Nicole Miani has been a longtime supporter of Free Flight in many capacities - from visitor, to volunteer, to adopter, and now to staff member! Nicole is passionate about ensuring every bird’s beak is kept busy (a busy beak is a happy beak!) with fun enrichment options, and she enjoys sharing fun anecdotes about the resident flock with our visitors! You’ll often find Nicole accompanied by one of her companion parrots, a Goffin’s cockatoo named Digit, who she adopted from our sanctuary! (Occasionally her sweet cockatiel Puff comes to visit on work days, too!)

As our newest staff member, Jon is delighted to join the Free Flight team! Jon has an extensive background in martial arts and a great love for animals - especially reptiles and birds. At Free Flight, Jon can be found caring for the birds, educating visitors, and assisting Joey with maintaining our beautiful koi pond. Jon also has begun joining the outreach team, where he’s been putting his bilingual skills to great use! We look forward to seeing him continue to grow in his role as part of our staff.

After three years of volunteer service in our Junior Docent team and serving as our 2025 Junior Docent Alumni Intern for our summer youth programs, we were thrilled to formally welcome Brice to our staff in June 2026!

Brice has a passion not just for parrots - but all birds! In addition to working at Free Flight, Brice is heavily involved with the San Diego Bird Alliance and currently serves on their Conservation Committee!

Brice has a sun conure and two budgies at home, and loves to hike and birdwatch with any free time available!

After several years as a Junior Docent, Haley turned 18 and aged out of the program - but she loved the birds so much she decided to keep volunteering. As of April 2026, we are thrilled to officially welcome her to the staff! Haley has a blue and gold macaw of her own, named Pharoah.

After a long career in fashion, Laurie moved back to her hometown with her beloved golden retriever to pursue more meaningful work. While volunteering at Free Flight, she quickly became enchanted by the flock - as most everyone does. She loves to whistle, hum, and make riddles with words; she’s a playful spirit that makes her perfectly suited to life with parrots. Laurie is happiest when surrounded by feathers, curious minds, and the everyday magic birds bring into the world (screaming cockatiels included!)

Lauren has been involved with Free Flight since 2012, first as a volunteer, then as an employee. She enthusiastically joined our Board of Directors in 2020 and was elected Board President in 2025. Lauren’s passion for birds and the health of their wild ecosystems drives her career focus. She now proudly works for Nature and Culture International, a nonprofit organization that partners with local communities to conserve biologically and culturally diverse landscapes in Latin America - areas from which some of Free Flight's most beloved and endangered feathered friends originate. 

Lauren earned a M.A. in Conservation Biology from Miami University of Oxford, Ohio, specializing her graduate work in avian movement across geopolitical borders and partnership building between in-situ conservation practitioners and ex-situ wildlife care specialists. She holds a B.A. in Spanish - Latin American Studies and Religious Studies from University of San Diego. With a diverse professional background, she greatly enjoys incorporating her experience in naturalist education, aviculture, photography, and digital design into her service at Free Flight. 

Lauren adopted her best friend "Skittles," a now 20 y/o green-cheeked conure, from the sanctuary in 2015. Since then, she and her husband Brandon have also welcomed 3 y/o Patagonian conure "Che" into their home. When she's not busy at work or tending her own flock, Lauren is out hiking and birding, playing board games and pub trivia with her friends, and volunteering with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance's Recovery Ecology field teams. 

Isabelle’s first visit to Free Flight was truly a twist of fate. What was meant to be a one-off visit to “somewhere with birds” in 2015 to cheer her up on a sad day changed her life forever! From the minute she stepped into the sanctuary, she was hooked.

Isabelle applied that same day to become a college intern….. and basically never left. Now, just over a decade later, Isabelle is the Executive Director! She continues to enjoy her work in avian husbandry and enrichment, but also coordinates Education & Outreach programming, authors all communications, grants & social media content, and completes the various administrative tasks that keep the sanctuary running behind the scenes. She loves every moment she gets to spend working in service of the flock and inspiring others to learn about (and care about!) birds! !

