Read all about the talented and interesting people who will be sharing their knowledge at Winter Cycling Congress 2016.
Ebony Adedayo
Communications and Capacity Building Coordinator
Alliance for Metropolitan Stability
Ebony Adedayo was born in 1983 in Milwaukee, WI. She moved to the Twin Cities in 2001 to attend college, and earned a B.A. in Pastoral Studies (Cross Cultural minor) from North Central University in 2006, and a Master of Global and Contextual Studies from Bethel Seminary in 2010. A licensed minister, she has served in various roles working with youth, young adults and in missions since 2003. Ebony is currently the communications and capacity building coordinator at the Alliance for Metropolitan Stability, a nonprofit working on racial, economic, and environmental justice in the Twin Cities region, a parish pastor at Church of All Nations in Columbia Heights, and an author.
Casidy Anderson
Community Risk Reduction Officer
Minneapolis Fire Department
Casidy Anderson is the Community Risk Reduction officer for Minneapolis Fire Department. She is a 17 year employee with Minneapolis Fire, working for 7 years in suppression, followed by a decade working in community outreach and prevention. Casidy is responsible for bringing fire, burn, and injury prevention messages to the citizens of Minneapolis, including but not limited to children, elderly, immigrant populations, and employers. Casidy also manages the Youth Fire Setter Intervention Program in Minneapolis, as well as the CERT (Community Emergency Response Team) Volunteer Program.
Peter Atkins
Architect
Choice Wood Company
Peter Atkins, originally from Bayfield, WI, moved to Minneapolis to attend the University of Minnesota where he developed a love for cycling. He graduated in 2012 and holds a Bachelor of Science in Architecture with a Minor in Landscape Design and Planning. Combining architecture and cycling, his senior thesis focused on the recent emergence of “Bike Centers” through the design of a theoretical “Bike Center” located in Minneapolis’ North Loop that promoted cycling as a vital piece of Minneapolis’ growing transportation network. Peter currently works for a residential design/build firm. Contact: , Choice Wood, 3300 Gorham Ave, St Louis Park, MN 55426, (952) .
K.C. Atkins
Civil/Traffic Engineer
Toole Design Group
KC is a Professional Engineer with over eight years of experience in transportation engineering and project management. Her experience includes preliminary and final design, including bicycle/pedestrian accommodations, urban/rural roadways, interchanges, local roads and context-sensitive design solutions. KC also has experience in traffic engineering, performing traffic analysis and delay calculations, as well as traffic safety, performing crash analysis, safety plans and road safety audits. Her wide range of experience allows her to incorporate multiple elements of engineering into her work to provide safe, multimodal infrastructure.
Tom Babin
Journalist and Author
Postmedia News/Calgary Herald
Tom Babin is an award-winning journalist and the author of the bestselling book “Frostbike: The Joy, Pain and Numbness of Winter Cycling.” He is a producer at the Calgary Herald, where he has also worked as the editor of the Sunday edition, Swerve magazine and the tablet app. He has written for the National Post, Explore, Momentum and Canadian Cyclist magazine. He writes Pedal, one of the most popular cycling blogs in Canada.
Josey Balenger
Operations Director
Science Museum of Minnesota
Josey Balenger is an operations director for the Science Museum of Minnesota and in the nice weather, cute commutes there on her orange bike all the way from Northeast Minneapolis. You can also find her organizing and volunteering for Grease Rag Ride & Wrench, an organization that aims to encourage and empower women, transgender and femme cyclists. She is also a State Park enthusiast, amateur waterfall aficionado, and obsessed about bike camping and camping in general.
