The Board of Directors
Marco Fields.,
Chair of the Board/
Board President
Marco Fields has led a diverse professional career over three decades in the ultra-affluent client management and lifestyle services industry. She is an expert in stakeholder management, business development, and corporate governance. She is the founder of Moxxy Women, developing a platform to promote research equity and advancement in women's health and holistic female-focused well-being.
Marco is passionate about volunteerism and has been a tireless advocate for the arts and education, young people and mental wellness, and has done extensive philanthropic work supporting first responders, military, and veteran communities. Marco has raised over 35 million dollars for charitable organizations, serving in various voluntary leadership positions, chairing high-impact events, and developing multi-year strategic partnership campaigns.
Marco comes from a long lineage of wartime veterans dating back to the Civil War. She has been a proud member of the American Legion since joining in 1988, serving as the elected governor of Girls State in Utah. She has been an active part of the equestrian community since she was a child and has experienced the healing power of horses all her life.
As the Chairwoman of Operation Equine, Marco is grateful for the opportunity to combine her unwavering commitment to serving and healing others with her extensive corporate development experience. She is expanding fundraising efforts through cultivating strategic partnerships and corporate alliances. These collaborations are increasing the diversity and availability of the organization's programs, offering life-changing therapeutic experiences to support more military service members, veterans, and emergency responder clients and their families.
T. SCOTT SMITH, M.A.,
BOARD vice-Chair/Board vice-president
Stonehill Consulting Group LLC
Scott Smith, MA, is Co-Founder and Senior Partner of Stonehill Consulting Group, LLC. He is a management consultant with more than 45 years’ experience working with local and national nonprofits, and with national and international governments. Since 1996 Scott has specialized in providing emergency and transition management services to nonprofit organizations, serving as interim executive director or senior consultant to 34 nonprofit leadership transitions.
Scott is committed to the effective operations of nonprofit boards. He works with boards on governance issues, board roles and responsibilities, committee organization and operations, strategic planning, executive director searches, and Board/CEO relations. He regularly facilitates board and planning retreats.
An educator, curriculum developer, and consultant, Scott was an affiliate faculty member of Regis University’s Master of Nonprofit Management program, and has been a Board Member of several nonprofits in Colorado.
Scott's son is a 4-combat tour veteran currently serving as a First Sergeant on Active Duty with the Colorado Army National Guard, and he is proud to be serving as the Interim Board President of Operation Equine.
Theresa McDowell, BOARD Treasurer
Theresa is an Army Veteran and served our country for 7 years as an Army Patient Specialist. Subsequently, she got her CPA and is now a partner at Clifton, Larsen, Allen, LLP. She is a mom of 4 teenage daughters and enjoys road biking in her free time. She has served on numerous boards over the years and finds that donating her time to Veterans is extremely satisfying.
LERIN KASTNER, Secretary
Lerin Kastner recently graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies. She anticipates her next steps to include a therapy/counseling graduate program toward the process of becoming a licensed mental health therapist. She has experience working with at- risk youth and has a passion for collaborating with both the individual and their family system to help strengthen relationships and promote resilience when facing difficult circumstances. In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, doing crafts, and spending time with loved ones and horses!
She is honored to be a part of the Operation Equine team and support the organization in the amazing work we do for our military service members, veterans, first responders, and their families. The men and women who have dedicated their lives to our nation deserve all the honor, respect, and highest excellence in service that we can provide. Lerin "loves equine therapy because it is a unique experience that utilizes horses to help individuals regulate their emotions, build trust, and gain insight into themselves and others. Horses hold the power to help us build confidence, feel a sense of connection, and give us lots of love and laughs!"
Christine Howland, First responder and Veteran liaison
Christine is a detailed, compassionate, driven, and loyal woman with high integrity. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice, with a minor in Psychology from Metropolitan State University of Denver.
She has an extensive career in service: she served in the U.S. Army as a Military Police Officer all over the world, with added skills as a Recruiter, Instructor, Security Manager, and Examiner for over 26 years, earning 18 awards, and served in 2 combat campaigns. She has also served the community in Law Enforcement for 10 years, and is currently the Operations Service Officer for the Boulder County Sheriff Office.
She has been married for 17 years and enjoys riding her Honda Goldwing motorcycle, teaching downhill skiing at Winter Park Resort, and going to the movies.
She follows a personal philosophy of “things happen for a reason,” and as hard as life can be: “I have always been able to find the Golden Wing of light on the road ahead of me.”
JESSIE KOERNER, MARKETING CHAIR
Jessie Koerner has over a decade of strategic digital communications and public relations experience. She has worked with private businesses, public agencies and nonprofits, and on election and legislative campaigns to successfully impact policy and behavior change.
She’s managed communications and government affairs for oil and gas, acted as campaign spokeswoman for two successful 2016 statewide ballot initiatives, and developed digital strategy empowering audiences to plan for the end of life. Jessie earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Furman University and her Master of Arts in Global Health and International Security from the University of Denver. She’s a Denver native and competitive equestrian. Fun Fact: Jessie is a proud and unapologetic horse girl. Today, she owns four horses: Finale, Parker, Fitz and Ace!
