Board Members

Ashley Byrne, LVT - Past President

Ashley Byrne is a Licensed Veterinary Technician in Washington State. She started at PIMA Medical Institute and obtained her Veterinary Assistant Certificate in 2005. She began working at VCA Animal Medical Center of Marysville and returned to PIMA Medical Institute in 2007 to be a part of the Seattle Campus’s first Veterinary Technician class. She was part of the first VCA Technician Development Team and is currently the Regional Technician Director for VCA’s Northwest & Hawaii Group. Ashley has worked in several private practices, and enjoys meeting technicians and seeing new practices. She joined the WSAVT in 2019 as the Communications Chair, spent a year in the President-Elect role, and will step into the President position in July of 2021. Moving into her term, she hopes to expand the executive board, bolster board volunteers, and increase member benefits. When she is not working on empowering veterinary teams, she can be found gardening or enjoying time with her family on Camano Island, Washington. 

Bryona Frick, LVT - President Elect

Bryona Frick is a Licensed Veterinary Technician in Washington State. She graduated from Yakima Community College in 2018, and she has worked in various clinic settings: day practice, shelter medicine, and now overnight emergency. Bryona is a Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional and hopes to encourage the shift of veterinary medicine to a more psychologically safe workplace through healthy communication. When she is not at work, Bryona can often be found enjoying one of her many hobbies: horse training, crocheting, reading, or chilling with her husband.

Geoffrey Michaelis - Vice President

Geoffrey has been working in the field since 2004. He graduated from Portland Community College in 2013 and become a Licensed Veterinary Technician shortly after. He was part of the first VCA Technician Development Team and was a technician trainer for VCA for 6 years. His medical passion is animal behavior and is an Elite Fear Free certified professional, a Fear Free speaker, and has his certified professional dog trainer’s certification (CPDT-KA). Geoffrey’s professional passion is teaching, mentoring, and staff retention. He wants to make this a sustainable and enjoyable career for the future. He plans to try and open a technician program in Southwest Washington in the future. Currently he is in the process of completing his veterinary technician specialty in clinical practice. In his free time, Geoffrey enjoys spending time with his wife, his two Cavalier King Charles, and his many foster kittens.

Justin Goodrich, LVT - Secretary

Justin has been a veterinary technician since graduating from the PCC technician program in 2017. He has a passion for all things anesthesia and analgesia-related. In fact, he plans to specialize and become a member of the anesthesia and analgesia academy in the near future. When Justin's not in the O.R., he likes to hit the water in his kayak with his fiance and four chihuahuas. 

Mary DenBoer, LVT - Treasurer

Mary has been the treasurer of the WSAVT for the last year.  She has been working in veterinary medicine since 1968 and earned her BS degree in Zoology from Colorado State University and her Washington State Veterinary Technician license in 2001.  Mary worked at small animal clinics in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Colorado, and for the last 42 years, she has worked at the same emergency/small animal clinic in Bellevue and enjoys dentistry and emergency medicine.  She and her husband reside in Snoqualmie with their cat Kahma.

Ryan Frazier, BS, MBA, LVT - Program Chair

Ryan Frazier has been a Veterinary Technician since 2004. He graduated from Madison Area Technician College in Madison, Wisconsin. He has worked in emergency and specialty medicine since 2007 and made the move to Washington in September of 2014. His true passions include interventional radiology, internal medicine (love fecal transplants & laser therapy) & unpredictable trauma medicine. Ryan also has a BS in Marketing and working on a MBA focusing in organizational leadership. In his free time, he loves traveling far and wide and his dogs Bucky and Juniper but also loves chilling at home with his fish, tortoise, pacman frog, & beared dragon. He is also an avid gardener.  

Becky Negretti, LVT VTS (ECC) - Membership Chair

Becky is an LVT, CVT, VTS (ECC) who has been in veterinary medicine since 2007. She started at a small animal practice in St. Louis, gaining experience in general practice, exotics, and emergency medicine. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2002 but decided to return to school and earned her AAS in Veterinary Technology in 2010. After graduating, Becky moved back to Chicago, working mainly in emergency and critical care, but also internal medicine and neurology. In 2015, she moved south to work at the University of Florida as a technician in their ER and ICU, and in 2017, earned her VTS in emergency and critical care. In 2021, she became a Clinical Instructor at City College’s Veterinary Technician program. In April 2023, she moved across the country to bring to help open an emergency and specialty practice as their ECC Director of Nursing before joining the innovative team at VEG Redmond as their Nursing Manager. Her passions include providing excellent veterinary care, mentoring her team, and advocating for patients. Becky’s special interests include toxicology, pharmacology, wellness, and patient advocacy. In her free time, she enjoys yoga and running, reading, burning off stress by singing karaoke, and hanging out with my husband and their "fur babies."

