Board of Governors

Eileen grew up in southern California and didn’t take up riding until she was 40! Now she’s an avid eventer, and keeps several horses at the Park. Her daughter, a former Pony Club member, evented as well. Eileen is the pulse of the Park, ever-present, with a hand in everything, including membership aspects, fundraising, emergency preparedness and compliance, operations support, and board development and guidance.

Eileen, a graduate of Stanford University, spent 20 years in sales and marketing before retiring to raise two children with her husband, whom she met on a blind date. In addition to horses, she is a passionate skier and traveler. Eileen served on the Board of the Ronald McDonald House at Stanford and has served the Park for more than a decade in varying roles on the Board of Governors.

Kristin has enjoyed the breadth of equestrian sport throughout her lifetime: Pony Club, pack mule trekking, eventing, dressage, barrel racing, hunters and equitation, but she’s found her true passion in Grand Prix show jumping. As Board Vice President, she is a contemplative and inspiring master of organization, deftly handling tasks such as spearheading Park communications, promoting thoughtful facility planning and land management, and offering input from financial aspects to fundraising.

Kristin earned a BS from Duke University and an MS from the University of Utah. She continued her graduate studies at Harvard Law School, UCLA, and Stanford. After a decade in academia and the public policy sector, she transitioned to “medtech” – medical devices and digital health. She worked up the ranks to become COO of Experien Group, working with leadership teams of early-stage startups and corporate giants alike. Kristin also runs “abreast”, a patient advocacy community for breast cancer.

Barb, a journalist and lifelong rider, participated in Pony Club in Canada and Africa, then went on to compete in eventing and hunter/jumpers, before ultimately transitioning to endurance riding. Along with being the Board Secretary, she spearheads the annual Galloping Gazette, and assists with other writing aspects related to the Park, including public relations.

She has a BA from the University of Calgary, earned a Masters at Stanford University, was a News Writer/Producer in San Francisco for two decades, then went on hiatus to raise a son with her techie husband. She serves on the Portola Valley Trails & Paths Committee, the PV Horse Fair, the SMC Parks Volunteer Horse Patrol, and is a past member of the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede. In the interest of having sons and mothers do community service together, she helped found the local chapter of the Young Men’s Service League, YMSL Alpine.

When his last child left for college, Larick joined his wife on a trail ride at a camp for inner city at-risk youth. He ended up bringing home the horse he was riding. This started him on an odyssey of riding in parks from California to Wyoming to Texas and points in between. Larick is on the Park’s Operations Committee, offering guidance relating to site planning, infrastructure development and architectural and engineering issues.

Larick founded his own architectural and engineering firm more than three decades ago and has completed a wide range of residential and commercial projects. He’s involved in a variety of equine organizations including the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Mounted Search and Rescue, SMC Parks Volunteer Horse Patrol, SMC Large Animal Evacuation Group, Los Viajeros Riding Club, San Mateo County Horsemen’s Association, and Woodside Horse Owners’ Association (WHOA). He earned his MA in Architecture at the University of Utah.

Victoria rode as a youngster in Minnesota, then devoted 10 years to school and a career. She circled back to horses in order to end a recurring nightmare of sitting on a horse unable to go into the jump ring. She now competes in eventing. As the Vice President of Fundraising and Public Relations, Victoria is dedicated to development efforts for the Park, and she also works actively on the cross country course committee.

During three decades in Asset Management, Victoria worked at Robertson Stephens, Bank of America and Barclays Global Investors. She was an early pioneer of exchange-traded funds (iShares) at BGI, and spent 10 years running the global sales until BGI’s sale to BlackRock. Victoria has a BS in Chemistry from the University of Puget Sound, and continued her graduate work in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge in England. She serves as co-chair of the Pacesetters fundraising effort for the local charity, Riley's Place.

Ana grew up riding at the Park, competing in eventing. She’s now focusing on Jumpers, building a partnership with her mare Eliza. Ana serves on the fundraising committee, works on sponsorship, and helps with member relations.

Ana graduated from Claremont McKenna College and initially pursued a career in finance at BlackRock. After earning her CFA charter, she transitioned into venture capital where she worked on both the investing and operating sides. In recent years, she has enjoyed joining start-ups, and with one IPO under her belt, is hoping for another with her current company, Uniphore.

