100 Women We Love 2016

Here’s to this year's class of the women who inspire us, give us hope, make us laugh and make us want to get up and dance. 

NATALIE GARCIA

Back in 2010, Natalie Garcia was establishing her career as an on-air TV personality in the LGBTQ community. She was the host of “The Real L Word” Live Lounge on Sho.com and interviewed influential people for various LGBTQ media outlets. But that same year, Garcia was in a roll-over car accident that killed her dog and pushed her life in a new direction. Because of her traumatic experience, she started volunteering with animal rescues in Los Angeles and Mexico. Later, she launched her own nonprofit, MaeDay Rescue, an L.A.-based dog rescue that focuses on saving street dogs and those in shelters, while spreading the important message of spaying and neutering. Not surprisingly, Garcia finds her newfound career incredibly worthwhile. “Every time I save an animal, either from a high-kill shelter or from a bad situation from the streets or an irresponsible owner, it is rewarding in itself. But after we’ve had a dog for a week to ten months, and we’ve seen it blossom, learn, trust and eventually get adopted into its perfect forever home, that’s the greatest reward.” To raise money for MaeDay Rescue, she created a book featuring rescue dogs with celebrities, including Jane Lynch. Currently, she’s developing a TV show about rescue dogs, with the hope that it will premiere in the fall of 2017. –SLO


What Do You Think?