Board President

Suzanne Opp

Board Secretary

Alicia Engebretson

Alicia Engebretson is a mother of 2 young boys both with various levels of Autism and a baby girl on the way. Her interest and involvement with special needs began soon after her oldest was born. Since then, she has founded a social support network for Douglas County Special Needs families and been very involved in early childhood special needs support and development.  She also enjoys spending time outside and working with animals. Most summers are spent horseback riding in Wyoming with her family.

Her involvement at the ranch began around 2014 as her oldest started receiving services at Promise Ranch early on. Currently, both of her boys are active riders in the Hippotherapy program and happily progressing with their skills and development. She is happy to be joining the board and help expand community involvement and networking.

Member-at-Large, Veterinarian

Dr. Mindy Smith, DVM, cVMA

Dr. Mindy Smith, originally from a small fishing town in Alaska, developed an interest in horses there despite the island having only one pony. She moved to California to pursue her veterinary education, where she graduated magna cum laude from Pacific Union College with a Bachelor’s degree in biology. She then attended University of California, Davis, earning her doctor of veterinary medicine in 2016. While in vet school, she worked as a large animal critical care technician in the teaching hospital, participated in pain management research in horses, and served as president of the student chapters of the AAEP and the Society for Theriogenology. She has since served as the Equine Field Services intern at Colorado State University.

Dr. Smith enjoys general equine practice but has a special passion for sports medicine, rehabilitation and integrative medicine. She is certified in veterinary acupuncture and looks forward to future chiropractic training. In her free time, she loves spending it in the outdoors with her husband (another native Alaskan), her two greyhounds and her ex-racehorse “Jack”.

Member-at-Large, Building Operations

Blair Wyles

Blair has been on the Board of Directors at Promise Ranch since 2011. He has a passion in supporting individuals with disabilities as well as their families. This passion stems from raising his own son, who is diagnosed with Autism. Blair’s son, Daniel, has been receiving hippotherapy at Promise Ranch since its inception in 2009. The benefits Daniel has received through the program are far reaching. Blair is a twenty year veteran with the Denver Fire Department, currently stationed at Denver International Airport.

Blair was appointed by the Governor of Colorado to sit on the State Medical Assistance and Services Advisory Council. This appointment is an exciting venture, as Blair and his wife Valerie are currently working within their community to create a residential option for adults with disabilities. Promise Ranch has been the training ground for Blair to help enhance and further develop many services that benefit not only those with disabilities, but the families and caregivers that devote their lives to these individuals. blair@prtr.org

Member-at-Large. Legal

Jeff Edelman

I was born in the Bronx in the shadow of Yankee Stadium and eventually moved to the suburbs of Long Island, New York. I went to the University of Cincinnati and received a Bachelor of Business Administration. I then went to New England Law School in Boston and received my Juris Doctorate degree. After law school, I went to North Dakota to work for the Native Americans and the five affiliated tribes in North Dakota. While in North Dakota, I was able to purchase a horse and learn to ride.

A year later, I moved to Denver and worked for Legal Aid for a year before opening my solo practice. During this period of time, I handled all types of cases, including family law, criminal law, and general civil law.

I also volunteered to help indigent people to work out their divorces and to represent poor people in criminal matters. For a period of time, I also worked at the volunteer desk at Channel 9 News for a program called Call-in-Lawyer.

In addition to my law practice, I have three children. One is 28 years old and graduated pre-med from the University of Colorado and two other children, one of whom was adopted from Siberia is 21 years old and another child adopted from a small eastern city in the Ukraine is 18 and a half years old. I have some experience in the field of developmentally disabled children, having raised two.

I look forward to working with Promise Ranch as a volunteer Board member to assist in those issues typically relegated to a board and to pursue grants that are available to help fund a non-profit organization such as Promise Ranch as well as to represent them in matters

Member-at-Large, Website

Noanie Sullivan

Noanie comes to Promise Ranch with over 25 years of experience as a senior instructional systems designer and performance solutions architect creating engaging, award-winning web-based, instructor-led, and blended solutions for federal and military agencies. She also spent seven years as the marketing manager and educational consultant responsible for the creation and execution of ITE’s product programs in US, Canada, and the English-speaking Caribbean, to include: management of marketing activities, business development/channel distribution expansion, administrative management (i.e., establish and monitor internal workflows, interface with customers and resellers), and technical support management for educational hardware and software training systems.

Noanie is putting her technical skills to use at PRTR in website design and support of the ranch’s volunteer database. Her motivation to move to Colorado from Northern Virginia a few years ago is shown in the accompanying photo.