NMCTR Board
Our Board is made up of community members who donate their time on a volunteer basis. They provide oversight and governance and recognize their responsibility with donations of both time and money. We are proud to enjoy 100% participation from the Board for financial contributions on an annual basis.
Ashley Fischer
Interim-President
Ashley attended the University of New Mexico, pursuing a career in Speech Language Pathology. She has worked in the special needs community for over 15 years and was a home supervisor for ARCA in Albuquerque. She was a former member of the United States Pony Club and has ridden horses for over 25 years. She is the current PATH Intl NM State Rep, serves as the WMPC Treasurer, and is on the WMPC Horse Trials Committee. When she is not working, she spends her time competing with her show horses in 3-day eventing and enjoying time with her family. Her desire to help others and her love for horses led her to seek a career in therapeutic riding. She joined the NMCTR team in 2013.
Nancy Desiderio
Interim-Treasurer
Nancy grew up in Albuquerque. She earned a B.A. in political science from Swarthmore College. After living in AL and WA, Nancy returned home for good. She and her spouse, Mike, moved to Pecos, NM, and she commenced law school at the University of New Mexico. After graduating, Nancy worked for the U.S. District Court in Santa Fe, and was on the Board of the Pecos Valley Medical Center. Nancy is the oldest of eight children, six adopted. Her parents became treatment foster care parents when she was in high school, giving her experience with people facing physical, mental, emotional, and financial challenges. Nancy is a rider with the NMCTR program, keeping her mobile despite having multiple sclerosis. She and her family love working at the barn and taking care of the NMCTR "herd."
Shelley Phelan
Board Member
Board President Shelley was born in Albuquerque and raised in Carlsbad, New Mexico. She has a BA in Marketing from NMSU and a degree from Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. After spending 17 years in Dallas, Shelley and her family moved home to NM in 2002. Shelley spent many years in retail, advertising, and marketing and worked for the Dallas Morning News before relocating to Santa Fe. NMCTR is one of many community organizations she has been involved with through the years including CASA, Many Mothers, Habitat for Humanity, SFPS, and Boys and Girls Club. Shelley has volunteered for NMCTR since 2014, including lessons, horse care, volunteer coordinator, committees, board of directors, and Board President. NMCTR gives Shelley the opportunity to combine her love of horses (including her 12 yr old mare, Luna) with her desire to help those in need.
Marilyn Miller
Board Member
Bio Coming Soon!
Tony O'Brien
Board Member
Bio Coming Soon!
Celia Ludi
Board Member
Celia is a life-long Santa Fean with roots in the area going back 400+ years. She is a retired lawyer who worked primarily in government - all three state branches as well as local government. She’s also a trained and experienced teacher and mediator. Her love of horses started as a child when she had friends with horses in their back yards. Since then she’s recognized the many gifts working with horses can bring to humans, and is a firm believer in the saying that “the best thing for the inside of a person is the outside of a horse”. Celia has been a volunteer with NMCTR since 2017 and looks forward to many more years of helping to provide therapeutic horse experiences to other people.
Liza Soloman
Board Member
Liza grew up in New York and lived in Maryland prior relocating to Santa Fe with her wife and cat and dog in 2020. She has a doctorate in Public Health and spent her professional career working in programs to combat HIV, including serving as Director of the AIDS Administration in Maryland for 10 years. She volunteered at the Maryland therapeutic riding program for 5 years and once here in Santa Fe has joined the NMCTR program serving as volunteer with the programs and now as a member of the board.
Sherry Snow
Board Member
Bio Coming Soon!
Advisory Board
Dr. Stuart Garber, Dr. Garber’s Natural Solutions and Maxwell Pet by Dr. Garber
Greg Gonzales
Mike Phelan, Deloitte Consulting
Michael Rawn, NMCTR Co-Founder
Steve Rymer
Tom Smart
