The people behind LữRA

Joudi Abdulnour

Founder & Executive Director

Joudi spent her early years in Syria, surrounded by family and neighbors that all took care of each other during troubling times. That appreciation for community and showing up for people who need it has followed her ever since. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit, Joudi attended business school for her undergraduate degree in the US where she majored in accounting. Joudi quickly became a student leader at her school, where her desire to help fellow students taught her the impact one person could have. After graduating, Joudi took a financial audit role at Deloitte, one of the world's Big Four accounting & consulting firms, where she enjoyed learning about real-world operations and helping companies enact stronger controls to deter errors.

Wanting to find a more meaningful path, she spent time backpacking in Southeast Asia, South America, Europe, and the Middle East, where stray animals were often the most comforting part of being alone in remote areas. While on a 6-month trip through Vietnam, she learned about the tragic conditions faced by animals and the humans helping them in the country. Joudi began to volunteer at an animal shelter and hospital in northern Vietnam, where she rediscovered a love of animals she'd carried her whole life and through countless pets. Upon returning to the US, she decided to take on a veterinary assistant role to become better equipped at helping the animals she so strongly connected with.

After five years of experience within a small general clinic and large emergency hospital, and learning what creates a successful operation, Joudi decided it was time to create something that would benefit the animals and rescuers back in Vietnam, whose struggles imprinted on her immensely. This is how Lữ Rescue Alliance was born. LữRA brings together everything Joudi has carried: a deep understanding of what communities owe each other, a financial auditor's instinct for where systems fail, years of hands-on veterinary experience, and a conviction that the rescue organizations doing this work in Vietnam deserve better infrastructure than they currently have.

Alina Gawlinski

Director

Alina is a Physician Assistant, providing care not for animals, but for humans! After receiving her undergraduate degree, Alina chose to return to Tanzania to volunteer at the same small hospital where her mother was born. There, she was inspired to continue traveling and learning how to best help under-resourced communities. She then spent years working across both large urban hospitals and remote community hospitals before completing a Critical Care residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US.

Alina has always had a desire to be equipped to help as many people as possible, and her experience shapes how she thinks about animal welfare, too. Alina brings to the board a practitioner's instinct for what works on the ground, a deep curiosity about people and places, and a genuine commitment to the populations that institutional resources have historically overlooked.

Dylan Foti

Finance Director

Dylan is a valuation analyst in the finance industry, where his work centers on rigorously assessing the financial health and structural integrity of loan portfolios. He brings to LữRA a precise eye for financial compliance, data integrity, and the kind of rigorous analytical thinking that early-stage nonprofits rarely have access to. Dylan previously served as fundraising and community relations chair for a professional accounting organization, where his work produced their most successful fundraising season to date!

He is also a long-time animal lover, with experience fostering in the US. Today, he lives in Germany, spending time learning German and consulting our rescue partners on accounting best practices. His combination of financial discipline and genuine investment in LữRA's mission makes him a steady hand as we attempt to provide long-lasting support for the rescue infrastructure in Vietnam.