Bevin Barber-Campbell
Bicycle advocate
BevinBikes
Bevin Barber-Campbell is a bicycle advocate, program specialist and consultant in Colorado, with a focus on women, families, education and business outreach. She is a certified League Cycling Instructor, with over 500 contact hours teaching adults and children. She leads Traffic Skills 101, Women’s Learn 2 Ride courses, and Lunch n’ Learn classes including Commuter 101, Women 101 and Winter Cycling 101 (her favorite). Bevin was instrumental in Fort Collins becoming a Platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community℠, and she led the charge when Fort Collins became #1 in the nation for the city with the most Bicycle Friendly Businesses℠. Bevin also worked in the bicycle industry as an apparel product manager for Terry Bicycles, after developing the first bike skort at her own company. Bevin has over 10 years of experience of daily winter cycling in Oregon, Montana and Colorado, including many years of winter cycling with her children. She is excited to be back in Minneapolis, where she was raised in a bicycling family.
Zac Barnes
Central Regional Director
Wisconsin Bike Fed - Share & Be Aware
Zac grew up pedaling the streets of Minneapolis to get to basketball, baseball and a bit of bluegrass practice. Years later, Zac (or Zacarias) received a degree in Latin American Studies from UW-Eau Claire and has focused around two years of travel and work in Central and South America. This has helped bridge a new connections to current and future cyclists in Wisconsin’s Hispanic community. Zac’s bike touring passions were most recently polished while building a bamboo steed in San Francisco and enjoying a two month bike tour, wandering the country close to the western express bicycle route. Zac now focuses his time on getting new folks excited and active with Madison Bike Winter (many times with the help of Madison BCycle). Madison continues to see growth in demand for year-round Share & Be Aware classes on comprehensive road safety for all road users (reducing the number of pedestrian and bike fatalities) and walking and biking short trips. See more about the Wisconsin Bike Fed staff and Share and Be Aware at: www.wisconsinbikefed.org/about/staff & www.shareandbeaware.org
Barbara Battiste
Director
Minnesota Legislative Office on the Economic Status of Women
Barbara Battiste is Director of the Minnesota Legislative Office on the Economic Status of Women. The statutory mandate of this non-partisan office is to study and report to the legislature on all matters related to the economic status of Minnesota women. Throughout its 39-year history, the Office on the Economic Status of Women has also served as an informal liaison on women’s economic issues between legislators and the community. Barbara started in this position about two years ago, but has been involved in public policy on women’s economic issues for many years—as Public Policy Director for WomenVenture (a Minnesota nonprofit that helps women start and grow small businesses); policy advisor for the Minnesota Women’s Consortium; and policy advisor for the Pay Equity Coalition of Minnesota. A special passion of Barbara’s is the economic peril of older women, linked with the ability and desire of older women to hold challenging and well-compensated jobs. This led her a few years ago to gain a Master’s Degree from the University of Minnesota with a focus on public policy and political science. Her Masters’ thesis was the design of a pilot project to enable older women to overcome lack of marketable job skills and age discrimination and to secure meaningful employment. Barbara helped develop the Women’s Economic Security Act and provided testimony and background for various provisions in the Act. She is currently working with legislators and community leaders in exploring the next steps to help Minnesota’s women and their families achieve economic security.
Allison Bell
Project Manager of Everyday Equity
Metro Transit
Allison Bell is the Project Manager of Everyday Equity at Metro Transit. Previously, she was Program Manager in the Office of Transit-Oriented Development at Metro Transit and Director of Corridors of Opportunity at the Metropolitan Council. Before moving to Minneapolis in 2011, Allison led the Research and Consulting Group at the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania. She also worked for the City of San Jose and as a community organizer in the Peace Corps in Zambia. Allison has an MS in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University and BA from Grinnell College.
Lisa Bender
City Council Member
City of Minneapolis
Lisa Bender is City Council Member for Ward 10 in Minneapolis. She was elected to serve in 2013. She has a Masters Degree in City Planning and over a decade of experience working to make cities more equitable and sustainable.
