Our Leadership
Our Staff
Guayabo Animal Rescue is overseen by executive director, Nicole Brose. Nicole brings a wealth of nonprofit experience, especially in the area of animal rescue. She has spent decades helping to start and run nonprofits, such as First Coast No More Homeless Pets, now one of the largest nonprofit veterinary hospitals in the U.S. Most recently, Nicole has been consulting globally and has performed almost every role in the area of nonprofit management. Nicole is also co-founder of a start-up data management software company (CRM), called Nonprofix, serving nonprofits with smaller budgets who need a simplified, inexpensive solution to tracking and growing their supporter base.
She loves raising money for causes near and dear to her heart, and when the opportunity presented itself to set-up and then run Guayabo Animal Rescue she couldn’t resist. Costa Rica is a treasured place for her family. Nicole realizes the extreme need in the Guanacaste Province to assist in the area of animal rescue and providing important resources to the caring people. As more support is garnered the rescue will add to program reach and animals served. This nonprofit is the first organization of its kind in the area of Guayabo, and Nicole sincerely hopes you plan a trip soon to experience this unique, beautiful and special area. It truly does takes a village!
Nicole will spend time at the U.S. based office located in Atlantic Beach, FL, as well as in Costa Rica.
Below are the hard-working and caring people who reside in Costa Rica, overseeing animal care, guests services, property management, maintenance and security. We are pleased to introduce you to our core Costa Rican team…
Executive Director
Luis Olmazo
Director of Operations
Meet Luis. Luis is responsible for the overall health and wellbeing of all our animals, as well as overseeing operations at Guayabo Animal Rescue. He works closely with Dr. Jorge,
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and the team to ensure our animals are healthy, safe, and happy. Luis is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to operations, animal health, and we are lucky to have his expertise. Growing up in this area Luis knows a lot of the community members and is excited to offer educational tools, as well as assistance with animals when able to do so. He and his family live on the property where they can keep a close eye on the animals and offer assistance to guests. Luis can’t wait to meet you and continue to save lives because of your support.
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Dr Jorge Venegas
Veterinarian
Dr. Jorge serves on the NGO board of Guayabo Animal Rescue as the government representative. He was born in Nicoya, Guanacaste in 1986, in a town called Nandayure.
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In 1999 his family moved to Cobano, Puntarenas. In 2004 he finished high school and started studying as a technician in computer science, during that year he also had some informal jobs. In 2006, he made the decision to study Animal Care, at the “Escuela Centroamericana de Ganadería” thanks to his parents support and teacher Luis Fernando. In 2009, Jorge decided to study Veterinary Medicine at The National University of La Plata, in Argentina. He returned to Costa Rica and continued his studies at San Jose's, San Francisco de Asis University. After graduating Jorge worked as a veterinarian with small animals (canines and felines), and then onto larger animals (cattle, horses and small rummiants). His inspirations to become a veterinarian is inspired by his grandparents giving him the opportunity to grow up in the countryside surrounded by animals. His deep love of animales is learned from both his parents and grandparents. Jorge values honesty and responsability. His expectations for his work at Guayabo Animal Rescue, is to help everyone who needs it, providing quality service, respect and love for all animals. show less
Didier Cascante
Guest Relations & Facilities Manager
Meet Didier. Didier is from Guanacaste, Costa Rica and has been married for 22 years to Mailyn.
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They and their three children, JJ (15) Sofía (13) and Lía (4) live on the property and also speak great English. Didier comes from a background in competitive sports and can be seen cycling around the Guayabo area. His family lived in the US for eight years and this is where they learned to speak English. Didier can been seen managing several projects at the rescue as his skill set is well versed in many areas, from being a painter to construction efforts. He thrives at meeting new people, sharing his love of this beautiful area and family. Both and he and Mailyn love meeting Guayabo Animal Rescue guests and will act as your contact during your stay at one of our beautiful Villas. Their outgoing personalities are sure to not be soon forgotten and they can’t wait to meet you! show less
Ronald Barboza
Operations Assistant
Meet Ronald. Ronald Barboza is our Operations Assistant and extremely knowledgeable in the area of horticulture, landscaping (anything to do with the outdoors), plumbing, and construction.
Ronald is married to Beverlyn and they have a daughter Brittany. Another interesting thing about Ronald, he has a beautiful voice and can often be heard singing around the property, which is a treat for anyone lucky enough to hear him sing.
Ronald’s fun loving attitude and big smile will surely brighten everyone's day. Please help us in thanking Ronald for all his hard work to help save lives!
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Ronald has a love of chickens and watches over our large chicken coupe, as well as lends a helping hand with all our precious animals. Ronald is married to Beverlyn and they have a daughter Brittany. Another interesting thing about Ronald, he has a beautiful voice and can often be heard singing around the property, which is a treat for anyone lucky enough to hear him sing.
Ronald’s fun loving attitude and big smile will surely brighten everyone's day. Please help us in thanking Ronald for all his hard work to help save lives!