Sergeant Major (Ret.) Alex Racey
Sergeant Major (Retired) Alex Racey is a performance coach, health & wellness educator, and writer. A former Fortune 500 executive, retired Army Special Operations Sergeant Major and founder of First Principles Performance, LLC in 2018. After 25 years in the Army, he his wife, kids and pets live in Castle Rock, Colorado.
Danella Soeka
Danella Soeka is a marketing and branding strategist with over 20 years of experience as a “hands on” leader driving key strategic initiatives for both public and privately held companies.
She is an independent businesswoman and trusted partner, known for building and sustaining productive relationships through frequent, clear communication and an unwavering passion for creating the best end-user experience.
Her career sweet spots have included many startups and rebrands such as four casino/hotels, overseeing multimillion dollar annual budgets and helped organizations of all sizes with their marketing, branding, communications, event planning and project management efforts. She’s held leadership and consulting roles within diverse industries including breweries, gaming and hospitality, nonprofit military and veteran support, health and fitness, entertainment, real estate, finance, and higher education to name a few.
Danella is a Midwest gal with a positive, get-it-done attitude. She currently lives in Denver, CO, and loves to spend time with her four grandchildren, family, and friends. She also enjoys “just being outside” for a round of golf and exploring all her Colorado home has to offer.
Advisory Board
Izzy Abbass, Advisory Board
Izzy Abbass is an Army Desert Storm Veteran and an advisory board member for Operation Equine. He currently serves as the National Director – Military and Veteran Relations for Novation Enterprises following a career of over two decades in the telecommunications industry focusing on digital strategies and implementations. Mr. Abbass spent 13 years in the cable and broadcast television sector, where he launched eight television channels in Central Europe, Australia and Asia. In 2004 he became the North American Managing Director for Unity Mobile, an early provider of video services to mobile devices. He has been heavily engaged on veteran transition into higher education and employment at the national level as a Veteran advocate and he served as Commander of Post 1 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the oldest VFW Post in the nation. In 2011 he created the concept and was responsible for launching the text help line for the VA Crisis Center to reduce suicides for which he was named Colorado Veteran of the Year in 2012 by the United Veterans Committee of Colorado. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Rocky Mountain Fisher House Foundation.
Rob Bingham, Advisory Board
Rob Bingham is a current Aviation Company Commander and Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the Colorado Army National Guard. He is a Veteran of two combat deployments and a leader in the local Veteran community. He is the founder and Executive Director of the largest Veteran event-oriented nonprofit organization in the state, Colorado Veterans Project. Rob has worked in both the nonprofit sector and the Corporate Giving sector for over 6 years and has a passion for positively affecting his community and fellow Veterans.
One of Rob’s proudest accomplishments is the invention and continuation of the Memorial Day Run & March event in which his team raises over $100,000 and 40,000 pounds of food annually to help feed local homeless Veterans. Rob currently serves on the board of directors of multiple Veteran nonprofit organizations and volunteers his time to consult with many more.
Though community service is his professional passion, his personal passions include snowboarding with his wife, hiking with his dogs, recreational aviation, and collecting and restoring old firearms.
Maj. Brad Gallup, (Ret.), Advisory Board
My life is about being of service and helping people heal. My passion as a Transformative Coach is guiding folks to look in a new direction that transforms their lives. Often I bring horses into the conversation, which accelerates deep insight, utilizing my training as an Equine Guided Educator.
I served my country for 21 years, both as an enlisted Marine and as an Air Force Officer, retiring with the rank of Major.
My healing journey started 25 years ago after returning from Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm; in severe emotional pain, I wanted to end my life. Through processing my own grief, I discovered I have the capacity to be supportive, empathetic, and present for others who were suffering over life losses.
The discovery of this new capacity led me to become a certified Grief Facilitator with the non-profit Tragedy Assistance for Survivors (TAPS) and have worked with TAPS for 20 years, counseling military children who had lost loved ones. I am also on staff with the Men’s Leadership Alliance, where we guide men to discover their soul’s work and deepen their connections with their spouses, children and communities. Additionally, I am honored to be a co-founder of the Warrior Storyfield in Longmont Colorado, bringing veterans and civilians together to explore the warriors journey home through a communal art project.
I’m currently on staff at Save A Warrior where I lead cohorts of men and women, veterans and first responders, through the nation’s premier suicide prevention program known as the SAW Experience.
Dani Hamilton, Advisory Board
Ensign Hamilton is currently in the final year of her doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Denver. A Navy brat, Dani specialized in both military and health psychology and commissioned into the Navy in 2016. She received her BS in Criminal Justice & Psychology at Sam Houston State University in 2008, her MS in Criminal Justice & Forensic Psychology from the University of New Haven in 2010, and her MS in General & Neuropsychology from Drexel in 2012. She then procured funding to create and implement the second Veterans Treatment Court in Colorado and worked as the court coordinator for the 18th Judicial District. Dani also works for Senator Michael Bennet's veterans working group and facilitates therapy with military, veterans, and their families at the Sturm Center as well as equine therapy with Operation Equine. This year, she is working at the Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes and STRIDE Community Health Center while completing her doc paper on how equine-assisted therapy affects post traumatic growth in combat veterans.