Marc Berg
Founder
Friends of the Downtown Minneapolis Bicycle Center
Marc Berg, originally from southern California, is an attorney who lives in St. Louis Park and works in downtown Minneapolis. He has been a year-round bike commuter since moving to Minnesota in 1987, and has been involved in bicycle advocacy since 1990. In 2013 he founded the Friends of the Downtown Minneapolis Bicycle Center, a Facebook group to discuss interest in a public bike center as a way to encourage more people to commute by bike. Contact: , J. Selmer Law, P.A., 500 Washington Avenue South, Suite 2010, Minneapolis, MN 55415, (612) .
Connie Bernardy
State Representative
Minnesota House of Representatives
Connie’s career has been creating community partnerships. She works tirelessly to bring people together to help create safe and healthy communities. Connie Bernardy works to create a transportation system that makes it safe and easy for everyone to be move about no matter the mode of transportation they chose. Connie is a champion for upholding Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and Environmental Justice in our transportation system. Connie is serving her fifth term in Minnesota House of Representatives. She serves on the Transportation Committee where she has been the Vice Chair, Higher Education Committee, and on the Administrative and Rules Committee. In 2015, Voices for Racial Justice recognized Rep Bernardy with a Champion for Racial Equity award for her outstanding leadership towards racial equity in the Minnesota Legislature. Connie enjoys relaxing with her family and friends in Minnesota’s outdoors especially hiking and boating, gardening, and doing ancestry research.
Andrew J. Besold
Transportation Planner
West Central Initiative
Andrew J. Besold is the Transportation Planner at West Central Initiative in Fergus Falls, Minnesota where he is tasked with Safe Routes to School and other active transportation planning issues in that region of the state. Originally from New Jersey he is a lifelong cyclist with over 60,000 miles of riding experience. He is also an outdoor recreation enthusiast with over 25 years of practical user experience in most passive outdoor recreation activities. Born to a German-American family he travels to Germany frequently and often does so with a bicycle. His grandest adventure was a 10 week, unsupported bicycle tour through the Alps with his best friend in 2001. However Andrew wasn’t always an active transportation specialist. He worked for ten years as a medical x-ray technician before deciding to return to school to pursue his callings. He has a B.S. in Natural Resource Management and a Master of City and Region Planning, both from Rutgers University in New Jersey. While at Rutgers he also worked at the New Jersey Bicycle and Pedestrian and Safe Routes to School Resource Centers where he was a research assistant and policy analyst. He is a League of American Bicyclists, Cycling Instructor (LCI) and has educated hundreds of students on safe and effective cycling for Bike New York and elsewhere. In 2 Andrew was the Stanley to Redfish Trail, Sawtooth National Recreation Area, Public Lands Transportation Scholar. This program was once run by the Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University. There he was stationed in Sun Valley Idaho where he worked with US Forest Service staff routing,designing and bringing to NEPA approval a non-motorized multi-use trail from the outpost town of Stanley Idaho to the large and super-popular Redfish Lake Recreation and Camping Complex at the base of the most majestic Sawtooth Mountains.
Joe Biel
Founder/Co-owner/Manager
Microcosm Publishing
Joe Biel is a self-made publisher and filmmaker who draws origins, inspiration, and methods from punk rock. He is the founder/co-owner/manager of Microcosm Publishing. He tours with Elly Blue and Joshua Ploeg with his films about social justice bicycling movements on the Dinner and Bikes program. His feature film, Aftermass, tells the complete story about how Portland became North America’s #1 bicycling city from 1971 till 2011. He has been featured in the Time Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, Utne Reader, Portland Mercury, Oregonian, Broken Pencil, Readymade, Punk Planet, Profane Existence, and Maximum Rocknroll.
