Board of Directors
Carolyn Maki - Secretary
Carolyn has spent much of her career in global Pharmaceutical Development. She has worked as an executive in multiple organizations and participated in rapid, global organizational development leading to IPOs and successful private equity sales. Carolyn is a horse owner and has extensive knowledge of equine health and management. She has been a Hope’s Legacy Board Member since 2016.
Kristi McClain - Treasurer
Kristi is a UVA graduate who relocated to Afton from North Carolina. She held the title of Senior Vice President and Vice President in several strategic positions at PPD. She looks forward to being an active part of Hope's Legacy's future.
Jane Andrews - Chair
Jane Andrews is a lifelong Virginian and has lived in Afton for 25 years. She received her BA from Longwood College and worked as a Social Worker all her professional life. Jane recently retired from the Albemarle Housing Improvement Program (AHIP) after 36 years of service. Animals are her passion. Fox hunting and trail riding are Jane’s main equine activities. Two rescue dogs keep her moving on a daily routine. Jane has supported Hope’s Legacy since its inception and was proud to be join the Board in 2021.
Stacy Reeder, DVM
Stacy grew up in Maryland spending most of her time riding horses and caring for a variety of animals from cats and dogs to horses and cattle She graduated from the Virginia - Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine at Virginia Tech and has spent the last 28 years in private practice in the Shenandoah Valley . Stacy has been involved with several animal rescue organizations in the area in a variety of roles. Stacy joined the Hope’s Legacy Board in 2023.
Gretchen Carr
Gretchen is the co owner of Castle Hill Cider in Keswick Virginia. She currently has four horses. Dressage is her primary discipline, but she loves a good trail ride as well.
She has owned and ridden horses for 20 years, but has had a love for them since childhood. In 2007, she became certified as an Equine Bodyworker. From 2007-2009 she volunteered at EquiKids, a therapeutic riding program in Virginia Beach, performing massage and myofascial release on their horses.
She has donated her time to multiple animal shelters and rescues in various capacities, including animal enrichment, property maintenance, networking animals with other rescues/shelters, communicating with city officials to improve living conditions and facilitating adoptions.
Gretchen and her husband purchased Castle Hill in 2008. In an effort to preserve the land, they donated 400 acres to the nature conservancy and developed a sustainable farm business. They planted 5,000 apple trees, created a thriving event venue and have been awarded numerous accolades for our cider. They currently have 15 part and full time employees.
Gretchen has a very strong connection with horses. They are a huge part of her life, her happiness and her identity. She has always had a passion for rescue, so the mission of Hope’s Legacy really speaks to her on multiple levels. She am eager for the opportunity to collaborate on ways to grow and positively shape the future of the organization. Gretchen joined the Board in January of 2024
Tony Russell
A life long horseman, originally from Liverpool England. Post a global Marketing career in Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices, he retired in 1996 to create a vertically integrated horse farm in the Shenandoah Valley. Tony joined the Board in January of 2024
Lynn Noland
Lynn was born in Richmond Va. and resided there until 1971. She attended Douglas Freeman and St Gertrude high schools and graduated from Johnston Willis nursing school. At that point she moved to Charlottesville to finish her nursing degree at the University of Virginia- and never left. Following graduation, she worked as a nurse and manager at UVa in a variety of settings including the infant preschool and adolescent units, the emergency department, NICU, surgical ICU and the Children’s Rehabilitation Center. During this interval she also obtained a pediatric nurse practitioner certificate from VCU. In 1984 she completed the course requirements for a master’s degree in religious and biomedical ethics at UVa’s school of religious studies and entered the PhD program in Nursing to focus on ethics and research on the principle of fidelity. After completing her doctorate, she worked until 2018 as a faculty member at the University of Virginia’s school of nursing, a nurse practitioner for the UVa dialysis units and the vice-chairperson for the UVa human subject’s research review board.
In 2018 the next chapter began- retirement. Lynn decided that during retirement she wanted to volunteer for a nonprofit but wanted to do something completely different from what she did professionally. I saw a news article about the involvement of Hope’s Legacy in the rescue of multiple neglected horses from a farm in orange county-Peaceable Farm. It was a tragic situation, but she was glad that there was a place like Hope’s Legacy that could give these animals a chance. Lynn called Maya after this and the rest is history. Lynn has volunteered every Weds since 2018 starting at the rented property on rt 151. It has been a distinct source of pride and amazement for her to see how the rescue has grown from Maya’s dream to the current reality.
Lynn currently lives in Nelson County with her wife Anne Hedelt and a precious rescue mixed breed ( lab and pit bull) named Angel ( some days she is ). Her hobbies include walking the trails in and around our home with Angel and Anne, painting watercolor landscapes, trying out new bourbons, UVa sports, home grown tomatoes, reading and more. Lynn is blessed with great friends and family including a wonderful church family, to live in a beautiful part of the world and to volunteer for a wonderful organization, Hope’s Legacy -every Weds- as promised. Lynn joined the Board in April of 2024.
Staff
Maya Proulx - Executive Director
Maya is a Nelson County, Virginia native. She had her first riding lesson at the age of four and was hooked for life. At the age of 11 Maya was given her first horse, C'est La Vie, who had been abandoned at a boarding stable. This was Maya's first introduction to horse rescue. In 2002 she started her own business and carried through the entrepreneurial spirit by founding Hope’s Legacy in 2008.
Laura (Rusty) Purvis – Director of Development
Laura started as a feeding shift volunteer at Hope’s Legacy upon returning home and immediately experienced the deep commitment that embodies the ethos of Castle Rock Farm. There is joy in working alongside these amazing equines with this team of dedicated people. As an experienced non-profit professional, teacher, and historian, Laura has an established background in fundraising and has managed projects supported by federal, state, and local funding. She holds degrees from Piedmont Virginia Community College, William & Mary, and UVA. And, after years of being away from farm life (and shelving a childhood love of draft horses), she is excited to support the community that makes this organization’s dream possible. Muddy boots make for a warm heart!
Sarah Oliva - Program Coordinator
A UVA graduate, Sarah lives in North Garden with her husband Richie, son Archie, HLER alumni Risky Business and Ferdinand, and her horse Rip. As Program Coordinator, Sarah enjoys bringing her two passions together - education and equines - through the many programs and events she manages for Hope's Legacy. She is excited to share how wonderful and therapeutic Castle Rock Farm can be for our surrounding community members and in turn for our many equines.
Colleen Winkleman - Executive Assistant
Colleen started riding horses at age 5 in Fairbanks, Alaska. She continued to ride and compete from her childhood through her early twenties. She and her husband moved to Virginia in 2019 so she could start her PhD in anthropology at UVA. In 2021, wanting horses back in her life and needing to form a new research project she felt more passionately about, she started volunteering at HLER. Volunteering helped her to form her current dissertation research on human-horse communication and relationships. Colleen is excited to be helping this organization professionally as it continues to grow.