Meet the Team

Mylantha ventured from Montana to Louisville in 2000. She holds a degree in Social Work and works for JCPS as a Mental Health Practitioner. Through the foster care system Mylantha came in contact with adults who volunteered their time to make a difference in her life. This led to her desire to volunteer, knowing the impact it had on her life.

Her passion is helping kids see their worth and future. Her desire to work with the unhoused population came about through lived experience and an acquaintance sharing her boots on the ground experience. This expanded her desire to help everyone see their worth and future.

Maria Miles was born and raised in Louisville, Ky. She has 8 siblings, four children and 4 grandchildren. Family is everything to Maria. That includes the people she serves weekly who have become family.  Maria began working with people experiencing homelessness 9 years ago after volunteering with her cousin's ministry in Indianapolis, Indiana. Maria would love to see a city where no one sleeps outside even if it's accomplished one person at a time.

​

​

Meg is a Louisville native although she ventured out of state for 6 years. Meg currently lives in Oldham County, but volunteers with several other non profit organizations in Louisville including a Lions Club and The Kentucky School for the Blind Charitable Foundation. Meg spent her career in Special Education with the majority of the time working with individuals with visual impairments. Helping a gentleman and his dog in frigid weather 12 years ago started Meg's journey in actively caring for our houseless friends by serving, fundraising, and advocating.

Michelle Foree, a native Louisvillian. currently works for Jefferson County Public Schools and is a Realtor. Michelle’s passion for her community started at a young age. She was drawn to this work, because of her desire to help all people overcome obstacles so that they can live the life that they strive to attain. Michelle believes that shelter is a basic necessity for all. She desires to help people build community and wealth through stable housing and homeownership.

Janet Mann was born and raised in Louisville, KY.  She is retired from a social services agency where she worked with the HIV/AIDS community in Louisville and southern Indiana.  Working with a vulnerable population is both humbling and rewarding. Everyone's story is sacred.  Janet believes the dream of seeing every person's basic need of being housed and sheltered can become a reality with a compassionate community.  She joined Jacob's Ladder Outreach summer 2023 and is now a Board member.  She dreams of the day Eden Village of Louisville will flourish and offer unhoused people hope for their futures.

Dr. Stephanie Nutter brings a wealth of experience and dedication to the Board of Directors of Jacob's Ladder Outreach. She holds a Doctorate in Urban Education from the University of Louisville and is a committed full-time educator with Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS). Beyond her professional achievements, Dr. Nutter is a devoted mother to three children and a loving wife to Frank.

​

Dr. Nutter's journey with Jacob's Ladder began through her daughter's class project, which sparked her involvement with the organization. Since then, she has been an enthusiastic volunteer, passionate advocate, and valued board member. In her role as the Fundraising Chair, Dr. Nutter leverages her expertise and commitment to drive the organization's mission forward, ensuring continued support and growth for its impactful programs.

Nicole Lowery joined the JLO Board as the Capital Campaign Chair in April 2024 after providing support since 2020. She previously led Humana’s nationwide social determinant of health strategy and was recognized as an expert on removing barriers to care.

Using her experience leading other non-profits in the community, she has been working diligently to raise the funds to purchase the land for Eden Village of Louisville. 

Wanda Jaggers is an elementary resource teacher with a decade of experience in the field of education. Over the past 10 years, she has dedicated herself to fostering the growth and development of young learners.

As a board member of JLO since 2024, Wanda is passionate about advocating for unhoused individuals and helping them find the resources and tools they need to improve their lives. With 2 years of grant writing experience as a nonprofit director in Louisville's Portland community, Wanda brings a wealth of understanding and experience as Jacob's Ladder Outreach's Grant Writing Chair and Secretary.

In addition to her professional and service-oriented roles, Wanda is also a dedicated mother, balancing her career, community involvement, and family life with grace and purpose. She believes that volunteering and giving back are powerful ways to make a meaningful impact and create positive change for those who need it most.

Betsy Gibbs is a lifelong Louisvillian and is an active member of Christ Church United Methodist where service is a core part of the church as each person focuses on "becoming living proof of God's love, one person at a time." Yet Betsy has always had a heart for serving and advocating for society’s most vulnerable since her daughter’s diagnosis of autism in 1993.

During those years, there were very few services available, no funding and even less hope for a life as a contributing member of society. After extensive research to find best practices, Betsy founded a non profit to provide therapy to children in Kentucky and Southern Indiana while educating lawmakers in Kentucky about the disorder, serving on Gov. Fletcher's Autism Commission.

She believes that those in our community who are unsheltered are struggling against similar barriers and she brings that same passion into her role as Volunteer Coordinator at Jacob's Ladder while also providing Outreach services, with her daughter, multiple times each week in an effort to build trust and hope.

Ashley Edlin is the Vice President of Human Resources at Canopy Services Group and a dedicated advocate for neighbors experiencing homelessness. In her role at Canopy, she leads people strategy, acquisition integration, and organizational development across a growing, multi-brand platform, giving her hands-on experience with building structure, clarity, and accountability in complex organizations.

​

Ashley brings this same expertise to Jacob’s Ladder, where she serves on the Governance Committee. Her background in HR—designing policies, leading leadership development, harmonizing systems, and overseeing compliance—directly informs her approach to governance, helping the board establish clear roles, strong oversight, and sustainable processes that support the mission rather than distract from it.

​

Her commitment to the unhoused community is rooted in a belief that housing and dignity are basic human rights, not optional line items in a budget. She is particularly driven by the reality that many lawmakers and community leaders do not treat homelessness as a true priority, and she sees strong nonprofit governance as one way to push back against that neglect and create lasting change.

​

At Jacob’s Ladder, Ashley focuses on building the structures that help the organization sustain its mission—strengthening board practices, clarifying responsibilities, and ensuring accountability—so that more time, energy, and resources can flow to the people who need them most. She lives in Prospect, Kentucky, with her husband and four children, and she and her family are actively involved in local efforts to support and stand alongside those facing housing instability.

Hugh brings more than two decades of legal experience to the Jacob's Ladder Outreach board, along with a deep background in advocacy and entrepreneurship. A former international counsel for Defenders of Wildlife, where he led outreach campaigns and shaped environmental policy, Hugh has also founded six companies across his career. He holds graduate degrees in Political Science, Environmental Management, and Law, including a J.D. from Cumberland School of Law and an LL.M. from the University of Washington.

Originally from South Carolina, Hugh has called Louisville home since 2005 after living and working across the country and internationally. When he's not in the office or the courtroom, he can usually be found rebuilding a car or building software, though more and more of his free time has found its way to Jacob's Ladder.

Hugh came to the organization the way the best volunteers do — through his family. He, his wife, and their two teenage boys serve together with Jacob's Ladder, and that shared commitment his volunteer work into a seat on the board. Hugh believes that the skills he's spent a career building, advocacy, strategy, and a willingness to fight for people who need it, belong in service of this mission.