Simon Blenski
Transportation Planner
City of Minneapolis Department of Public Works
Simon is a transportation planner with the City of Minneapolis Public Works Department. He started with the City in 2010 working in the Traffic & Parking Division to implement on-street bikeways and identify bicyclist safety improvements. He is currently in the Transportation Planning and Programming Division working to implement a 50-mile network of protected bikeways and manage capital projects and planning. Simon also manages the City’s bicycle and pedestrian count program, which oversees volunteer counts at 100 locations each year and a growing number of automated trail counters. He has a B.S. in Urban Studies and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Göran Blomqvist
Researcher
Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
Göran Blomqvist is a researcher at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. For the past 19 years, he has pursued research related to winter maintenance and environmental issues. Doctor of Philosophy in Land and Water Resources, 2001. PhD-thesis: “De-icing salt and the roadside environment: Air-borne exposure, damage to Norway spruce and system monitoring”
Jenny Bordon
Safe Routes to School Specialist
Minneapolis Public Schools
Jenny Bordon has helped lead Safe Routes to School efforts in Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) since 2011 during which time MPS has launched innovative bicycle and walk programs resulting in dramatic increases in the number of students walking and biking.
Rose M. Brewer, Ph.D.
Board Chair
Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota
Rose M. Brewer, Ph.D. is a longtime scholar activist. She is the Morse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of African American & African Studies at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. For over fifteen years she was a board member of Project South: Institute for the Elimination of Poverty and Genocide. She also served as board member of United for a Fair Economy, and as a founding and member of the Black Radical Congress. She is centered in environmental justice work as the board chair of Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota, and as a founding member of AfroEco, an organization committed to forging a new relationship between Blacks and the land. She was a core organization of the 2012 Black Environmental Thought II Conference held at the University of Minnesota in 2012. She currently serves on the Northside Greenway Council as a representative for EJAM.
Adam Budowski
Eco-Counter
Adam is an engineer-in-training from Winnipeg, Canada, where he recently completed his Master’s degree in transportation engineering. His Master’s research focused on cyclist traffic monitoring in Winnipeg, which included installing and monitoring 10 automated cyclist counters in order to develop analysis methods for the city’s active transportation monitoring program. Recently, Adam moved to Montreal where he has been working for Eco-Counter, a world leading company in providing automated pedestrian and cyclist monitoring systems.
Sarah Bundy
Assistant Professor of Emergency Management
North Dakota State University
Dr. Sarah Bundy is an Assistant Professor of Emergency Management at North Dakota State University in Fargo, ND. She teaches courses in disaster preparedness and recovery for department majors and minors, as well as an introductory emergency management course open to the entire student body. Her research interests include the building of disaster resilient communities and the holistic recovery of communities and individuals from disaster events. Bundy is a 2002 graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and served in the Coast Guard from 2002 until 2007. She also worked at Amazon.com as an area manager in a fulfillment center in Lexington, KY and as a manager for a Department of Defense contractor in Washington D.C. prior to returning to graduate school at North Dakota State in 2010 to pursue her doctorate in emergency management. Outside of the office, Bundy enjoys remaining active through running, cycling, and soccer.
Heather Burke
Marketing & Communications Specialist
Denver Public Works
Heather Burke is a communications specialist for Denver Public Works. She tells positive and impactful stories about the Department utilizing press releases, photo opportunities, media interviews, social media, website updates, and video production. During the winter, Heather educates the public about our Department’s snow response plan for main streets and now bike lanes, as more people in Denver begin to ride their bikes year-round. Before Heather came to the Denver Public Works communications department in 2014, she worked for what some call “the other side” – TV news. She was a reporter for almost eight years at several TV stations across the country from Wisconsin to Denver, where she covered her share of snow, talking about road conditions during many blizzards! Heather brings this media background to the table when messaging major snow events in the Mile High City.
Ginger Cannon
Park Planner
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Ginger Cannon is a Park Planner at the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in Minneapolis , MN. She has worked in the park and recreation field for 10 years, and previous held positions in the legal and information technology sectors. Ginger has served on multiple project and advisory teams working to reduce disparities in public access to environmental resources that facilitate physical activity, including bicycle infrastructure.