Leslie grew up in Los Angeles and spent her youth trying to find horses to ride. She brushed ponies at Kiddie Land in Beverly Hills, exercised polo ponies, explored hidden canyon trails, and eventually competed in hunter/jumpers, eventing and dressage. She now hacks her two homebreds around the Park. Leslie is the doyen of land management at the Park, but also helps write for Park publications and the website.

Leslie graduated from UCLA and holds a Master’s Degree in English from University of Virginia. She worked in academic publishing at Harvard Business School Press and UC Press, as well as at a Hollywood literary agency. A parent of two boys, she has been involved in managing the school garden at Woodside Elementary School and serving on the board of the Woodside High School Foundation. She’ a Neighborhood Leader for CERPP, and has been involved in pet therapy and therapeutic riding programs.

Growing up, Alexandra lived many places, including Tokyo, but eventually settled in San Francisco. She took to horses as a child, following her older sister around, cleaning stalls and tack in the hopes of a few minutes in the saddle. At 10, she started riding Dressage and showed for years, progressing through the levels. She and her sister, an eventer, started riding at the Park in 1983! She has now shifted her attention to being a horse show mom, cheering on her teenage son who is a Grand Prix show jumper. On the board, she’s involved in fundraising and development.

Alexandra graduated from UCLA and has spent the last 30 years working in high tech, holding senior roles in Finance, Operations, and Services. She is currently SVP and Chief Procurement Officer at Cisco Systems. She is passionate about talent development, building deep business partnerships and teams, and serving our communities. She is a Board Member and Past President for the YWCA, a non-profit community service organization, providing programs and services to women and girls.

Lesa grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin and started her riding adventures in Western before moving on to ride hunters and then transitioning to eventing. Her last horses lived out their lives retired at the Park. Another is in her future, but for now you can see her walking her white husky mix rescues Loki and Skye. Lesa is the Board Treasurer, supporting financial planning and reporting, working to keep the Park on budget, and offering advice relating to all monetary matters.

Lesa, a certified public accountant in California and Minnesota, recently retired from PwC where she was a Global Mobility Partner within the firm’s People and Organization practice. Prior to PwC, she worked with the 3M Corporation while attending St. Catherine University. She and her husband have three children.

Katrina was raised in the Philippines, and as a young girl traveled internationally to compete in Pony Club events. She is now an active competitor at jumper shows. Katrina is the Park’s Vice President of Membership, leading the annual member survey, assisting with Board recruitment and committees, and assisting with the Galloping Gazette.

Katrina graduated from Georgia Institute of Technology with a BS in Information and Computer Science. She’s spent her career in the software industry. Her specialty includes hiring and managing engineering teams, computer networking and web server development. She most recently was the VP of Engineering at Archimedes, and before that worked at Oracle, PointCast, E-Stamp and ChemConnect.

On Rob's 40th birthday his wife gave him a trail horse. That started the Solomons down the path of bringing many horses into their family, as they taught their three kids to ride. Rob recently added a buckskin Quarter Horse named Shiner's Royal to the family, so he can ride at the Park with his wife and daughter. His focus on the Board of Governors is fundraising, but he also helps with strategic planning and development.

Rob has spent the last 25 years working as a technology executive and investor in Silicon Valley. Most recently he served as the CEO and Chairman at GoFundMe. He has also held management roles at Yahoo, Sidestep/Kayak, and Groupon. He was a Venture Partner at both Accel Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV). Rob attended UC Berkeley where he was a member of two NCAA national championship water polo teams and earned All-America honors.

Phillip is an active member of the Woodside horse community, and he and his wife have given homes to a menagerie of animals including horses, donkeys, goats, chickens, and an assortment of indoor critters. A dogged questioner, Phillip is involved in many operational aspects at the Park, including infrastructure planning, equipment and facilities oversight, landscaping and signage.

Now a Senior Visiting Executive at SRI International, Phillip had an extensive management career in emerging cloud, mobile and application software companies, including Real Time Genomics, IVT Inc, OnStation Corporation and Thinking Tools. He holds a BA from Denison University, MA from Webster University and MBA from Stanford. He’s volunteered in various capacities, including Woodside’s Audit Committee, Woodside Horse Owners’ Association (WHOA), San Mateo County Horsemen’s Association, The Mounted Patrol, and the Mounted Patrol Foundation.