Lori Lutskas, LVT CCRP - Finance Chair

Lori Lutskas is the treasurer for WSAVT.  She started this position around 2012, before this time she was on the executive board as finance chairperson and bylaws chairperson.  She has been a veterinary technician in the state of Washington since 1983 and a member of WSAVT since that time.  She has enjoyed a variety of practice types in her career; mix-animal, small animal, and lastly academia.   Since joining WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, she has been in small animal surgery, neurology, and integrative medicine.  She got her certification in Canine Rehabilitation in 2006; she has realized that this is what she really enjoys to help patients that need veterinary physical therapy.  She gets really excited to take a neurological patient and be able to re-train them to walk again.

Nikki Windon, LVT - Communication Chair

Nikki Windon is a Licensed Veterinary Technician in Washington State and Specialty Technician Manager for a specialty/emergency hospital in Kirkland. She was born and raised in Ohio and obtained her Associate of Applied Science in Veterinary Technology in 2008 from Morehead State University in Kentucky. Following graduation, she gained experience in small animal, mixed animal, and emergency medicine. Nikki also obtained a certificate for Canine Sports Massage Therapy and ran her own business. She moved from Ohio to Phoenix, Arizona in 2019, where she had the pleasure of working in internal medicine/nutrition, critical care, and emergency. At the end of 2021, Nikki moved to the beautiful state of Washington with her boyfriend and cat, Sonya. Nikki really enjoys gaining knowledge in the many areas of veterinary medicine and has many interests. If she had to pick a top 3, her favorites would be performing dental prophylaxes, internal medicine, and emergency/critical care. When not at work, her main hobbies include tending to and expanding her indoor garden, traveling, hiking, off-roading, camping, and photography. 

Stacey Dow, LVT - Nominations Chair

Stacey has been an LVT since 2009. She has volunteered with the WSAVT for many projects in the past. She is currently working relief work and does at-home visits for medication administration and hospice care. She has a special interest in behavior and loves client communication. She live on Orcas Island with her two dogs and five orange cats. When not working she loves to go to concerts and travel.

Annie Lane - By-Laws Chair

Annie Lane is a Licensed Veterinary Technician living on Whidbey Island, WA. She is a level 3 Fear Free certified professional and Fear Free speaker. She started her veterinary career in 2005 in Santa Rosa, CA, beginning in reception and quickly pursuing school to obtain her RVT. She found a passion for leadership within a hybrid specialty/GP practice, where she worked first as a technician supervisor between two locations, followed by the hospital manager for the GP location. She helped to implement training protocols for her teams, with a particular focus on behavior and restraint utilizing Fear Free techniques.

In 2019 she moved to Whidbey Island, WA, and started a family. After the birth of her son and the beginning of the pandemic, she shifted away from full-time clinical work and transitioned to support staff recruiting with Western Veterinary Partners. Annie still works part-time at a local, privately-owned clinic, focusing her time there primarily on dentistry. Annie is passionate about training and team development, mentorship of those seeking to enter the field or grow in their career, and contributing to the industry in a way that helps veterinary professionals find a viable career path that is both financially and emotionally sustainable.

Amelia Reed, LVT - Government Affairs Liaison

Amelia R. Reed is a licensed veterinary technician in Washington and a certified veterinary technician in Idaho. She has been a licensed veterinary technician in Washington state for 6 years. She has experience in both small companion animal general practice and emergency medicine. Through her career journey, she has developed a passion for advocacy of the veterinary technology field. She has worked to have a voice and presence on LinkedIn and Facebook to spread the word about the need for title protection and scope recognition, so that our credentials are no longer viewed as entry-level, but rather as an intermediate professional medical degree. She has also joined the Washington State Association of Veterinary Technicians to start making more impactful changes in the direction of veterinary technician recognition. She hopes that if she gets the opportunity to serve as a Government Affairs Liaison, her input will have a positive effect on legislative change in Washington.