Shawn Carriere
Project Manager
North Corp.
Shawn Carriere was raised in Minneapolis and is a year-round commuter. She previously worked for Target Corporation where she managed all bike commuter programming and facilities for three HQ locations. Target was the first Fortune 100 Company to earn Platinum status as a Bicycle Friendly Business from the Bicycle League of America. She serves as the Transportation Management Organization’s representative to the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee and was honored with the Commuter Choice Award in 2013. Shawn currently works for North Corp, a real estate, hospitality, and retail company. Contact: , North Corp, 206 N 1st Street, Minneapolis, MN 55401, (612) .
Nadine Chalmers
Active Living Planner
Hennepin County
Nadine Chalmers, MURP, MPH, has been the active living planner at Hennepin County since 2013. Nadine’s work focuses on integrating public health into how we plan and build our transportation systems and communities. At Hennepin County, she has worked on a variety of projects, including light rail transit station area planning, complete streets, bike/ped planning, and automated bicycle counting. Nadine has a dual master’s in urban planning and public health from the University of Minnesota. Originally from New Jersey, she has embraced Minnesota winters, biking to work all year round and cross country skiing as often as possible.
Tina Cho
Community Involvement Coordinator/Mechanic
Recovery Bike Shop
A Chicago native, Tina first got involved with bike shops and wrenching at a young age when she realized that freedom of transportation equalled freedom of movement. Since then, Tina has worked at a number of Minneapolis bike shops while competing as a scholar-athlete at the University of Minnesota, earning her degrees in Exercise Physiology, and coaching youth athletics for the past decade. She is now the Community Involvement Coordinator and Mechanic at Recovery Bike Shop in NE Minneapolis, where she works to connect the shop with its primary customer base (commuters) through social events, educational workshops, and Free Mobile Repair pop-ups throughout the year.
Betsy Christensen
Statewide Health Improvement Program Grant Coordinator
Saint Paul Public Housing Agency
Betsy finds passion in the realm of public health and loves the challenge of her current work building healthier public housing communities in St Paul. Betsy has a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Minnesota, and an appetite to keep asking, listening and learning from her daily interactions and experiences in the community. Betsy also teaches yoga classes at a neighborhood park in Minneapolis, works on an urban farm, and recently started a soap making company. Betsy believes bicycles are a beautiful machine, a pathway to freedom and the best mode to navigate our daily lives.
Ashley Christensen
Regional Safe Routes to School Coordinator
Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission
As Regional Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Upper Explorerland Regional Planning Commission (www.uerpc.org), Christensen works closely with schools and communities in Northeast Iowa to encourage active school travel and safe community routes. She partners with the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness Initiative (www.iowafoodandfitness.org), a grass-roots effort working to ensure people in Northeast Iowa have access to healthy, locally grown food and abundant opportunities for physical activity and play. Christensen holds two Bachelor of Science degrees from Iowa State University in Kinesiology and Health and Animal Science.
Bjorn Christianson
Bjorn is a Minneapolis-based photographer, web developer, and year-round cyclist. His inside view on the robust and vibrant Twin Cities cycling community gives his work a unique perspective. With cycling subjects ranging from bike polo to messenger culture to winter endurance racing, he explores the motivation to play, work, and compete on a bike.
Connor Cox
Planner
Toole Design Group
Connor Cox is a transportation planner in Toole Design Group’s Minneapolis office and is a year-round bike commuter. Connor has an international background, both academically and professionally. He received his Master’s degree in International Cooperation and Urban Development from the Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. Prior to joining TDG, he worked for an international non-governmental organization (NGO) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he worked on bicycle planning and multi-modal planning projects.
