Board of Directors -
Founder & Executive Director
Laura Nativo
Laura Nativo ~ Founder, CEO & Executive Director
Laura Nativo is the Founder, CEO, Executive Director, and her most cherished title, Preston’s mom of almost 18 years. Laura’s relationship with lion-hearted Pomeranian Preston Casanova inspired her lifetime of service for animals.
After a decade of work in the entertainment industry as an actress & producer, in 2008, Laura & Preston embarked on the CBS reality show, Greatest American Dog. Their final day filming the show, Laura sat with Preston in a garden, and while she was supposed to be encouraging Preston to “paint” a giant canvas 1000x his size, Laura instead reflected on the love they shared, grateful for how their relationship filled Laura’s empty heart, after losing her mom to breast cancer at the age of 6. Laura made Preston a promise, that his life would matter, and that she would look back on that ridiculous reality tv experience as a positive defining moment.
Over the next decade together, Laura & Preston became one of the pet industry’s leading voices for good, and most sought after pet influencer teams, working with brands including DogTV, Natura, Whistle, Honest Kitchen, Skout’s Honor, Pawmade, Embrace Pet Insurance & more. Laura became a certified professional dog trainer, accredited through the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers, and graduated from the esteemed Karen Pryor Academy on a scholarship.
Some of Laura’s favorite memories with Preston include… ringing the opening bell of the NYSE on behalf of homeless animals, for the Helen Woodward Animal Center’s “Home for the Holidays” adoption drive… speaking to Congress on a bi-partisan effort to help convince Amtrak to create pet-friendly cars, changing the law for pet-loving commuters nationwide… and in their earliest days, volunteering with LA-based organization Love on 4 Paws as a therapy dog team.
Laura grew up in New Jersey, where she & her younger sister Lisa wished for a puppy or kitten on just about every birthday and holiday… and never understood why their widowed father wouldn’t let them adopt an animal. They did sneak a “sato” rescue in from Puerto Rico, but that only lasted about a week, until the puppy barked in the middle of the night.
For her 22nd birthday, Laura decided it was time to adopt her very first dog.
She remembers driving home with Preston, telling him how special he was… foreshadowing his future life of service, on behalf of his fellow dog.
After being kicked out of their beloved therapy dog organization for missing too many visits because of her unpredictable work schedule, Laura was told… “come back to volunteer when your life is more stable!” At the age of 27, with years of career pursuits ahead, she decided that one day, she would start her own organization that encouraged young volunteers, without the same pressure.
The inspiration for the Preston’s Planet Foundation was born.
In November of 2019, Laura held Preston in her arms as he kissed her goodbye, and took his last breath. After a year of inconsolable grief, and healing made even more difficult in the midst of a pandemic… Laura spent 2021 working on bringing her charitable dreams into fruition, with the launch of Preston’s non-profit.
Laura lives in the Pacific Palisades, and is grateful to have Preston’s adopted sisters, Penelope Supafly (12) and Delilah Jane Sassafras (8) eager to follow in his positive pawprints, traveling the country together to make a difference.