In 2010, the Executive Director of Humane Alliance (now ASPCA Spay/Neuter Alliance) realized her organization needed a new software. The goal of the new software was to streamline all clinic activities, make life a lot easier for patients and staff, and serve as a model for each of the NSNRT clinics that followed Humane Alliance’s lead.
Around this time, Gina Clemmer (Clinic HQ‘s founder) was using an application she created to collect data from 250 high-volume, low-cost, nonprofit spay/neuter clinics for PetSmart Charities. For PetSmart Charities, she was examining data input on surgeries completed, grant applications, and how surgical goals met the targets set out in the grant application. And then, the Executive Director, Quita Mazzina, asked Gina if she could create a software for Humane Alliance.
Gina Clemmer, Founder and Director of Clinic HQFemale and Minority Ownership
The first thing that separates Clinic HQ from other software companies is ownership. 0.0% of software applications are created by Native American women. Women, and women of color, typically don’t own software applications because of historical prejudices and lack of access to capital and education.
As a woman of Choctaw descent, Gina understands the importance of being an entrepreneur and creating a successful business. Clinic HQ isn’t funded by Silicon Valley investors. There were no A, B, or C rounds of venture capital. Instead, Gina and Marko think of themselves as “bootstrap entrepreneurs,” willing to do whatever it takes to make the software useful for their clinics.
This is very different from the Silicon Valley model that seeks to maximize profits at all costs. Rather than develop a software simply to maximize profits, Gina and Marko run Clinic HQ to benefit their member clinics and, ultimately, the patients of those clinics. At the core of our belief system and work is that reducing the number of unwanted pets in the world reduces animal suffering. New features are often built out after listening to clinics’ needs. In fact, each year, a development survey is given out to Clinic HQ users. Those annual survey results guide development projects for the year.
Lead Developer, Clinic HQSince Gina had already been studying high-volume spay/neuter clinics and had successfully created a couple of small applications, she felt confident in her ability to create a new software for Humane Alliance. She signed on to become HQ’s software architect and is responsible for creating the vision and outlining the software’s functionality. In 2011, she entered a partnership with Humane Alliance to create the world’s leading high-volume spay/neuter software. This is Clinic HQ.
Cutting Edge Technology
HQ’s Lead Developer is Marko Ilievski. Marko earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Informatics and Computer Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Software Engineering in Skopje, Macedonia where he lives. His specialty is .NET technology. He oversees all aspects of HQ development. He considers quality and maintainability to be the core values of every solution he implements. He brings this philosophy into all aspects of HQ development. Through Marko’s leadership, HQ actively seeks to implement constantly emerging new technologies.
Passionate About Animal Rights
The other thing that separates Clinic HQ from other applications is passion. Ultimately, Clinic HQ is successful because of Gina and Marko’s shared passion for animal welfare. Both are deeply dedicated to animal rights and strongly believe in the critical need for high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter and wellness.
For Gina, animal rights are her life’s work. When she’s not working on Clinic HQ’s architecture, you’ll likely find her volunteering somewhere across the country. She volunteered in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina and has helped rescue dogs worldwide. One of her current passion projects is coordinating spay/neuter clinics on Native American reservations. She created the Rez Care Program, which secures resources for HQ clinics working with on reservations. Due to issues of poverty and remoteness, setting up clinics on reservations is not easy. But that’s why Gina is passionate about it. Helping reduce the pet population in an area of the country that is often forgotten by traditional government agencies brings spay/neuter and Clinic HQ to one of the places it’s needed most. Gina also created the Small but Might program for a very small, new clinic, which provides free access to HQ. And finally, any non-profit clinic working outside the US and Canada can access HQ for free through the HQ One World program.
Moving forward, Gina and Marko plan to continue to build out new features and improve Clinic HQ. With 500+ clinics now using the software, the plan is to keep boots on the ground and remain in the trenches with the army of compassionate spay/neuter professionals that wake up and do this important work each and every day.