Erin Daly
Bike/Walk Advocate
Sierra Club Northstar Chapter, Land Use and Transportation Committee
Erin is a graduate of Macalester College with a degree in Geography and Environmental Studies. Her academic work and professional goals have focused on improving the health of our cities and fostering community through multimodal, equitable transportation systems. Erin’s senior thesis addressed the social perceptions of bicycle infrastructure in minority neighborhoods in America’s best cycling cities, Portland and Minneapolis. Since Macalester she has worked with Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Trail Development team, as well as the Alliance for Biking & Walking on their recent State of the Movement report. She was an American Trails Emerging Leader at the 2015 International Trails Symposium.
Julie Danzl
School Intervention Coordinator
Minneapolis Public Schools
Julie joined Minneapolis Public Schools in 2006 and oversees student wellness activities that aim to develop healthy learners by increasing access to physical activity and eating healthy. Hallmark efforts include offering resources and customized technical assistance that advance Safe Routes to School and active school day strategies in schools district-wide. Julie serves on a wide range of advisory groups that promote healthy living at the state and local levels.
Tony Desnick
Director for Development and New Projects
Nice Ride Minnesota
Tony Desnick is a parent, educator, architect, urban designer, blogger, bike activist and bike share promoter. As Director for Development and New Projects with Nice Ride Minnesota, he looks after bike programs in Greater Minnesota. He also works with companies to help them sponsor Nice Ride to promote biking as a legitimate form of daily transportation. He writes for the blogs, minneapolize.com and streets.mn where he makes a case for bikes saving the world from itself. He sits on the Board of Directors for Smart Trips St. Paul, the St. Paul TMO. Most days you’ll find him on his “barkfiets” carrying his greyhound Lucy to and from work. He has been riding a bike for 55 years and rides everyday of the year.
Brian Downing
Healthy Duluth
I was born in Duluth, MN and have lived here most of my life. The mid-size town, the recreational opportunities, and of course, Lake Superior make it a really special place. Growing up, we were always on our bikes, cruising around the neighborhood, exploring the forests of Hartley Park, and seeing how much air we could put between our tires and the ground. In undergraduate at the University of Minnesota Duluth, my work in the Environment & Sustainability field focused around bicycles and transportation. As a member of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, I found a new appreciation for the bicycle’s role in promoting health, professional, economic, and environmental equity. During that time, I interned with the local transportation planning organization and learned where bicycles fit into the local and national transportation narrative. My current position with Minnesota GreenCorps and the Healthy Duluth Initiative concentrates on increasing bicycling in Duluth, MN in efforts to improve our state’s air quality and environmental resilience by reducing our dependence on the motor vehicle. Between the recreational opportunities, the expanding trail network, and programs to put more people on bikes, it’s an exciting time to be a part of the progressing bicycle culture in Duluth.
Tony Drollinger
Programs Specialist
Metro Transit
Tony Drollinger is a Commuter Programs Specialist with Metro Transit in Minneapolis since 2011. He works on projects promoting cycling as a first and last mile transit solution as well as a standalone commuting option. Tony is a year-round cycling commuter in Minneapolis and frequent transit rider. Previously he held positions in higher education, corporate America, and small nonprofits. He has a B.S. in Environmental Studies and a Master’s in Geographic Information Science, both from the University of Minnesota.
Steve Durrant
Principal
Alta Planning + Design
Steve Durrant is a Principal at Alta Planning + Design, North America’s leading consultants specializing in bicycle transportation planning, design, implementation and program development. As a Minnesota native, everyday bicycle commuter and supervisor of 4 winter city offices he brings direct experience in bicycle transportation in frigid conditions. He has observed disaster trials in three jurisdictions. Mr. Durrant is a member of the board of directors of the League of American Bicyclists and a League Cycling Instructor. He was a keynote speaker at WCC2014 in Winnipeg.
