Emily Kieson serves as Executive Director at Equine International, a US-based nonprofit focused on
research, education, and outreach in the fields of equine behavior, welfare, and equine-human
interactions. Her research focuses on equine behavioral psychology, equine welfare, and horse-human
interactions as they apply to both horse owners and equine-assisted activities and learning programs.
She holds a PhD in Comparative Psychology, a MS in Psychology, and a graduate degree in Equine
Science. Emily also holds multiple certifications in various models of equine-assisted activities and
currently serves as Chair of the Equine Welfare Committee with the Professional Association of
Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH). Her current research focuses involve looking at equine affiliative
behaviors to study how horses create and maintain social bonds and how those can overlap with human
affiliative behaviors for application in management, horse ownership, equine-assisted activities, and
indicators of positive welfare in horses with and without humans. She also has a passion for supporting
sustainable systems of horse management and husbandry that promote physical and psychological
welfare of the horse while simultaneously supporting sustainable ecosystem practices on small and large
scales (for both feral and domestic equids). Emily currently develops and teaches courses at universities
in the fields of psychology, animal-human interactions, animal-assisted interventions, animal behavior
and training, and animal welfare and ethics.

Helen Sabolek holds a PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience and is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Regis College. Her courses include Research Methods, Neuropsychology, Health Psychology, Learning and Memory and Yoga. She is a 500-hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and works with the Warrior Within Yoga Project. Helen grew up in Ohio where her family rescued and rehomed horses from the auction whenever possible, so the mission of Project Comeback resonates with her on many levels.  Helen and Rain enjoy working with Breezy Hill’s Hippotherapy program and she (Helen) is in the process of obtaining her Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) certification. Her research interests include investigating the impact of yoga and equine activities on mental health and the nervous system and most recently, observations of affiliative behaviors in horses with Equine International! She integrates her research students into the work of Project Comeback and Equine International whenever possible. 

Bio coming soon!

Anna is a nationally certified American Sign Language (ASL)/English interpreter and the Assistant Director of Communication Access at Advocates, a large human services provider serving many regions in Massachusetts. Since joining Advocates in 2013, Anna’s interpreting career has focused on communication access in specialized settings including behavioral health, developmental services, brain injury and Autism supports, crisis intervention, peer support services, substance use recovery, and non-profit operations.  Anna interprets across a broad spectrum of language access needs for the Deaf, Deafblind, Hard of Hearing, Late Deafened, and other intersectional identities in the rich diversity of the Deaf community.  Since becoming the Assistant Director of Communication Access, she has had the opportunity to contribute to professional development, advocacy, coordination, on-boarding, and mentoring.  She holds a M.A. in Interpreting from Gallaudet University, as well as a B.A. in Theater with minors in Sociology and Spanish from Purdue University.  Anna is NIC certified by and a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. 

Anna began volunteering with Project Comeback in November 2019, after the unexpected deaths of her Aunt and Uncle who were both proud U.S. Navy Veterans.  Reconnecting with horses after 24 years, the herd became a sanctuary for processing this traumatic loss.  After participating in curriculums from Project Comeback, the Aiken Horsemanship Academy, and many hours of mentorship with Executive Director Lindsay Andon, Anna has become a staff member of the Project Comeback North location.  In addition to helping care for the herd and co-facilitating programming, Anna is passionate about making Project Comeback’s mission and herd inclusive and accessible for diverse populations of humans.

Anna lives in Holliston with her tirelessly supportive husband, who is Deaf, their amazing neurodiverse son, and three rescued cats (who have no mission, but still concede to heal their humans). The Nolan family proudly sponsors Matilda (North herd) in memory of Brian and Joanna Hammer, Moon Shadow (South herd) in memory of Molly Scott, and Kele (South herd). 

Stephanie is a psychotherapist and lifelong horsewoman. She holds an MS degree in clinical mental health counseling from Lesley University as well as an Ed.M. from Harvard University. She is currently enrolled in a post graduate certificate program for Equine Assisted Mental Health at the University of Denver. Additional post graduate training included three years of fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Psychoanalysis and Level 1 Certification in Internal Family Systems. She is currently working as an outpatient therapist at a community mental health center and an intensive outpatient program for substance abuse disorder. Her professional interests include equine facilitated psychotherapy, trauma, somatic therapy, addiction and PTSD. Before a midlife career change into psychotherapy, she worked as a horseback riding instructor at a competitive hunter jumper training program and as director of life skills training at a therapeutic riding program. She currently owns two retired show horses, and tries to make time to ride whenever she can. She is thrilled to be able to combine her love of horses and professional skills as a facilitator and therapist to work with the Project Comeback herd and our amazing participants.