Director of The EquuSatori Center

Lisa has a lifetime of experience with horses.  She has competed in many equestrian disciplines. She is the founder and director of the EquuSatori Center. And author of the book, In the Field with Horses / Exploring the Horse Human Connection. Lisa facilitates and hosts Equine Facilitated Learning programs and offers individualized curriculum trainings in Equine Assisted Experiential Learning. She helped develop and implement the Equine Facilitated Learning Internship program for Adventures In Awareness and is part of the Adventures In Awareness internship faculty. Lisa participates as part of a research team that conducts scientific studies examining the horse/human connection. She has a Bachelor of Science degree from Arizona State University in Business and Interpersonal Communications and has started and developed several businesses. Lisa co-founded and served on the Board of Directors for Burst.com, a digital media delivery company in Northern California. She also served as President of the Board of Directors of the Humane Society in Mendocino, California. She is also a graduate of the three-year program at the School for Enlightenment and Healing in San Diego, CA and is currently on the Board of Directors for the EponaQuest Foundation.

Facilitator

Lisa Ulmer, Ph.D. is an avid seeker of truth telling, relatedness, and vibrant living.  For 15 years Lisa was a mental health professional in Marin and  Sonoma Counties bringing advocacy and understanding to foster youth and their families. She currently works with Hospice where she provides solace to the dying and their family members as well as offers guidance through our complex medical system networks.

Lisa earned a Ph.D. in 1993 in Psychology with a specialty in family systems. But even more telling is her delight in her recent completion of training in Kim Rosens’ Poetry Depths Mystery School.  In her own words, “I have become a writer of poetry and  a practitioner of the art of taking poetry down into my bones”.  It has been a natural progression emerging out of  my engagement with the Hendricks Institute for Conscious Living where I completed the Two Year Leadership and Transformation Program.  Lisa enjoys spending time and learning from her horse Arrow

Facilitator

Peggy Hilden has been a lifelong lover of animals and adopted her first rescue horse Chester in 2014.  Their 10-year journey together has been one of great joy and Chester is a master of bringing the magic of the horse to all of their adventures.  Peggy  has been passionate about social justice issues – for all beings – since she was a child. While working at KAISER PERMANENTE she became a certified HeartMath trainer and helped teach and expand outreach of Heartmath tools to healthcare professionals, educators and communities experiencing trauma. In 2016 Peggy was gifted with the opportunity to help create innovative leadership training programs through the Kaiser Nurse Scholar Academy that help people understand how awareness of their own energy can impact those around them.   Teaching personal responsibility, encouraging self-awareness, and promoting compassion and caring for self and others have been cornerstones of this work.  Continued adventures with Chester include the founding of Kinship Community in Lakebay, WA in 2021 - a horse /animal sanctuary that helps shine a light on the amazing gifts available to us when we open to seeing the unique contributions of others - including animals and all of nature. The sanctuary is now home to 7 amazing horses who are learning to trust in humans after experiencing years of abuse or neglect. The plan is to start offering opportunities with horses and nature at the sanctuary in the summer of 2024.  

Facilitator

Gwendolyn Kinney has had over 30 years of nursing experience as a critical care staff nurse, outpatient director,  consultant for leadership development, and clinical nurse educator for geriatrics /adult services. During her six years as the Northern California Kaiser Permanente Regional Manager for Caring Science Integration, Her responsibilities included the implementation of Caring Science/ Heart Math across 21 hospitals, clinics, and continuum of care agencies; along with facilitation of healing environments for each of these  various clinical settings. As a Nurse Education Coordinator at Inova Healthcare System in Virginia, her scope of practice included facilitation of a four year federally funded HRRSA grant to implement a human caring model for the integrated healthcare system. She has co-authored articles on Caring Science and launched unit based nursing research for compassion fatigue. She has helped develop curriculum for the EquuSatori Center that implements Caring Science principles and HeartMath techniques and currently co-facilitates Equine Assisted Experiential Learning programs at the EquuSatori Center.  Currently, she is an adjunct professor for Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, California and a faculty member for the Caritas Coach Education Program (CCEP) in conjunction with University of Colorado/Watson Caring Science Institute (WCSI).