepresented areas, establishing new partnerships and introducing veterinary career exploration programs to more students.

$500 provides outreach materials like brochures, career guides, and informational videos that can be shared with schools and communities to promote veterinary medicine as a career choice.

$1000 helps launch a summer youth program (in-person in NC or virtual), opening doors for students from underserved communities to explore the veterinary field through hands-on experiences and professional mentorship.

Whatever you can give supports the Pawsibilities Vet Med mission!

Your support is more than just a donation—it’s a lifeline for young people who dream of a future in veterinary medicine but don’t yet see a path forward. Every gift, no matter the size, opens doors and provides hope for the next generation of diverse, passionate veterinary professionals.

Listen to our 2024 Summer Intern Keertti Sinnan's story to understand how much of an impact your donation will make.

If you’d like to learn more about how your gift changes lives, please don’t hesitate to reach out here. Together, we can build a brighter, more inclusive future. Because of you, young aspiring veterinarians can find mentors, hope, and a place where they truly belong.

Did You Know...

Veterinary medicine is one of the least diverse professions in the United States. There are numerous demographic groups whose advancement in the veterinary medical profession has been systemically disproportionately impacted. Historically, access to pre-vet learning, higher education, and to resources such as scholarships has been limited for individuals from communities that have been historically marginalized. The first step in the journey to becoming a veterinary professional is to see a career in the field as a possibility for yourself. It is difficult to picture yourself in a profession that lacks role models who share similar backgrounds and life experiences.

... Currently, there are LESS than 1,300 Native American veterinarians, less than 2,600 Black/ African American veterinarians and less than 10,300 Latinx veterinarians in the ENTIRE United States! The United States has well over 300 MILLION people and over 65% of these households own pets. Yet, there are less than 130,000 veterinarians in the country.

With your generous donation, you can help us change this.

Veterinary medicine impacts us all. If you have a pet, care about food safety or agriculture, live in an ecosystem with wildlife, visit a zoo or aquarium, enjoy watching or participating in leisure activities that include animals, benefit from biomedical research, etc., then veterinary medicine has touched you. Making lives better within the veterinary profession will, in turn, have a positive impact on our world.

A more inclusive community leads to better veterinary care. Research shows that diversity and inclusion lead to innovation and better decision-making. In veterinary medicine, this means better care and more innovative practices. For example, in clinical practice, clients are increasingly seeking veterinary care from those who are culturally sensitive and represent their demographic. Better care is delivered by professionals who understand the challenges of the communities they serve.

Pawsibilities Vet Med is answering a critical need to advance a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive society of veterinary professionals to better reflect the diverse populations in the US.

Who Are We?

Pawsibilities Vet Med is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 85-1926869) founded in 2020 and based in Cary, North Carolina. We are reducing geographic and socioeconomic barriers to the veterinary profession for people from communities that have been historically marginalized in the United States. Our community fosters a more diverse, equitable and inclusive veterinary profession through mentorship, educational programming, alliance building, and financial resources.

Vision

A robust and thriving community that fuels an inclusive veterinary profession which mirrors the diversity of society.

Core values

Leadership
Community
Inclusion
Service

Mission

Our mission is simple but powerful: to diversify all roles within the veterinary profession by providing mentorship, professional development, and resources to individuals of all intersecting identities. We’re working to ensure that everyone—regardless of their ability, ethnicity, gender identity, non-traditional path, race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic background, religion, or veteran status—has the opportunity to thrive in veterinary medicine at all points in their journey.

Our History

Drs. Valerie Marcano and Seth Andrews co-founded Pawsibilities Vet Med with a dream—to increase access and knowledge about veterinary medicine far and wide. During her journey, Dr. Marcano was introduced to a multitude of careers in veterinary medicine, first by her mother, a veterinarian, and then through mentors. However, not everyone is fortunate enough to find mentors like these.

Drs. Marcano and Andrews created Pawsibilities Vet Med to give everyone a chance to explore whether this profession is for them. The response has been inspiring, with hundreds of people joining to mentor and be mentored. Many of us decided to join veterinary medicine at an early age, and for this to happen, individuals must be exposed to the possibilities early in life, see themselves represented, and have access to the resources to guide them through their educational journey.

Meet the Co-Founders

Seth Andrews, MEng, PhD

Pronouns: He/Him/His

Dr. Seth Andrews, PhD is the Chief Operating Officer for Pawsibilities Vet Med. He completed a post-doc at the University of Georgia after earning his PhD in Biological Engineering from the University of Georgia in 2019. He received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering from Cornell University. Over the course of his graduate work, Seth mentored numerous high school and undergraduate students. He joined Precision Biosciences as a Process Development Engineer in 2020 where he served on the Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council. In 2023 he left for Imugene as part of an asset acquisition, where he works as the acting head of Process Development and has supervised and mentored numerous scientists and engineers.

Valerie C. Marcano Gomez, DVM, PhD, DACPV

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Dr. Valerie C. Marcano is a distinguished veterinarian and scientist with a robust background in poultry health, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In 2020, Dr. Marcano co-founded Pawsibilities Vet Med, a 501©3 nonprofit that leverages mentorship, professional development, and resources to empower individuals and foster an inclusive veterinary profession. She has been instrumental in establishing partnerships with numerous organizations and developing comprehensive educational strategies for mentors and mentees. In 2022, she founded ValCri Consulting, a for-profit organization that promotes access to education, food, and veterinary health through innovative and science-based educational materials.

Dr. Marcano’s academic journey includes a dual Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) from the University of Georgia, and a Bachelor of Science with Distinction in Research from Cornell University. She is a diplomat of the American College of Poultry Veterinarians.

With extensive work experience in research, government, diagnostics, and private industry, Dr. Marcano has held roles at Elanco Animal Health, National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP), the University of Georgia’s Poultry Diagnostic and Research Center (PRDC), and ARS, Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory (SEPRL). She is the inaugural chair of the Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the American Association of Avian Pathologists and a past member of the Commission for a Diverse, Equitable, and Inclusive Veterinary Profession of the AVMA and AAVMC.

Her contributions to the field have been recognized with several awards, including the Young Achiever Alumni Award from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and the Outstanding Contribution to Diversity Equity and Inclusion award from NCAMV. In 2022, Dr. Marcano was recognized as One of 22 Extraordinary Women by Today’s Veterinary Business. In 2023, she was selected by AAHA’s NEWStat and the Latinx VMA as a Latinx veterinary medical professional “to watch” in veterinary medicine.

Fluent in both English and Spanish, Dr. Marcano is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment within the veterinary profession. Her dedication to education, research, and community service continues to make a significant impact on the field. Outside of her professional life, she enjoys traveling, hiking, and biking with her husband, as well as napping, playing the drums, and cuddling her menagerie of creatures.

Pawsibilities Vet Med's Fundraiser Campaign 2024

Help us create an inclusive and accessible veterinary profession!

Team Members