ABOUT US
Board of Directors
|
Robert Crump, J.D., Cleveland, OH
Secretary
Robert Crump is a partner at Walter & Haverfield LLP, Attorneys at Law, in Cleveland, Ohio, where he has represented privately owned businesses, business owners and professionals in Northeast Ohio for over 35 years. He was also a founding trustee at Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center in 1978, illustrating a decades-long interest in equine-assisted activities. Bob has been president of the FFTRC board twice, and also serves as trustee on the the Therapeutic Riding Center Foundation. He holds a BA from Ohio Wesleyan University and a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University.
|
 Robert Crump
|
Alison Zack Darrell, Stonington, CT
Alison Zack Darrell is a Senior Major Gift Officer at Connecticut College. Prior to joining the ranks of higher education fundraising, she spent 13 years as Executive Director of High Hopes Therapeutic Riding, Inc. and continues her involvement at High Hopes as a program volunteer and serving on Benefit Event Committees. |
 Alison Zack Darrell
|
She has an advanced degree in Nonprofit Management from the New School University, Milano Graduate School of Management & Urban Policy in New York City, and an undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of CA, Santa Barbara.
She was one of the founding members of Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International’s Administrative Committee and has remained a member of Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International for 17 years. She also served on the Board of Directors of Giant Steps Therapeutic Equestrian Center, Petaluma, CA during its founding.
“Having witnessed and embraced the mostly subtle and often profound effects of the horse on the human spirit and body for nearly 20 years through my involvement in the field of therapeutic riding, I feel called upon to serve and support the board of an organization, the first of its kind, dedicated to discovering the truths & putting factual data behind the marvelous benefits we see happening from the dynamic relationships between horses & humans.” |
Susan Harding, Bethesda, MD
Susan Harding, Vice President, Group Publishing Director of Source Interlink Media’s Equine Network, has 20 years in the equine publishing industry. Susan has worked at Newsweek magazine, the Congressional Research Service and McKinsey & Co. She is a graduate of Northwestern University and the Harvard Business School. Susan has served as President of American Horse Publications, on the Board of Trustees of Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International and on the Advisory Council of the Equestrian Land Conservation Resource (ELCR). Susan owns a PMU horse, a Thoroughbred/Percheron named Metaphor, currently in training to be a fox hunter, and two cats, LC and Moxie.
|
 Susan Harding
with Metaphor
|
Judith Lightfoot, Lyme, CT
President
Forty years of board leadership, therapeutic riding and horses mark Judy Lightfoot's life. From college to now, those three themes tell who she is. Sure, she is a mom to four and a grandmom to twelve, but it is High Hopes Therapeutic Riding, The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International and the Horses and Humans Foundation which describe her. She was High Hopes' President for five years, The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International'S for three. She was chairman of The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International's Task Force on Accreditation and serves as Vice President of HHF. She also has served her community's public library as its president for the last 18 years. She lives in Lyme, Connecticut, with her husband and a number of horses, sheep and chickens. |
 Judith Lightfoot
|
Cynthia Ruiz, CPA, Houston, TX
Treasurer
Cynthia Ruiz, CPA is a financial manager at Tauber Oil Company. She has over 30 years in all phases of finance and accounting with an emphasis in tax, audit and financial and tax planning for medium and small businesses and non-profit organizations.
Cynthia was a member of the Board of Trustees of The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International from 2004 – 2008 Chairing the Audit Committee. She served on the Board of SIREfrom 2002-2008 serving as an Officer and a Chair of the Audit Committee.
|
 Cindy Ruiz with Lancelot
|
Cynthia competes nationally and internationally in dressage as a Para Equestrian. She has twice made the US Para Equestrian Team representing the US internationally at the World Dressage Championships. Cynthia has received incredible benefits from equestrian activities, both physically and spiritually, and has experienced first-hand the lasting benefits that our equine friends provide. Joining the Board of HHRF will provide the opportunity to support these benefits and educate the world about equine assisted activities.