Matthew Dyrdahl
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
City of Minneapolis Department of Public Works
Matthew Dyrdahl is the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for the City of Minneapolis and has been with the city since February 2015. He is an urban planner with over eight years of experience building healthy and active communities in Minnesota. His primary responsibilities include managing the Bike/Ped Section and staffing the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committees. Prior to joining the city, Matthew was the Active Transportation Coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Health and a Transportation Planner with the Headwaters Regional Development Commission. Matthew has a Master’s of Science in Planning from Florida State University and a Bachelor’s Degree in Community Development from St. Cloud State University. He is also League Cycling Instructor (LCI) and a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).
Steven Elmer
Planning Analyst
Metropolitan Council
Steven Elmer has been a Planning Analyst for the Metropolitan Council since 2009 and has more than 25 years’ experience in multimodal transportation planning in Minnesota and Washington state. He currently leads bicycle/pedestrian planning efforts at the Council and also assists on various transit and highway corridor projects. Steve is an APA Certified Planner and member of the Association for Pedestrian and Bicycle Planning. He managed a Regional Bicycle System Study for the Council and led the effort to incorporate a first-ever Regional Bicycle Transportation Network into the region’s Transportation Policy Plan. Steve is an active cyclist and lives in Saint Paul with his wife and teenaged daughter.
Andy Esarte
Engineering Manager
Town of Canmore
Andy Esarte lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountain Town of Canmore, Canada where he works as the town engineering manager. He is a civil engineer graduating from the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada. Prior to moving to Canmore he worked for the City of Calgary as a project manager delivering light rail transit projects along with associated connecting transportation infrastructure. During his time working with the Town of Canmore, Andy has gone from vehicle commuter to travelling year-round by bike with his two young children ages two and four in tow. Through this experience and through excellent work others have done to lead the way in terms of complete street infrastructure, Andy envisions a transformation of Canmore’s streets over the next ten years that will contribute to meeting the community’s goals of a safe and livable place for its residents and visitors.
Nick Falbo
Senior Planner
Alta Planning + Design
Nick Falbo is a Senior Planner at Alta Planning + Design, specializing in the design of separated bike lanes, spaces for people, and transit oriented complete streets. Nick contributed to and illustrated the NACTO Urban Bikeway Design guide, the definitive guide to integrating bikeways into the fabric of American cities. Nick is shaping the field with cutting edge research into future bikeway design, popularizing the Protected Intersection design concept. Nick spreads his knowledge and love of good street design as a NACTO certified trainer, and as an adjunct instructor of Bicycle and Pedestrian Planning at Portland State University. Working at the strategic intersection of design, life, and transportation, Nick helps create active communities where bicycling and walking are safe, healthy, fun, and normal daily activities.
Brian Fanelli
Promotions Coordinator
Pedal Minnesota
Brian Fanelli is the Promotions Coordinator for Pedal Minnesota, a statewide coalition dedicated to increasing ridership in Minnesota, and founder of Spinning Stories – a place based storytelling series that travels by bike. He uses bicycles to create and strengthen communities, and as his primary mode of transportation. To relax and unwind after a long day of biking, talking about bikes, and organizing bike events, he volunteers at Boneshaker Books as a member of their book delivery committee (by bike). He swears that bicycles do not completely dominate his interests but has no evidence to back up the claim.
Ethan Fawley
Executive Director
Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition
Ethan Fawley is the Executive Director of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, a local non-profit organization that works to inspire people to bicycle and advocates for a city where everyone feels comfortable bicycling. He holds a Masters of Urban and Regional Planning and a B.A. in Geography both from the University of Minnesota. Ethan lives with his wife, Lesley, and young son, Quincy, in the Midtown Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. He readily admits to dealing with winter rather than enjoying it, although winter biking has brought new winter awareness and joy. He has been a daily winter bicyclist for the last 3 years after working his way up to it over about 10 years.
James "Brink" Field
Operations Supervisor
Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
James “Brink” Field is a 20 year Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board employee, and has extensive experience maintaining paved trails and park facilities in an urban environment as an Operations Supervisor. He is an avid cyclist that is also into vintage BMX and likes to customize bikes in that style.