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Jose Ramirez
Large Animal Behavioral Specialist
Meet José. Jose Ramirez known as Flaco since a child. José has lived his entire life in the Guanacaste area and is married to
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Elizabeth for nearly 30 years. José has two grown sons, Maykel and Geiver. His love of horses and large animals began while working on a farm at a young age. He worked at Costa Rican Institute of Electricity for 24 years and learned many valuable skills to help Guayabo Animal Rescue. During his career he has fine-tuned skills such as; construction and building, electrical work, painting, welding, and more. His two passions are horses and soccer.
Training horses is something José does for the rescue as well as for others in the area. He looks forward to meeting you soon and taking you on a great horseback ride.
Please help us in thanking José for all he does for the animals.
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Our Board
Dennis Dadey
Dennis was raised in the south hills of Pittsburgh, PA with six brothers and three sisters. When finished with his education he worked various jobs in the process control industry. After industrial downturn, he moved to Florida where he worked as a personal computer consultant. Eventually he landed at IBM PC division working as a test engineer where he worked with Stan and Cindy Merkin the founders of Guayabo Animal Rescue.
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In the mid-1990s when personal computer development was moved to North Carolina Dennis moved to Austin, TX to join Dell Computer where he currently works as a Network Development Principal Engineer. In his free time he enjoys traveling and outdoor activities, camping, hiking, road and mountain biking. Dennis is also an avid practitioner of yoga, during the 2020 shutdown he created a website and a YouTube channel to keep fellow yogis active. show less
Cindy Merkin
Cindy was born in Seattle, WA and has two sisters. Cindy was born in Seattle, WA and has two sisters. However, as a child, Cindy traveled all over as her father was an Aerospace Engineer.
Cindy graduated from the University of Maryland
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with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering. She started work for IBM as an Electrical Engineer, Cindy worked in several divisions including hardware diagnostics, ATM machines and BIOS.
She received her master’s degree from the University of Virginia, also in Electrical Engineering. Cindy and Stan met in a bar called the Apple Tree in Tyson’s corner Virginia. Cindy moved Dell as a Senior Technology Leader.
Cindy has written or contributed to twenty-one patents. show less
Becky Tolbert
Becky was born in Johnson City, NY. She and her twin sister, Debbie, are the first born children of our founder, Stan Merkin. Becky graduated from North Carolina State University in 1993. She has 2 daughters, Sarah and Abby. Becky has worked with Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC for over 30 years.
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This experience includes Financial Advisor, Richardson Private Wealth Advisors, a private wealth advisory practice of Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, (2001-Present); Paraplanner, Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, (1996-2001); Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC (Formerly a division of American Express Financial Advisors, Formerly IDS Financial Services, Inc.); Former, Registered Principal (licensed security dealer) with Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC. Volunteerism has always been important to Becky. Some of her volunteering activity includes The Food Bank of Central & Eastern NC (2011-Present); Vice President, Board Member, Yates Mill Elementary PTA (2014-2015), Vice President Facilities, Beth Shalom (2022-Present). show less
Allison Schaeffer
Allison Schaeffer was born in Phoenix AZ and is Cindy Merkin's sister. She spent over 25 years in the Food Service Industry after obtaining her degree from University of New Hampshire as Chef in hotels, bed and breakfasts, independent restaurants and private schools.
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She made the move to Municipal and State Election work in 2016. She has had many adopted dogs and currently shares the house with MC, a long hair daschund who came to her in 2011 and she loves him every day. show less
Dr. Jorge Venegas
Dr. Jorge serves on the NGO board of Guayabo Animal Rescue as the government representative. He was born in Nicoya, Guanacaste in 1986, in a town called Nandayure. In 1999 his family moved to Cobano, Puntarenas. In 2004 he finished high school and started studying as a technician in computer science, during that year he also had some informal jobs.
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In 2006, he made the decision to study Animal Care, at the “Escuela Centroamericana de Ganadería” thanks to his parents support and teacher Luis Fernando. In 2009, Jorge decided to then study Veterinary Medicine at The National University of La Plata, in Argentina. He returned to Costa Rica and continued his studies at San Jose's, San Francisco de Asis University. After graduating Jorge worked as a veterinarian with small animals (canines and felines), and then onto larger animals (cattle, horses and small rummiants). His inspirations to become a veterinarian is inspired by his grandparents giving him the opportunity to grow up in the countryside surrounded by animals. His deep love of animales is learned from both his parents and grandparents. Jorge values honesty and responsability. His expectations for his work at Guayabo Animal Rescue, is to help everyone who needs it, providing quality service, respect and love for all animals. show less
Johel Vega Palma
Johel serves on the NGO board of Guayabo Animal Rescue as the municipality representative. He is married and lives in Guayabo de Bagaces Guanacaste. Johel is an an air conditioning and refrigeration technician, as well as a motorcycle mechanic with his own business.
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He also has years of experience in the care and handling of animals all sizes as well as with agricultural work. Johel is hard-working, dependable, and loves being on the board of Guayabo Animal Rescue. show less