|
Therese K. Schmalbach, MD, PhD Newton, MA
Vice President
Therese K. Schmalbach, M.D., Ph.D., of Newton, MA is an independent physician consultant to biopharma companies. She has over 15 years of medical drug/biologic/device clinical development experience in the biotechnology/pharmaceutical industry and participated in the design, implementation, data collection and analysis of new chemical entities (drugs), biologics and devices resulting in one approved New Drug Application and one Biologic License Application, as well as >10 Investigative New Drug Applications. She has participated in meetings with FDA, expert clinicians and investigators, scientists, and investors, supervised and directed clinical, biostatistical, data management, project management and medical writing departments, and been responsible for data interpretation and reports including peer-reviewed publications.
|
 Theresa Schmalbach
|
She also has extensive data presentation experience, as well as experience presenting to a variety of levels of audiences.
"My son is a young man with special needs who has participated in hippotherapy at Ironstone Farm in Andover, MA and at the Mass Hospital School in Canton, MA for several years. I saw and learned the benefits a well-run program can offer. My daughter is an avid equestrian who has ridden for over 10 years. I also took riding lessons as an adult and know the thrill and challenge of riding at any level. |
Leslie L. Williams, DVM, MPH, DACVA
Leslie L. Williams, DVM, MPH, DACVA is Sr. Director of Clinical Operations and Pharmacovigilance at Infinity Pharmaceuticals, a small biotech company with a focus on developing and delivering best-in-class drugs to patients with difficult to treat diseases such as pancreatic cancer and non-small cell lung cancer. She has spent over 18 years in the pharmaceutical industry with several years spent at Astra Pharmaceuticals and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. |
 Leslie Williams
|
Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, she completed her DVM at Oklahoma State University in 1984 and an anesthesia residency/master's program at the University of Illinois in 1989. She joined the faculty of Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine in 1989 where she was involved in all aspects of teaching, research and service which included a major amount of time spent with equine patients. Leslie also completed a Masters in Public Health from Boston University in 2005.
|
| "I wanted to become involved in some sort of equine assisted therapy/activity for some time as there is increasing evidence that the individuals that participate in these activities derive significant benefit from these programs. I am a scientist at heart and am a firm supporter of evidence based medicine and believe that H&HRF embodies both of these concepts." |
| |
Alan Young, Punta Gorda, FL
Alan Young is former Vice-President and CFO of Westwood Squibb, a Division of Bristol Myers Squibb. He brings to the table specialized expertise in finance and business planning. Young has served as President of The Financial Executives Institute-Buffalo Chapter, President of the Accounting Council at Canisius College, President of Lotlorien Therapeutic Riding Center and as Treasurer of The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International. Young says: "I have personally observed the benefits that horses have provided to children and adults both physically and emotionally. It would be rewarding to utilize my business skills to assist an organization that is dedicated to promoting research that will demonstrate the effectiveness of equine-assisted activities."
|
 Alan Young
|
Staff
KC Henry, Chagrin Falls, OH
Executive Director
KC Henry has worked with equine-assisted activities programs in nearly every possible capacity for over thirty years, including founding/co-founding three different programs nationwide. As executive director of Fieldstone Farm TRC during their formative years, she provided instrumental leadership, aiding it in becoming one of the largest centers in the United States. KC is presently owner/president of Transitions Unlimited, providing specialty services of strategic planning, board development and project management for nonprofit businesses. To contact KC, please email her or call 440.543.8306.
|
 KC Henry
with Cloud
|
“I am a believer - I know positively that horses facilitate an accelerated path to healing and personal progress. What a thrill to support research that encourages the world to make it more accessible." |
Founder
Molly Sweeney, Hockley, TX
Molly Sweeney is founder of the Horses and Human Research Foundation. She is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, where she was blessed to grow up with horses in her life. Molly became involved with Equine Assisted Activities in 1990, when she started volunteering for SIRE. Molly has been a volunteer at SIRE for almost 20 years and has also served multiple terms as their board president. She served on the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship InternationalBoard from 1996 to 2002. Molly says she is not a researcher herself, but has never outgrown that childhood phase where one is always asking, “But WHY?”
|
 Molly Sweeney
|
| Press Release: Founder of Horses and Humans Research Foundation Receives Prestigious Award |
|
|
