Who we are
Kelley Forrester
Kelley Forrester
Kelley Forrester
Executive Director
Kelley Forrester knew from a young age that she wanted to spend her life working to improve animals’ lives. She began by volunteering and worked full time in animal sheltering for over a decade. She has worked closely with multiple animal welfare organizations in the Denver metro area and deeply understands that humans are the key to saving the lives of shelter pets.
When Kelley met her husband, veteran Craig Hildebrand, she witnessed firsthand the ability of pets to alleviate and help heal the wounds of war. A new passion was born to unite veterans with shelter pets in need to create mutual healing. As Executive Director Kelley’s goal is to support our veterans and rescue shelter pets by joining them together in a lifelong bond.
Kelley serves as a facilitator between shelters, rescues, and veterans. She believes making the right match and providing support are the keys to a lasting relationship. Kelley and Craig share their home with a variety of shelter pets, including 3 dogs, 3 cats, and a leopard gecko.
Nicole Schimming
Kelley Forrester
Kelley Forrester
Chief Financial Officer
Nicole Schimming is determined to help humans and pets understand each other more deeply and to create a lasting bond between them. She received her bachelor’s degree from Colorado State University and graduated from University of Colorado at Denver with a Masters degree in Curriculum Development and Education. As a teacher in Aurora, she worked tirelessly to facilitate kindness and compassion in her students.
Nicole left teaching in public schools to follow her passion of working with both animals and people. While working at the Dumb Friends League as the Humane Education Manager, she gained a deep understanding of the human-animal bond. She is devoted to the use of positive reinforcement as a training tool when working with cats, dogs, and small mammals like rats and ferrets.
She has an Animals and Human Health Certificate through the University of Denver. Through this program, she solidified her understanding of the applications of animal-assisted therapy and emotional support animals.
Nicole is the proud pet parent to one cat, Twinkle. Black Ops Rescue allows Nicole to simultaneously honor and assist our country’s heroes as well as find forever homes for shelter and rescue pets in need.
Craig Hildebrand
Kelley Forrester
Craig Hildebrand
Veteran Relations Coordinator
Craig Hildebrand enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1987. As a Combat Engineer he served as a paratrooper with Charlie Company 307th Engineer Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina and also in Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He also spent two years with the 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. He was honorably discharged in 1998 as a Squad Leader and Master Parachutist at the rank of Sergeant.
After adopting three shelter dogs he recognized how much their companionship impacted his own physical and mental health, recovery, and rehabilitation. He helped create Black Ops Rescue to assist his fellow veterans in finding the same healing.
Gail Lischka Granica
Gail Lischka Granica
Gail Lischka Granica
Head Dog Trainer
Born and raised in Colorado, Gail ventured to South Carolina as a young woman to gain new experiences and perspectives on life. After a year of watching Animal Planet shows, Gail became fascinated with the behavioral health of dogs. Although enlightening, Gail realized that in many communities across the US, inability to access behavioral support/education in a nonjudgmental environment was the culprit to many folks struggling to make life work with their pets.
Gail returned to Colorado and immediately sought work at the Longmont Humane Society. There, Gail worked as an animal caregiver and swiftly was promoted to the Dog Behavioral Health and Training Department. Gail recently concluded her 13 year Longmont Humane career as the Training Lead.
Although wonderful years, behind the scenes Gail was navigating through deep sorrow and grief. Much like the significant percentage of veterans whose lives end by their own hands, Gail’s brother, Daniel, became a part of that unfortunate statistic in 2011. Working with dogs and the Longmont community helped Gail find her footing in life after this harrowing loss. When Black Ops Rescue asked Gail to assist in developing a training support program for veterans and their pets, she deeply understood how healing and hopeful life can become with pets at their side and wanted to help.
Gail currently lives with her fiancé and her 2 shelter dogs. Outside of her passion for animals, she studies Wing Chun Kung Fu, enjoys exploring color theory, and working on art projects. Gail hopes to build life-long bonds between veterans and shelter dogs to support a life after service.
Rena Schomburg
Gail Lischka Granica
Gail Lischka Granica
Event Coordinator
Rena Schomburg has been a long time rescue advocate starting with foster kittens while in college in Chicago, leading to fostering litters of puppies and developing a love for larger breeds and seniors. She spent many years socializing animals before they went on to their forever homes.
Rena is a veteran spouse and understands the importance that pets play in the role of companionship with a veteran. Rena’s husband, Bohart Schomburg, is a U.S. Navy veteran who also has a love for animals and the bond they create. Bohart went through the process of adopting through Black Ops Rescue so their family is well versed on how the organization operates to offer support to their veteran community.
With a background in marketing, Rena has a passion for creating meaningful events to connect people and the community and takes great pride in nurturing those relationships. She has successfully planned and organized golf tournaments, adoption events, and multiple fundraisers for local rescues and is eager to continue that with Black Ops Rescue.
Rena and her family have two rescue cats, Jack and Kashmir, along with their Black Ops Rescue pup, Tango.