Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA) announced today the appointment of Ben Bernhard, Shannon Griffin, and Mandy Pope to its Board of Directors. The three newly elected directors join current board members Carrie Brogden, Lesley Campion (vice president), Marette Farrell (secretary), Torie Gladwell, Marshall Gramm (treasurer), Ryan Mahan, Mike McMahon (president), Dan Metzger, Leah O'Meara, Liam O'Rourke, Morgan Richardson, Cathy Shircliff, Brook Smith, and Jesse Ullery. Gretchen Jackson, Ellen Moelis and Dan Rosenberg are directors emeriti.
Ben Bernhard currently serves as vice president of Pin Oak Stud, a breeding and racing farm purchased by his family in 2022. He earned his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame before getting his Masters in Space Engineering from Caltech. He worked at SpaceX for two years as a Guidance, Navigation, and Control (GNC) Engineer. In this role, Ben led the full GNC mission design for numerous Falcon rocket launches, from initial trajectory design and algorithm development to final launch operations in mission control. As vice president of Pin Oak Stud, his primary focus is bringing new technology into the farm's operations and using modern data science to inform financial analysis and business strategy. Ben recently launched Stable Analytics, a tech startup specializing in horse racing technology development and data analysis.
Shannon McAnally Griffin is a California native with Kentucky roots. Her father Joseph McAnally, her uncle Ronald McAnally, and her uncle Robert McAnally all migrated from Kentucky in the mid-twentieth century to make their home in the Southern California racing circuit. After graduating from USC in 1991, she went on to a professional career in risk management and insurance, working for AIG and Willis. To add to her skillset, she returned to school and earned a Certification in Sustainability from UCLA. Then, she went on to complete both a two-year training program in nonprofit governance through the Annenberg Foundation and a Certification in Board Consulting through BoardSource. Currently, Shannon applies her expertise by working with several OTTB focused nonprofits. She serves on the board of Kingfisher Equine Rehab and Rehome (KERRI), the Thoroughbred aftercare nonprofit arm of Kingfisher Farms. She is also a member of the advisory council for the Retired Racehorse Project, and volunteers annually at their Thoroughbred Makeover training horse show. After over fifty years in the saddle, Shannon is still a passionate equestrian, riding and showing hunter horses in Southern California. She is wife to Tim Griffin and mom to Joe Griffin. They reside in La Canada, CA.
Mandy Pope grew up in Raleigh, North Carolina where her love for horses began by riding ponies and showing hunters by the age of seven. She graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science degree in business management. After graduation her involvement and love of show horses brought her to Ocala, Florida where she continued showing. The show horse connection introduced her to the Thoroughbred industry, which she found to be a fascinating business that could be profitable. She bought a 55-acre farm in 1982 and named it Whisper Hill Farm after one of her favorite show horses "Blue Whisper." Ms. Pope's Whisper Hill Farm has grown in size and number with an emphasis on quality as a commercial breeder and racing stable. She has acquired some of the top broodmare prospects in the industry such as Havre De Grace and Songbird and is realizing returns on that investment through their progeny at the racetrack and sales. Whisper Hill Farm has become one of the premier organizations in the industry with successes at breeding, buying, selling, and racing.
This press release has not been edited by BloodHorse. If there are any questions please contact the organization that produced the release.
