Kelly Dowdall-Garberson, DVM, USDA

Dr. Kelly Dowdall-Garberson, the founder of AAVS, is originally from Detroit, Michigan. She attended high school in both China and South Korea before moving to Florida for her undergraduate studies. Dr. Kelly graduated from Eckerd College with degrees in biochemistry, Spanish, and biology. She then earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from North Carolina State University in 2011, one of the top-ranked vet schools in the country.

After completing vet school, she followed her husband (active duty Army officer) to Olympia, WA, where she practiced small animal medicine. “Life happened” (as it often does) and Dr. Kelly moved to Chiang Mai, Thailand for 3-years, where she worked for the U.S. Department of State in management and public health. During her time in Thailand, Dr. Kelly earned her Master’s of Public Health as well as her Master’s of Science in Education degrees. She was nominated for several national volunteer awards for her work creating a women’s development project, as well as devising a Congressionally funded project to improve air quality and respiratory health in northern Thailand.

After her time in Thailand, Dr. Kelly and her family moved back to Olympia, WA where she worked as a public health veterinarian with the USDA for 2 years. In 2017, Dr. Kelly and her family moved to paradise- HAWAII. Dr. Kelly worked as the Chief Veterinarian at the Hawaiian Humane Society for 7 months, which was followed by several months of relief veterinary work around Oahu. After seeing the need for low-cost veterinary care in Oahu, she founded AAVS in August 2018, proudly partnering with animal rescue and welfare groups on Oahu.

Dr. Kelly has 5 children (all from Ethiopia), 3 dogs, and often at least 1 foster dog. She loves pink, pigs, and ice cream, and her favorite pastime is spending time with her lively, fun-loving family. She’s passionate about travel and has been to over 50 countries on 6 continents, and has lived in 7 countries.

She is an Army spouse and loves working alongside other military spouses and families. She hopes her work helps to redefine the mindset and stereotypes of who military spouses are, and what they are capable of! She is also very connected to the adoption community and is an advocate for family preservation, women’s empowerment, and education. She is passionate about older child adoption as well. Dr. Kelly remains closely connected to China, South Korea, Thailand and Ethiopia.

In the future, Dr. Kelly plans to start the Mission Aloha Foundation, a non-profit that will promote health (veterinary medicine, human and environmental health) in Hawaii and around the globe.

She loves working with a wide variety of people, and is fascinated by different cultures (she has spent 20% of her life living abroad). Dr. Kelly and her family love living on Oahu and consider Hawaii home.

Dr. Kelly believes veterinary medicine is a tool to be utilized to improve the lives of people and animals. There’s no doubt this is her passion and we can’t wait to see where AAVS grows!