Trish Markey feels that horses are a daily passion that brings joy, accomplishment, and accountability. She was introduced to Joel Conner in 2018 and started participating in his horsemanship clinics at SAFE with her gelding Sampson. After learning more about SAFE, she began volunteering with SAFE’s Alumni Program and working on Heart of the Horse. Trish worked in the medical field her whole life and has been very active with nonprofit work for more than twenty years. She’s held leading roles for a number of high profile local gala events, including Woodland Park Zoo’s Jungle Party, the Seattle Aquarium’s Splash Gala, and Virginia Mason’s Dreambuilders Ball. She’s also served on Boards and Development committees for the Seattle Aquarium, Benaroya Research Institute, and the Virginia Mason Foundation. As a member of SAFE’s Board of Directors, Trish would like to help the Board grow its ability to raise money and build strong donor relationships. She would also like to achieve greater communications between SAFE and the board. 

Sheila Otter has been passionate about animals since she was a child. She loved horses, but did not start into a riding program until she was 29. She bought her first horse at 32, and says that being at the barn and in a saddle are definitely her happy places. Sheila has been involved with SAFE for the past three years, procuring items for the auction at Heart of the Horse and attending work parties and SAFE Open Houses. She works as an Account Director for a full-service marketing/branding agency. She’s done a mix of volunteer stints over the years, including an executive co-chair position for Woodland Park Zoo’s annual fundraiser, helping Friends of the Children with event theme and invitation design for their annual fundraiser, and serving two years on the board for the Seattle Women’s Hockey Club. As a member of SAFE’s Board of Directors, Sheila would like to contribute to a strong strategic plan for the organization, increase funding to expand programs, and to develop programs to increase awareness in the community of the great work SAFE does. Sheila is looking forward to a successful year and is honored to be involved with an organization that truly lives its mission.

Lisa Pascualy is an attorney, currently working in real estate management and investment. As a member of the SAFE Board of Directors, Lisa hopes her legal background and business experience can provide advice and counsel to SAFE when needed.

Lauren Engle grew up around horses, cleaning stalls for free lessons, learning everything she could and wanting more. She has always been a huge animal lover, and horses bring her a sense of peace, encouragement and a place of love and joy. Lauren found SAFE in 2018 when she decided it was time for her to have her own horse. She stalked Phoenix online for months until her husband Bryan finally insisted they go meet him. It was love at first sight, and Phoenix became the first of four SAFE horses the couple would eventually adopt. Lauren has been a part of SAFE even since: volunteering at the farm and at the horse show, learning horsemanship with Joel Conner, and attending Heart of the Horse. As a member of the SAFE Board of Directors, Lauren hopes to broaden SAFE’s reach into nearby communities to help more people understand what goes into rescuing horses and how to keep horses out of the rescue pipeline. She has also taken on the role of Board Treasurer where she can help streamline SAFE’s financial reporting and maintain transparency to our supporters. Lauren is employed at Google, and loves being able to work from home. She has two sons under 5 years old, is married to her love of 12 years.

Ruth Kennedy always had a variety of animals growing up — strays, pound dogs, lost bunnies… That trend continued into her adulthood and with her own children. Ruth currently lives with a cat that was surrendered during the pandemic. Horses have a special place for her. She’s never “owned” a horse, but some of the most meaningful relationships in her life have been with horses. She first rode as a child on a friend’s farm, took dressage lessons much of her young adult life, and have worked with them in some form for many years. Ruth was first introduced to SAFE in 2013 when she was a volunteer and Board member at the Equamore Foundation in Oregon. SAFE had an unadoptable mare named April that needed sanctuary and Equimore offered her a place. Ruth met three SAFE representatives who came to check out the facility before sending April. After that meeting, Ruth became an enthusiastic supporter and visitor to SAFE.

Ruth is an attorney and retired as the Executive Vice President and General Counsel of Electronic Arts. From 2011 until 2020, she was a volunteer, board member, and President of the Equamore Foundation. She is currently an Advisor to Street Dogs Project.

