ABOUT US
Board of Directors
Octavia J. Brown, Gladstone, NJ
Octavia Brown is Associate Professor of Equine Studies at Centenary College in Hackettstown and director of Therapeutic Riding At Centenary. She received a private school and business college education in England. After emigrating to the USA in 1964, she received an Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1971.
|
 Octavia Brown |
| She attended the Cheff Center for Therapeutic Riding Instructor training, 1971 and was a member of the founding board of directors of NARHA, serving several terms from 1969 to 1990. A NARHA Master Instructor, she has served as chair of several NARHA committees, most recently the Certification Committee. |
Octavia joined the board of the Federation Riding for the Disabled International in 1997, and was President from 2000-2003. Octavia was named winner of the NARHA James Brady Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998 and other honors include New Jersey Horse Council Horse Person of the Year 1981, NARHA President's Award 1989, NARHA Special Award for work on Accreditation 1990 and NARHA Directors' Award 1990. Says Octavia: "Bona fide research is perhaps the least well supported area and also the least explored area, due to the very nature of the subject matter: we all know it feels good to ride, but how and why remain mysterious!"
|
Robert Crump, Cleveland, OH; Treasurer
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.
|
 RobertCrump |
Michael Kaufmann, New Milford, CT
Michael Kaufmann has been recognized as a resource in Animal Welfare, Animal Assisted Activities/Therapy and in Humane Education for 20 years and is currently the Farm and Wildlife Director of Green Chimneys Children’s Services/Green Chimneys School.
Kaufmann has worked extensively with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the American Humane Association (AHA), the Delta Society and the Latham Foundation. |
 Michael Kaufmann
|
He is a past member of the board of the North American
Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) and a founding board member and committee chair for the Equine Facilitated Mental Health Association (EFMHA). Most recently he served NARHA as Director of Education and Communication and editor of the national magazine STRIDES.
Kaufmann has been professionally quoted by TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Public Radio, Reaching Today's Youth, the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and the nationally syndicated Ann Landers Column.
The beneficial relationship between people, animals and the natural world shaped Michael Kaufmann’s life while growing up in Switzerland. He has supplemented his official positions with hands-on experiences as a livestock manager, with on site studies of circus animal trainers and via internships at zoos. He served as manager of two working horse farms early in his life and for several years maintained a small livestock sanctuary at his own farm.
|
Patti Kortkamp, Kansas City, MO; Secretary
Patti Kortkamp received her education at the University of Illinois in Environmental Education and spent 30 years creating and developing programs in wildlife rehabilitation and environmental education. Patti has been active in local and national organizations and has presented seminars and workshops in areas of program administration throughout her career. Her extensive background in the development and implementation of professional Standards brought her to NARHA. She served on the Board of Directors of NARHA for 10 years, serving as NARHA President in 1999 and 2000.
|
Judith Lightfoot, Lyme, CT; Vice 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, NARHA and the Horses and Humans Foundation which describe her. She was High Hopes' President for five years, NARHA'S for three. She was chairman of NARHA'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.
|
Molly Sweeney, Hockley, TX; President
Molly Sweeney is president and 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 is currently the President of the SIRE Board of Directors and the volunteer Equine Coordinator, responsible for the evaluation, selection and training of the SIRE horses. She served on the NARHA Board 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
|
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 NARHA. 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
A |
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.
See Also
Mission/History | Advisors | Contact | FAQs |
|