Tiffany Morgan, Advisory Board
Tiffany is a veteran of the US Navy and served between 1997 and 2001 onboard an aircraft carrier as an Aviation Ordnanceman. She comes from a long line of military service in her family and is also married to a Navy veteran, so veteran's issues are near and dear to her heart. She holds a BA in Psychology and has spent the last decade working in community mental health as a clinical case manager, with the last two years specifically in a veteran mental health clinic.
Tiffany is the founder of Your Weapon is Your Mind, LLC where she teaches organizations and mental healthcare professionals how to work with active duty members, veterans, and their families by facilitating a Military Cultural Competency training. She also partners with Michelle Kaye, Executive Director at Operation Equine to facilitate an experiential training teaching the same topic.
She also partners with Michelle Kaye, Executive Director at Operation Equine to facilitate an experiential training teaching the same topic.
Tiffany's mission is to be the translator between the well-intentioned, unknowing healthcare professional and the veteran. She has had a foot in both worlds for 14 years, not only as a veteran but also as a mental health service provider to veterans, and can speak the language of both the veteran and the clinician. This is how she wants to advocate for her brothers and sisters of future generations.
Vatsala Kapur Pathy, Advisory Board
Vatsala Kapur Pathy brings over two decades of experience in health policy and public health. She is the Founder and Managing Director of Rootstock Solutions LLC, a healthcare consulting firm and has federal and state clients including the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Previously, she was a Senior Advisor to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She also served as the Colorado State Innovation Model Director in the Office of Governor John Hickenlooper, a statewide delivery system and payment reform initiative focused on the integration of behavioral health and primary care. She was also a senior program officer at The Colorado Health Foundation, where she was responsible for grant making and initiative development to support healthcare delivery for low-income populations. Vatsala was also a program officer at the CDC Foundation, where she served as a steward and manager of a number of national and international public health projects. She has extensive experience on state health policy research and program implementation with the Office of Colorado Governor Roy Romer, the Georgia Health Policy Center and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Colorado. Vatsala is a recipient of The Livesay Award for Social Change from The Colorado College and The American Marshall Memorial Fellowship. She was also selected to participate in the University of Colorado’s Denver Community Leadership Forum. She is presently a trustee and chair of the compensation committee at St. Anne’s Episcopal School, Vice Chair at World Denver and a board member of the Children's Museum of Denver and the Bell Policy Center. Previously, she has also served as an Operating Board member of Bonfils Blood Center. Vatsala received a Master of Public Affairs from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, and a Master of Arts degree from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated cum laude with distinction with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and history with a Latin America concentration and a minor in North American Studies from The Colorado College. She also has a Certificate in Mediation from the University of Denver.
Steve Sisson, Advisory Board
Steve Sisson is a Retired Longmont Police Officer. He served as a Scout for a Marine Rifle Company in Vietnam 1968-1969. He also served in Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2006-2008 as an International Police Advisor in Baghdad, Iraq. He is married to Amy Sisson for approximately 20 years. He was introduced to Operation Equine in 2017 and has benefited from the programs of this powerful method of counseling.
Dr. Debra Tasci, Advisory Board
Dr. Debra Tasci has over 35 years of clinical practice helping individuals, couples and families. She has extensive experience in trauma debriefing with airline personnel, law enforcement agencies, emergency medical workers, and victims of crime. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work and a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology. She is a certified Employee Assistance Professional, a member of the American Psychological Association, the Colorado Psychological Association, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Additionally, she is a Substance Abuse Professional, with expertise in the area of chemical dependency, and she conducts substance abuse evaluations for the Department of Transportation for individuals holding safety sensitive jobs. She has completed training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) designed to help couples in distress, is a certified EMDR therapist, and is the co-author of the Trauma Recovery Handbook. She has worked at Nicoletti-Flater Associates since 1996, conducting individual, couples, and family counseling, fitness for duty assessments, trauma debriefing/defusing, substance abuse assessments, and psychological assessments for job applicants seeking employment in Antarctica. She has also been a consultant to the Denver Police Peer Support Team since 1996 and is Board Certified in Police and Public Safety Psychology. Most recently, Dr. Tasci has attained a Level II Status in Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy.
Dr. Lane Volpe, Advisory Board
Dr. Lane Volpe is an anthropologist with expertise in the field of research translation, program development, implementation and evaluation. She has a depth of experience gathering the narratives of clients, staff, funders, and policy makers to inform a more functional approach to the design and delivery of therapeutic programs.
Lane has experience working with government agencies, non-profits, and universities on planning and implementation across diverse service sectors, including early childhood, education, criminal justice, and human services. She has previously been involved in developing an equine therapy program for first responders, and has volunteered for equine-assisted therapy programs in Colorado. Her focus in this field of work is to acknowledge and appreciate the connection between human and animal wellbeing, and to ensure that animal-assisted therapy programs do not try to benefit people at the expense of other parts of life. She is devoted to opportunities where animals and people can support and assist each other.
