Staff

Kristen Kallai, Executive Director

Born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kristen has always had a passion for horses. She moved to Santa Barbara in 2008 and made it her home. After being a stay-at-home mom for 4 years, she came to Hearts as a volunteer. Before long she found herself happily involved in the Hearts volunteer program most days of the week! And while the horses are what she initially came for, it was the people of Hearts that captured her heart.

Email: kristen@heartsriding.org

DeeDee Conrad, Development Manager

DeeDee joins the Hearts team from the Conrad Collective on a consulting basis and handles all fundraising and development. She is passionate about connecting individuals to causes they care about and has a deep respect for the mission of Hearts.

Email: deedee@heartsriding.org

Alicia D’Anna, Assistant Barn Manager

Was a city girl from New York (in addition to many years in North Carolina and 3 years in Germany) until moving to Santa Barbara in 1991. Living in and around the city did not stop her from loving horses and asking for one every Christmas and birthday. Unfortunately that didn’t go her way, but luckily she found Hearts and started volunteering in 2017, gradually ending her career in art direction and design for catalog companies and joining Hearts staff in 2019.

Alicia enjoys traveling with her husband to Spain to visit family. At home she likes working out, yoga and attempting to grow a tiny garden. If you know Alicia then you’ve also met her pups, Vivian and Frieda.

Email: alicia@heartsriding.org

Stejara Dinulescu, Therapeutic Riding Instructor, Barn Manager

Stejara was born in Romania and grew up in Dallas, Texas. She learned how to ride through week-long Western riding camps, usually held over summer vacations during her childhood years, and she began showing in English riding disciplines between ages 16-18. Stejara moved to Santa Barbara in 2019 to begin her graduate studies at UCSB, where she is currently a PhD candidate studying and engineering devices for our sense of touch. She rediscovered her childhood love for horses when she began volunteering at Hearts in 2021, and she has been teaching at Hearts since the summer of 2025. In her free time, Stejara likes to play video games, read, paint/draw, and spend time with horses.

Email: stejara@heartsriding.org

Duane Harsh, Facilities & Operations Manager

Duane came to Santa Barbara in 2012 and found a volunteer opportunity at Hearts as a way to give back and keep himself busy. It was at Hearts he found his first experiences with horses. His previous skills in construction, race cars and ranch life all found purpose in a new position at Hearts as the Equine and Facilities Manager. Duane is the one who can fix anything and teach anyone.

Email: duane@heartsriding.org

Kiz Richter, Volunteer Coordinator

Growing up, Kiz was so obsessed with horses that she wanted to be one when she grew up. She shifted her focus and earned a degree in Environmental Sciences from Indiana University and a Masters degree from the London School of Economics. Kiz moved to Santa Barbara in 1999 and worked in the tech industry doing Program and Partner Management.

As a way to reconnect with horses, and to fulfill the yearning for helping people, she came to Hearts as a volunteer in 2017 and was a long-time Team Captain, as well as part of the barn crew. It was a natural shift to join the Hearts staff in 2021. She and her husband live in Santa Barbara and can often be found doing some sort of outdoor activity with their dog Lily.

Email: kiz@heartsriding.org

Kelly Fields-Meyer Gould, Therapeutic Riding Instructor, Program Coordinator, Assistant Barn Manager

Raised on a ranch outside of Los Angeles, Kelly has been riding horses practically since she could walk. While working as an elementary school teacher, Kelly connected with Hearts in 2022 as the summer camp manager to spend her time off from school combining her passions of education and working with horses. After her first summer on staff, Kelly knew that she wanted to continue spending every day bringing all that horses have to offer to the people who need it most.

In her free time, you can find Kelly and her partner hiking with their cattle dog Kaldi, cuddling with their two cats Arnie and Oslo, doing yoga, or going out swing dancing.

Email: kelly@heartsriding.org

Melissa Costello, Barn Manager & Therapeutic Riding Instructor

Melissa Costello is a certified Equine-Assisted Coach and Counselor of Spiritual Psychology who helps people heal through the wisdom of horses. Blending somatic awareness, deep insight, and intuitive guidance, her work fosters a grounded and compassionate space where profound healing can unfold. With horses as co-facilitators, Melissa supports individuals in releasing old patterns, restoring trust in their bodies, and reconnecting to their inner truth—not through fixing or force, but through awareness, presence, and connection.

To learn more about Melissa, visit: https://www.healwithhorsessb.com/

Email: melissa@heartsriding.org

Staff

Andrew Wilson

Bob Manning

Thom Bateman

Trey Evans

Barrett Reed

Kevin Raimer

Alexander Petti