Our Board of Directors consists of long-time northern New Mexico residents who provide a variety of important skills in fund-raising, nonprofit and financial management, outdoor education, job training, case management and New Mexico’s Medicaid waiver programs.
BOARD MEMBERS
Peter Donahue, President
Peter Donahue has been a professional snowsports instructor and river guide since the early 1980’s. Over the years he gained extensive experience in teaching, coaching, and guiding a broad range of individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities participating in snowsports and outdoor recreation.
Peter has 14 years of nonprofit board leadership experience, serving on the Professional Ski Instructors of America’s Rocky Mountain regional and national boards of directors, where he served as the national Secretary, and chaired the National Children’s Education Task Force. Currently, he is the Director of Inclusion Programs for the Taos Winter Sports Team (TWST) where he manages snowsports scholarships for disabled and at-risk youth, coaches the Special Olympics team, and co-directs TWST’s Spectrum Race Camp for Athletes with Intellectual Disability at Mt. Hood, OR.
Peter Ehlers, Vice President
Peter Ehlers attended Utah State University and migrated to Jackson, Wyoming where he enjoyed twenty years in the hospitality industry. While in Jackson, he owned and operated two restaurants, Sweetwater and the Bunnery. Over time he moved to Driggs, Idaho, where he restored historic buildings, and owned a motel and natural food store. During his time in Driggs, he worked with the economic development council to establish bike paths and community resources.
Peter moved to Santa Fe in the early 1990’s to attend Jay Scherer Academy of Natural Healing; he still maintains a busy practice in Santa Fe. He has trained in KMI Structural Integration, Barral Visceral and Neural Manipulation. He was an instructor of Connective Tissue body work at the Scherer Institute for 10 years before he began teaching Anatomy Trains and KMI Structural Integration in 2005. Peter has a passion for teaching and practicing this work, as well as a deep compassion for the human spirit.
Stacey Ehlers, Treasurer
Stacey Ehlers is an outdoor enthusiast, who loves skiing, tennis, golf and hiking. She grew up in Jackson Hole, WY and moved to Santa Fe in 1992 to attend Jay Scherer Academy of Natural Healing to study Massage and never left. At heart, Stacey is an entrepreneur. Since 1999, she has owned and operated Santa Fe Massage, successful day spas in Santa Fe, including at Hotel Santa Fe and La Fonda Hotel. She sold Santa Fe Massage in 2017 and officially retired to spend more time focused on her family. She and her husband, Peter Ehlers, are the co-founders of High Country Supported Living, along with fellow board officers, Gretchen Grogan and Peter Donahue. She is fully dedicated to HCSL and ensuring that its mission of creating a supported environment where developmentally disabled individuals and their nondisabled peers can reach their full potential is realized.
Peter and Stacey raised their two children in Santa Fe. Their developmentally disabled son, Meade lives full time at HCSL’s property in Jacona along with his parents. Peter and Stacey’s daughter, Emma, is a full time student at the University of Puget Sound in Washington and loves coming home to northern New Mexico whenever she can.
Gretchen Grogan, Secretary
Gretchen Grogan manages the conservation easement and public trails programs of the Galisteo Basin Preserve, a 9000-acre open space and community stewardship project in Santa Fe, NM, for its nonprofit owner, Commonweal Conservancy. Prior to helping launch Commonweal Conservancy in 2003, Gretchen worked for many years in publishing, the performing arts and software development. She holds bachelor's degrees in economics and art history from Georgetown University and a master's degree in community and regional planning from the University of New Mexico. Gretchen loves being outdoors whenever she can and is an avid skier, cyclist, hiker and trail runner. She served for eight years on the City of Santa Fe’s Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee (BTAC). She and her husband, Peter Donahue, are the co-founders of High Country Supported Living, along with fellow board officers, Stacey and Peter Ehlers.
Gretchen and Peter are the proud parents of Eliza, a student at Montana State University in Bozeman and Liam, their developmentally disabled son. Liam and his parents are currently living part-time at HCSL’s property in Jacona.
Annie Goodwin, Member
Annie Goodwin is a life-long learner and teacher. Throughout her life she has had the desire to create learning experiences for both her students and herself. Teaching took her to foreign countries in which she taught students with learning disabilities, taught in public school and college settings in the States, and learned so much from those students about the abilities everyone shares. She has a B.A. from Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin, in Early Childhood/Elementary Education and an M.B.A. from the University of Colorado, Denver, Denver, CO., in Early Childhood Special Education-K-12 Certification in Special Education.
Most recently, Annie taught in the Santa Fe Public Schools as a teacher in the KIVA (Keeping independent Visions Alive) transition program for young adults with disabilities for three years and provided Assistive Technology services to more than 250 students for 13 years. She retired from the schools in 2018 and continues to pursue her talents in music and singing and is developing her Reiki healing practice. Annie is pleased to share all the knowledge that a 36-year teaching career and life have taught her with this much-needed and innovative project for our community.
Lynn Taulbee, Member
Lynn Taulbee has extensive experience in non-profit and for-profit organizations in Santa Fe and New Mexico, including marketing and development experience at the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, St. Vincent Hospital Foundation, Stereophile, and others. She is currently the ArtWorks Program Director at Partners in Education Foundation for the Santa Fe Public Schools, and loves helping public school students connect to art in Santa Fe in a meaningful way.
Lynn is involved with the Sangre de Cristo Chorale as both a singer and board member. A native Santa Fean, Lynn has a B.A. in Marketing from Missouri State University, and an M.B.A. from the University of New Mexico. Lynn enjoys hiking, camping, and spending time with her husband and two daughters.
JESSE CIROLIA, MEMBER
Jesse was raised in Santa Fe and attended the University of New Mexico before getting a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Denver. In 2015, she decided to bring her skills and education Child Welfare and Positive Youth Development back to New Mexico. Jesse has worked in many settings with children, youth, and their families and caretakers. From a residential treatment center for children who experienced severe trauma, to a shelter for homeless youth, Jesse brings a sense of humor and fun to her deep caring for children. She is currently Manager of Community Health for CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
Through her love of learning, arts, crafts, farming, and the healing potential of human nature relationships, Jesse has created programing for children and youth at all stages of development and abilities; supported the Educational Team of a youth-led farm in an urban neighborhood of Denver that developed a peer-education curriculum in a public high school including content on food justice, agriculture, and nutrition; and created a garden at a shelter for youth experiencing homelessness. Guided by years of direct service experience, and through ongoing personal and professional development Jesse brings extensive depth learning in psycho-evolutionary systems and culture. Jesse seeks to bring a multidimensional and intersection lens to understanding the complex needs of all human beings.