Born in Wiesbaden, Germany and raised in Munich, Mara's love for horses began as a young girl on vacation with her parents at an Austrian horse ranch. She spent several years helping out and learning the basics of horseback riding at a neighborhood stable. Returning to riding later in life, she took lessons at a stable at her then home in the former East Germany.

After moving to the US, Mara’s love for horses continued and for the last few years, she has provided significant financial support to organizations trying to save wild horses. Since 2017, she has focused on helping to rehome racehorses retiring from the track.

Mara's professional career as a corporate communications executive has concentrated on the international semiconductor and electronics design automation industries, including positions with one of Germany's largest multi-national chip manufacturers. She later co-founded a Silicon Valley based software start up business and then founded and ran her own successful international corporate marketing agency. Mara currently manages North American field marketing activities for a leading electronics industry company, recently recognized as one of the top 100 Great Places to Work in the US by Fortune Magazine.

In addition to her continuing love for horses, Mara brings her proven international managerial and organizational skills to Fresh Start in her role as Treasurer. Mara lives with her husband, 3 dogs and 2 cats in South East Florida, commuting regularly to Silicon Valley in California where her employer is headquartered.

Veronica (Ronni) Berman has been riding since childhood when her grandfather bought her a pony. Those early days of riding bareback on her pony led to riding hunt seat and having her own horses. She learned to ride saddle seat after boarding her horses at a Morgan Horse breeding farm, sparking a love affair with the Morgan breed and her purchase of two Morgan horses - Merwin’s Boom Town (aka Townie) and Gallant Colleen.

Ronni competed successfully as an amateur owner in the park saddle ranks with Townie and in driving ranks with Colleen. She and Townie competed in the first Grand National Morgan Horse Championships. Colleen went on to become a foundation broodmare for Kohler Farms and Townie became a well-loved pasture horse with a new family.

After earning her nursing degree, Ronni moved to Phoenix AZ and worked in a trauma center for several years before beginning her current career in the pharmaceutical industry, working for large pharma companies. She has two teen-aged boys and has been a lifelong horseracing fan.

After following the saga of Barbaro throughout his treatment at New Bolton, Ronni decided to learn about adopting an off-the-track thoroughbred. Her research took her to a woman in Georgia who worked with contacts at several tracks helping retiring thoroughbreds find new homes and careers off the track. One evening, she found her own boy listed at Philadelphia Park, now Parx. That horse, Dr. Kenny Winn, aka Kwinn, was adopted almost 14 years ago and will be 21 years old in January 2021.

A devoted fan of horseracing, Ronni has had the opportunity to visit several of her favorite racehorses, including the great Rachel Alexandra and California Chrome. Not every horse is lucky enough to have a soft landing and this is especially true for racehorses that can no longer succeed at the track. Ronni is honored to be part of Fresh Start’s programs which are dedicated to giving these horses a new life.

Fresh Start's President, Karen Graninger, has been riding and caring for horses since the age of 8 at hunter-jumper barns in Alabama, New York, Virginia and Southern California. A graduate of Ithaca College with a degree in Cinema and Photography, she pursued a career in the Hollywood film industry, working for various directors, producers, executives and studios, including News Corporation, the then parent company of 20th Century Fox, where she worked for senior executives across the world.

Karen and her husband, Jeff Wales, a technology industry entrepreneur and consultant to Fresh Start, moved to La Quinta, CA in 2004 where Karen found her off-the-track Thoroughbred mare of a lifetime named Glorious Alliance ("Glory"). Karen competed with Glory in Southern CA AA jumper shows including the HITS Coachella Desert Circuit, Del Mar Showpark, Oaks Blenheim and in Canada at Calgary's Anderson Ranch with her trainer and coach, Marilyn Dawson-Dixon, one of Ireland’s top Grand Prix riders.

Today, Karen is the “executive assistant” to her beloved mare, Glorious Alliance, now running free in a perennially green pasture in Heaven, whose Twitter account @GloriousAllianc has nearly 5700 daily followers in racing, eventing, jumping and polo throughout the world.

Karen is also the “executive assistant” to Smoothie, a sport horse and a great-great grandson of Seabiscuit, whom she and Glory rescued in December of 2017. Smoothie is now running free in the green pasture with Glory.

For the last 15 years, Karen has spent practically every day caring for thoroughbreds while becoming knowledgeable in equine massage and acupressure and, along with her husband Jeff, training and coaching thoroughbreds and other horses in correct ground manners, flat work and jumping to prepare them for a second career as sport horses.

Karen's interest in horse racing began when she first visited Saratoga at age 13 and has continued ever since. Her favorite horses include Phar Lap, Java Gold, Curlin, Mine That Bird, Dynaformer, Pioneer of the Nile, California Chrome and Beholder.

Karen founded Fresh Start in an effort to create a nationwide funded retirement and retraining program to ultimately provide every off-the-track thoroughbred horse in need with the same high-quality care and training that her horses have been fortunate enough to receive during their lifetimes.