Higher Ground’s Kate Dobbie has been with the organization for sixteen years, starting from when she came on as their four full-time employee in a Volunteer Coordinator Position to serving as Executive Director for twelve years, to her current role as Chief Development Officer. The Florida native originally moved to the Wood River Valley with five friends after college, intending, as so many do, to stay for just one or two years before moving on. But after waiting tables and nannying, she landed a job at Hemingway Elementary that would change her life forever. Working as a paraprofessional for a Kindergartener named Ruby (who, in a full-circle moment, is now working for Higher Ground as well), Kate worked one-on-one with Ruby for a whole year, taking her swimming and doing other activities. She got her first exposure to Higher Ground (then called Sun Valley Adaptive Sports)—a nonprofit that provides therapeutic recreation and education to children and adults with developmental, cognitive, or physical disabilities—when Ruby went on a ski outing. When a job came up at the organization, Kate jumped at the chance, rising through the organization over the years and taking it from an organization with a handful of full-time staff and a budget of $800,000 to one with twenty-five full-time staff and a $5M budget. Outside of her “lifestyle” at Higher Ground (a term they use over “job”), Kate can be found supporting St. Luke’s mental health initiatives and serving on two working groups with them, being involved with the Ronald McDonald House in Boise, and being active with her kids’ school, Pioneer Montessori. Kate, her husband, and her two kids, Brooks and Cal (ages three and one), and their thirteen-year-old border collie Phil live in old Hailey and love to ski, fly fish, bike, hike, and camp. We caught up with Kate to see how she would spend her perfect November day in Sun Valley.
How does your ideal morning start?
Kate: Sleeping in, past 7, then getting up and getting breakfast at our favorite place, the Konditorei. I’d get my Morning Star drink and their Cauliflower Hash. Then just playing outside there, feeling like you’re on vacation at the Lodge, just walking around the Village—especially in November, it’s sorta quiet and you have a free-for-all playing on the Pavilion lawn. Sometimes we’ll take the bikes and ride them around the pond and check out the ducks. It’s just a perfect way to start our day!
What’s after breakfast?
Kate: I’d say bike riding. We have two of the Shotgun seats, so each of the boys gets to ride with us. All my activities are pretty much kid-focused, so my ideal day is a weekend day. It’s great just being able to throw them on the Shotgun seats and bike the bike path, or we’ve been doing the Quigley Loop a lot with the little pump park there. They have a tiny little bike roller section for the little guys. Doing the loop out there is one of our favorite activities for sure. Hopefully, we’d get there and our adaptive team would be there with our adaptive cycles; just being able to watch our amazing staff at Higher Ground and the miracles they make happen with our athletes is definitely part of my ideal day.
What’s for lunch?
Kate: A perfect lunch would be getting up to the Lefty’s deck for the last bit of sunshine. I get either the Cajun Sausage with avocado or the Turkey Veg with monkeys—well, either one with monkeys. Then sitting on the deck and getting some late fall sun before the snow falls.
What’s your afternoon like?
Kate: Going home for a nap—not just for the boys. I’m a big napper. Then in the late afternoon/early evening, we’d go out to the Bigwood in Hailey, and I’ll sit on the bank and watch while Eric, my husband, takes one of the boys in the backpack and casts out to hopefully catch some fish. And maybe I’d fish too. Just exploring the river, throw some sticks in, have Phil at our side. The five of us would be there and just really enjoying the amazing beauties of the river at this time of year.
What’s for dinner?
Kate: We’d get a babysitter and go to Tundra, which we can walk to. Their burrata salad is delicious and they always have a good steak special, or good fish; some meatballs that are delicious. And I always get dessert; I’m a big dessert person. I love their carrot cake, and their chocolate mousse. I usually ask what their dessert is before we order dinner.
Anything after dinner?
Kate: Then go home, maybe have an old-fashioned, watch a show. We just finished The Bear; it was so good. Now we started Shrinking. Then head to bed and read a little bit and go to sleep.