As a member of the SAFE Board of Directors, Ruth hopes to help the Board, Executive Director, Advisory Council, and Staff stretch to the next level of facility ownership, broader community commitment, and long term sustainability.

Barb Jensen is someone who can truly be called a lifelong equestrian, starting from age three when her mother caught her trying to shimmy up the front leg of the neighbor’s saint of a draft horse. Barb’s very non-horsey parents supported her as best they could, buying her first horse for $25. Barb cleaned stalls, fed, and did any chore she could to support her habit and loved every minute of it. As a young adult she was able to pursue riding on a more serious level, and thanks to some wonderful mentors was able to show, manage a large show stable and work part-time for a vet while attending nursing school. Barb’s last horse was a recused racehorse, who, after two years of trust building, became a faithful friend and a neighborhood pet. Sadly, he left her a few years ago and she has been searching for a way to fill that void ever since.

Barb Jensen has been a Registered Nurse for 42 years in a variety of settings. She spent 22 years at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle before moving to EvergreenHealth in Kirkland, where she currently manages Trauma Services and the Forensic Nurse Examiner team. Barb was one of the early members of the Equestrians Institute while in its infancy, doing marketing, contacting media, and gaining recognition for the fledgling enterprise. She was an active member of the Civil Air Patrol for several years while her son was a member. She achieved the rank of Major, served as Chief Medical Officer, Cadet Programs and Squadron Commander, teaching and training young people in leadership and search and rescue operations. She also led the squadron Color Guard to state and regional championships. Barb currently serves on the Board of the Central Region EMS and Trauma Council. As a member of the SAFE board, Barb hopes to offer her passion, enthusiasm, and skills to helping SAFE achieve its goals.

Growing up in the Bridle Trails neighborhood of Bellevue, Leigh Jasper was surrounded by horses (as well as cats and dogs) from the very beginning.  By age eight, her parents had bought her a half Arabian pinto and sealed her passion for horses forever. After earning an MBA from Seattle University and having a successful career in technology and project management, Leigh joined SAFE as a volunteer in 2016. While immersing herself in competing with her Arabian show horses, she also adopted and rehabilitated two rescue horses on her farm in Fall City. Currently Leigh volunteers on the Wednesday morning shift at SAFE as a co-shift-lead. She is also trained as a volunteer with the Washington State Animal Response Team (WASART).  In addition to being involved with several other local non-profits, Leigh owns a property management company, and serves on the Board of Directors of Talking Rain Beverage Company in Preston.  As a member of the SAFE Board of Directors, Leigh strives to increase our community’s awareness of the remarkable work that SAFE performs and she is determined to continue to be an advocate for horses in need in our local community.

Horses have long been a love, delight and passion for Amanda. Her first four-legged was a donkey named ‘Pizza Pie’ (what happens when a 5‑year-old names a donkey.) She’s been blessed with the friendship of her rescue donkey, Guinness, since 2006. As a teenager, she spent many hours traversing the wooded hills and countryside of Connecticut on her quarter horse, Rip. Although she didn’t know it at the time, her extensive trail riding was the spark for long-distance riding.

Since then, Amanda has loved and lived with many horses. Today her herd is comprised of Guinness, Cato, and Rommi. She continued her love of long-distance riding, competing with Cato in 30- and 50-mile endurance rides for nearly ten years. They’ve ridden some of the wildest and most beautiful parts of national forests in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Amanda also rides dressage with Rommi, a retired Grand Prix competitor. She enjoys both horses on the trails and even brings Guinness when she can.

An award-winning leadership coach, consultant, and planning facilitator, Amanda works with leaders individually and teams. In 1994, Amanda founded Roam Consulting LLC, a WBENC certified firm. She represents the third generation of women entrepreneurs in her family. Amanda blends her lifelong experience with and love of horses in her equine-guided leadership development program, Leadership with Horses. She and her herd of equine coaches provide transformative leadership experiences to global leaders.

As a board member, Amanda hopes to bring her 30+ years of broad business experience across for-profit and non-profit sectors to benefit SAFE.