Alex Murphy, Co-Founder

Alex Murphy is a former pediatric nurse, mother of 3, and animal welfare advocate. As a young child, Alex was always bringing home sick or abandoned animals and some things haven’t changed. Alex has volunteered her time fundraising for multiple animal welfare charities. Her current focus is on improving the landscape for Philadelphia’s homeless animals through TNR/SNR.

Jennifer Rice, Co-Founder

Jennifer Rice is devoted to many charitable organizations with a focus on the arts, education, women’s rights, and animal welfare. She serves on the boards of The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Fund for the School District of Philadelphia, Big Picture Philadelphia (Vaux and El Centro high schools), and ACCT Philly (Animal Care and Control Team of Philadelphia). She is a member of the Philadelphia Equity Alliance education committee, the Gender Wealth Institute Advisory Council for Women’s Way, and is former board chair and current honorary trustee for The Philadelphia School, an independent, progressive school in center city Philadelphia. Jennifer, and her husband Michael Forman, are the founders of the Forman Arts Initiative.

Hilary Coulter, Executive Director

Nicole Legg, Director of Operations

Nicole joined The Cat Collaborative as an established advocate in Philadelphia’s local rescue scene, known particularly for her hard work, strong convictions, and motivation to make every cats’ (and all animals’) lives better than how they were found. Nicole has never denied a cat in need the love and care it deserves, and that is what makes her a perfect addition to TCC’s team.

Forever dedicated to her work to help Philadelphia’s cat population, Nicole started her own 501(c)3 rescue, House of the Cat, in 2024 and immediately began intaking TCC’s cats to nurse sick cats to health and help hundreds of cats in finding their forever homes. 

Julianne Davis, Outreach Coordinator

Julianne moved to Philadelphia for college and began to see how bad the cat problem was. She started volunteering for ACCT as a baby bottle foster, and this showed her just how many cats are truly being born in the city each year. Unfortunately, some of them even took their last breaths in her arms. This solidified Julianne’s belief that spaying and neutering cats is the only way to improve the lives of the cats in Philadelphia! In 2021, Julianne started volunteering with TCC and quickly became one of our most valuable members. She has since joined our staff part-time as our Community Outreach Coordinator.

Shauna Frey, Foundational Advisor

For as long as she can remember, Shauna has been an avid animal lover and as she has gotten older she has become increasingly involved in animal rescue. She is particularly passionate about homeless cats and dedicating her efforts to reduce the suffering they endure. Shauna was a co-founder of the group PURR-Philadelphia Urgent Rescue and Relief, whose primary focus was on Trap-Neuter-Release efforts to help the plight of homeless cats in the Philadelphia area.

In 2020, Shauna was fortunate to meet Jen and Alex and work with them through a number of mass trapping projects. Through the like mindedness of these three individuals, the idea of The Cat Collaborative was born. Shauna is excited to be a part of this organization where she can use her passion and efforts to bring about lasting change.

Linda Hanlon, Community Coordinator

Since toddlerhood, Linda has loved animals, often running after pigeons “to pet them” in her native Glasgow’s George Square. She especially loves cats which inspired her to go to vet school and then research, first feline and later human oncology.

Linda’s career led her to Philadelphia, where she met The Cat Collaborative founders, Alex Murphy and Jen Rice. In addition to adopting three beautiful cats from Alex and Jen, they introduced Linda to Shauna Frye, the formidable driving force behind TCC.  

In January 2023, Linda started volunteering for TCC and immediately recognized the need for a free spay/neuter clinic for low-income pet owners. Since then, Linda has dedicated her time to helping both Philadelphia's underserved pet owners and their cats, coming full circle from her early beginnings of terrorizing Scottish wildlife!