Elisabeth Jensen

The Kentucky Equine Education Project's (KEEP) Board of Directors announced that long-time consultant Will Glasscock will be promoted to executive director beginning Jan 1. Additionally, Elisabeth Jensen who stepped down from that position in Sept. will serve as a consultant, assisting KEEP in managing board relations, industry stakeholders and with long-term strategic planning. Growing up in Kentucky, Glasscock attended the College of Charleston and the George Washington University before working for nearly nine years in congressional offices and as the director of government relations for a national trade association. Case...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP)'s executive vice president, Elisabeth Jensen, will retire from her position at the end of the year. During Jensen's leadership, which began in 2018, she oversaw the daily operations of the organization and was integral in expanding KEEP to address new issues facing the industry, as well as advancing the goal of preserving and promoting the horse industry's role as Kentucky's signature industry. KEEP is a highly visible advocate in Frankfort, Ky. and Washington, D.C. for both expanding the number of visas available to the...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) Foundation is celebrating the fifth anniversary of its specialty Seattle Slew license plate. Since its release on May 1, 2017, the number of Kentuckians who have chosen to use the plate has continued to increase annually. From each purchase and renewal of the plate, $10 is donated to the KEEP Foundation to be used for educational initiatives related to the state's horse industry. To date, funding from the license plate has totaled nearly $140,000. The KEEP Foundation's Seattle Slew specialty license plate would not...

The Commonwealth Racing Challenge kicks off Friday, Apr. 8 with the opening of the Keeneland spring race meet. The new initiative is designed to encourage Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) members to visit all of Kentucky's racetracks during the 2022 Kentucky horse racing circuit. KEEP members who successfully scan a unique QR code and tag KEEP in a social media post at each of the six participating Kentucky racetracks during their 2022 racing meets will be entered to win four VIP tickets the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Keeneland Nov....

The Kentucky Equine Education Project will host its annual KEEP Day in Frankfort Thursday. KEEP Day in Frankfort provides KEEP grassroots members, industry leaders, breed associations, and other industry partners an opportunity to share with Kentucky lawmakers the importance of horses to their legislative districts and the state's economy. The event will take place from 9 a.m.-10:45 a.m. in Room 113 in the Capitol Annex. "Kentucky's horse industry and community create an annual economic impact on the state of $6.5 billion," said Elisabeth Jensen, KEEP's executive vice president. "More important,...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) Foundation has announced the hiring of Alexandra Harper as its new executive director. "I'm excited about taking the reins as Executive Director," Harper said. "I look forward to taking the KEEP Foundation to the next level through enhanced fundraising efforts and educational events, continued workforce development initiative, and expanding the efforts toward making the industry more accessible. I've spent my entire professional and personal life in this industry and I can't wait to see what we can accomplish as we work together toward the...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project Foundation and The Race for Education have announced the recipients of their 2021 scholarships. The KEEP Foundation board of directors approved over $35,000 in scholarships to 11 students attending 10 universities across the Commonwealth. All of the 2021 scholarship recipients are students currently enrolled with a university or college in Kentucky in an equine and/or agriculture related major. The 11 students are: Ambre Azcona-University of Kentucky; Lily Crouch-University of Kentucky; Aleah Gardner-Morehead State University; Harrison Goode-University of Kentucky; Wheaton Hardwick-Kentucky Community & Technical College; Emma...

Edited Press Release Officials at the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), Kentucky's equine economic advocate, have announced the new leadership of KEEP's Board of Directors. The Board of Directors unanimously approved the promotion of Case Clay to become the Board's Chairman, while Kentucky horseman David Ingordo was unanimously approved to become the Board's Vice Chairman. Clay and Ingordo replace Doug Cauthen and Ken Jackson, respectively, who will both continue serving on the KEEP Board. Additionally, Courtney Schneider was added to the Board of Directors. Clay is the Chief Commercial Officer...

by Elisabeth Jensen and Doug Cauthen We believe and assume that most people reading this letter know that Historical Horse Racing (HHR) has been in the news a lot lately. But to quickly summarize, just last week, the Kentucky Supreme Court officially ruled that it would not rehear the case where it ruled, in principle, that at least certain HHR machines could not continue UNLESS the Kentucky Legislature provides legislation to allow HHR to qualify as pari-mutuel racing per the definition they alone can provide.  This is an urgent issue,...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP), a not-for-profit grassroots organization created in 2004 to preserve, promote, and protect Kentucky's signature multi-breed horse industry, has added to its Board of Directors. The nine additions are Shannon Cobb, Michelle Fischer, Vince Gabbert, Jeff Hall, Katie LaMonica, Jamie MacLeod, James Miller, Bret Shultz, and Donnie Snellings. New officers for the board will be elected at the board's January meeting. "Given the hurdles the horse industry faces in the coming year, KEEP may be more necessary now than at any other point in its...

Officials at the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) and the Race For Education (RFE) have announced the recipients of scholarships for 2020. A total of $21,000 in scholarships was approved by the KEEP Foundation board of directors and will be distributed among 18 students attending 10 institutions within the Commonwealth of Kentucky. All are currently enrolled in an equine and/or, agriculture related major or a horse-related program. In addition to the 18 Kentucky students, RFE awarded its Robert J. Frankel Scholarship to New York student Elsa Loriel. The Frankel Award...

The Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) in conjunction with the University of Louisville's Equine Industry Program have announced the release of the COVID-19 Kentucky Equine Business Impact Survey. The results of the survey, whose participants will remain anonymous, will be shared with Kentucky and federal lawmakers to assist in policy-making decisions to best meet the needs of the industry. "Kentucky's horse industry has 35,000 individual operations," said Elisabeth Jensen, the executive vice president of KEEP who oversees the body's daily operations. "These businesses provide nearly 80,000 jobs in Kentucky and...