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ELCR Staff Members
To contact ELCR or a staff member please contact the national office at (859) 455-8383, Info@ELCR.org or click on staff member name, to utilize individual email accounts.
Deb Balliet
Chief Executive Officer
In joining ELCR, Deb brings together her passions; horses and open space. Her love of the land started early, after an introduction to the outdoors with her father and older brother. The love of horses also started early, but regular riding and horse ownership didn't start until the late 1990's. A recreational rider, Deb regularly trail rides and is a member of the Eastern Mountain Ranch Horse Association. Deb's trusty steed, registered as GMG Devilmademedoit and affectionately known as "Taz," is an appendix registered quarter horse.
Professionally, Deb has 23 years of experience in not-for-profit management, consulting and fund-raising with organizations such as
The University of Vermont, Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, Open Space Preservation Trust, and National Audubon Society.
Deb holds an M.Ed. in educational administration from the University of Vermont and a B.A. in Communication Studies from the State University of New York @ Oswego. Deb is a member of the Board of Directors of the Saratoga Therapeutic Equestrian Program and is an Advisory Board member of The Equus Projects: Dancing with Horses.
Rounding out the Balliet household is Henry, the lop-eared rabbit. Henry's greatest accomplishment is opening the vegetable bin in the refrigerator.
Photo courtesy of Performance Horse Magazine. Taken by Jennifer Munson Photography at Plainfield Farm, Lexington KY.
Staff Members
Jessi Jump
Administrative Coordinator
Jessi brings seven years of nonprofit fundraising and operations experience to ELCR. Her experience with LexArts, the united arts fund for central Kentucky, and Girl Scouts-Wilderness Road Council have provided her with multiple opportunities in fundraising, communications, administration and nonprofit operations. Jessi has a B.A. from Georgetown College in English Literature.
Jessi’s passion at ELCR is providing resources and education for horsepeople and landowners. Land conservation is essential to maintaining the culture and beauty of our world. Land loss is not only a huge threat to our horses and our equestrian endeavors, but to us as well.
Jessi lives in Sadieville with her husband, Bob, daughter, Brynna and dog, Marley-Bones.
Cynthia L. Higgs
Equestrian Partner Coordinator
Though she did not grow up on a farm, Cynthia has loved horses for as long as she can remember. As a toddler she exhausted myriad springs on the family rocking horse and played endlessly with horse toys. When her mother put her on a longtime friend’s Shetland pony at age 5, well, that was it—the passion was clinched solid. In 1999, at age 29, she bought her first horse, a Tennessee Walker whom she re-named “Ringo” (his name had been “Star”). Seven horses later she has found true love in her Arabian mare Jewel.
Following in the footsteps of her parents, Cynthia is irretrievably drawn to the natural world and relishes the moments she is able to spend outdoors among the rich sights, sounds and smells one encounters in unpaved areas. Not surprisingly, her favorite pastime is trail riding. One of her dearest lifetime goals is to acquire land and preserve it for wildlife and equestrian uses.
Cynthia, a native Kentuckian, has worked and studied in several different fields, including biological sciences, intellectual property law and telecommunications. By joining ELCR, she is for the first time able to bring to her career a combination of her strongest skills and her strongest passions.
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