Maria was born in England, and came to New Zealand in 1987. For 22 years she lived on a 3500-acre sheep and beef farm but recently downsized to a lifestyle block. She competed on her own horses for many years and worked extensively as a groom for a top 3 Day Event competitor while in the UK. She is an experienced Administrator, and has many years of working with the public, and organising public sporting events. She is passionate about making a difference in the lives of the vulnerable children and women that are struggling in our communities and looking forward to seeing many more lives changed at Hope Rising Farm.

Rachel founded Hope Rising Farm in 2012 and since then has supported students, as well as working in Buddy training, animal care, communications and everything in between!  She has recently taken a large step back to focus on marketing. Rachel is a connector and is always engaging with people around her, supporting others and making new friends. She has an un-ending passion for helping young people and women.  Rachel won volunteer of the year in the 2022 Volunteer Excellence Awards!

Eve joined us initially in 2014 as a general volunteer, then left to study and later returned to us with a Master's in Arts Therapy and became a Buddy. Eve loves the way the farm provides a unique mix of creativity, animal experience and time in the outdoors. Eve's enthusiasm is infectious, her ready smile and can-do belief in her students encourages them to try new things.  

Heidi has been working with horses for over ten years, riding and educating young horses, chasing beef cows on the farm and teaching lessons to a variety of students. She volunteered at Waikato Equitherapy (riding for disabled) and eventually became the Assistant Centre Coordinator for 4 years. She has a couple horses of her own and rides both English and Western depending on what she's doing.  Heidi's favorite thing about teaching is seeing students' confidence grow in themselves and in their relationship with their horse.

Rosie has been a volunteer with Hope Rising since 2016.  Over the years she has helped with equine training and being a Buddy. From a young age she rode horses for other people, however didn’t get the opportunity to purchase her own horse until she was an adult. The many years of riding horses on behalf has given Rosie a vast knowledge and a lot of experience in the equine industry.  She has also worked along side a farrier, and handled young and troublesome ponies around the Waikato. Rosie is inspired by seeing the change in young people as they discover relationship with animals.

Alan was born in South Africa and emigrated to New Zealand in 2006 with his wife Lizette and two boys. Their boys have since left home and joined up with partners, which gives Alan and Lizette a bit more freedom around home and holiday time. The whole family love fishing and go out as often as they can. They enjoy the outdoors and go tramping and biking all over the country.​ Alan says he is a people leader that leads by example and loves to see teams grow and succeed. He is an experienced electronics engineer and has been managing teams and projects in Local Government, Health, IT and Aerospace sectors for more than 20 years and completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Management at Waikato University Business School in 2012.