Outside of Free Flight, Isabelle can be found teaching music! She teaches K-3 general music and 4-6th grade concert band classes in Cardiff School District! She holds degrees in Instrumental Music Education (BM), Percussion Performance (BM) and a single subject (music) teaching credential from CSU Long Beach, as well as a Master’s in Teaching (MAT) - Elementary from SDSU. Additionally, she has completed the first two levels of Orff-Schulwerk certification training and is graduating with her Master’s degree in Nonprofit Management & Leadership (MSNP) at the University of San Diego in May 2026

When not working at Free Flight or teaching music, Isabelle can be found birding, spending time outside in the sunshine, or chilling out with her four cockatiels: “Romeo,” “Louie,” “Tofu,” and “Sizzle.”

Board Secretary

Mary has been involved with Free Flight for over 34 years. After purchasing a young Goffins Cockatoo in 1986 from a local pet store in Encinitas, California, it became apparent that she needed some help in learning how to handle this shy wild-caught bird. Her good friend, Carmen, told her about a “cool place in Del Mar where there was a yard full of parrots that one could play with and people who knew about birds”. Mary volunteered at Free Flight for several months and then accepted a part time position. She managed the sanctuary for 25 years.

Mary is a graduate of California Western University where she earned her Bachelors Degree in Psychology. She has a lifelong interest in birds - starting with the Roller Canaries her grandmother raised in her home in San Francisco. Among many other species of animals, Mary has kept Budgies, Finches, Canaries, Cockatiels, Grey Cheeked Parakeets, Goffins Cockatoos, Eclectus Parrots and a Sun Conure. Through her experience working at Free Flight and additional independent study, she has become somewhat of an authority on parrot behavior and husbandry. Understanding and promoting the human-bird connection is of special interest to her and it is her desire to pass this knowledge along to others.

Free Flight became a non-profit in 2009 and in 2010 Mary became the Executive Director - a position she held until April 2026. In 2015 she was named President of the Board of Directors, an office that she held for 5 years. Though now retired from her role as Executive Director, she remains an integral part of our Board and a trusted advisor.

Board Treasurer

Eager to escape the frigid winters of the Northeast, Frank took flight in 2014 in search of sunnier skies. He migrated to San Diego where he quickly set out to find a new flock. Frank eventually settled on Free Flight where he found many similarly-minded bird brains. He began his formal relationship with Free Flight on the Fundraising Committee and joined the Board in 2020.

Frank is a graduate of Harvard University and Boston University School of Law. A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® certificant and Chartered Financial Analyst® charterholder, he is a Senior Financial Advisor with the fee-only financial planning firm Sensible Financial. In addition to his work as an advisor to individuals and families, he specializes in financial planning for individuals going through divorce. Frank is a founding member of the San Diego chapter of the National Association of Divorce Professionals.

Frank lives in downtown San Diego. Although he does not currently own a bird, he is the proud father of four crested geckos (who are actually distant relatives of modern-day birds). Frank is a classically trained singer and is active in the professional choruses Sacra/Profana and San Diego Pro Arte Voices.

Rebecca joined the Board of Free Flight in 2025, bringing extensive experience in parrot care, conservation, and public education from her work at Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA)–accredited institutions across the United States. She began her career working with parrots in free-flight bird shows throughout Oregon, Florida, Tennessee, Texas, and California, where she developed expertise in animal presentation, hand-rearing, rehabilitation, and conservation partnerships.

Since 2023, Rebecca has served as Curator of Australia and the Islands at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. In this role, she oversees animal care staff, manages a diverse collection of species from Oceania, supports conservation initiatives, and leads guest engagement efforts. She also serves as an AZA accreditation inspector, reflecting her commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare.

Rebecca holds a Bachelor’s degree in Evolution, Ecology, and Behavior from the University of Texas at Austin, with a focus on ornithology, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree specializing in parrot conservation and husbandry in human care.