Katherine Ellison is the Co-Founder & CEO of Bright Planet Pet, a plant-based dog treat and chew company. Katherine is passionate about educating consumers and retailers about the health benefits and sustainability of plant-based snacks. In 2022, Bright Planet Pet was a member of Mars Petcare Leap Venture Studio, the premier accelerator for pet care companies, and was awarded the Purina Pet Care Innovation Prize. In 2023, Katherine was named one of the Leading Women in Pet by Pet Insight.In 2024, Katherine helped start the Female Founder Collective, a group designed to bring together women-owned businesses in the pet industry for networking, support, and investor connections. Katherine and her fellow founding members knew there was a need for a dedicated group to bring more awareness to female-founded companies in the pet space. FFC is sponsored by the Purina Petcare Innovation Prize. Katherine has a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota. After two years of working in qualitative market research, she went back to school to pursue her childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian. In 2013, Katherine decided to merge her intuitive business acumen with her love for pets and began working in sales in the pet industry.Katherine is a Minnesota native who lives in the Savannah, GA area with her husband, and Co-Founder, Dave. They share their home with three pugs, June, Kika, and Elon, and two cats, Gigi, and Zeus.