Aaron Fodge
Alternative Transportation Manager
Colorado State University
Aaron Fodge is the Alternative Transportation Manager at Colorado State University. He is responsible for providing safe, efficient, and enjoyable transportation options for the University’s employees, students, and visitors. His recent work includes a Bicycle Master Plan, Bike Friendly University Platinum designation, an intra-campus shuttle, multiple grant awards, and a “commuter friendliness” assessment of 70 campus buildings. Mr. Fodge served 7 years as Senior Transportation Planner for the North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization (NFRMPO) in Fort Collins, Colorado. Mr.Fodge oversaw the TDM (transportation demand management) program (www.smarttrips.org) for the agency’s 2 counties and 13 local governments. He led the program’s TDM Planning and Implementation, vanpool and carpool programs, major public stakeholder events, transportation web portal, and various planning efforts (TDM, Bicycle). Mr. Fodge serves as the Rocky Mountain Representative on the Board of Directors for the Association for Commuter Transportation (ACT) and the Pacific Inter-Mountain Parking and Transportation Association (PIPTA). Mr. Fodge earned a B.S. in Environmental Studies (1996) from SUNY ESF at Syracuse University, an M.S. in Environmental Studies (1998) from California State University – Fullerton and an MBA (2001) from Colorado State University.
Marc-André Gadoury
City Councilor - Official in charge of cycling in the Coderre administration
City of Montreal
Marc-André Gadoury has a bachelor’s degree in history (UQAM), and a master’s in epidemiology (McGill University). He has worked at the Montreal Public Health Board as a public health research coordinator. Marc-André Gadoury has been the city councilor in the Étienne-Desmarteau district (Rosemont) since 2009. In 2010, he formed a citizen-based committee to address the issue of stolen bikes in Montreal, an effort which led to a city-wide range of solutions from public awareness campaigns and a police database to changes in the city’s by-laws. Marc-André is a very dedicated councilor; he has never missed a single vote in council and he interacts frequently with the Montreal cycling community on social media and in real life. In 2015, Marc-André Gadoury was named Official in charge of cycling in the Coderre administration, a first for Montreal.
Robin Garwood
Policy Aide to Minneapolis Ward 2 Council Member Cam Gordon
City of Minneapolis
Robin Garwood is Policy Aide to Minneapolis Ward 2 Council Member Cam Gordon, a position he has held since 2006. He is the City Council appointee to the Bicycle Advisory Committee, and serves on the board of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition.
Rebecca Gleason
Research Engineer
Western Transportation Institute at Montana State University
Rebecca Gleason, PE has 20 years of civil engineering and transportation research experience and is a key team member of the Small Urban and Rural Livability Center (SURLC) at the Western Transportation Institute of Montana State University. Her research is focused on integrating bicyclists and pedestrians into transportation networks. Ms. Gleason was the primary author of the Guide to Promoting Bicycling on Federal Lands (2008), the first comprehensive report that examined bicycling issues in federal lands and gateway communities across the country. Her interests include relationships between active transportation, the built environment and public health. She believes an ecological approach that considers individuals, social environments, physical environments and policies is necessary to influence people’s transportation choices and create more balanced transportation networks.
Phil Goff
New England Office Manager
Alta Planning + Design
Senior Associate Phil Goff has 18 years of urban design and active transportation planning experience and currently manages Alta Planning + Design’s Cambridge MA office. His work includes bike share feasibility studies and system plans, pedestrian and bicycle master plans, Safe Routes to School studies and greenway alignment projects. Phil has overseen city-wide bike share planning and permitting efforts in Boston, Cambridge and Pittsburgh, along with bike share feasibility studies in Providence RI, Albany NY, St Louis MO, Tulsa OK, Columbia SC, Springfield MA and Redmond WA. His sincere passion for making cities and towns more lively, bike-friendly, and sustainable places for people represents a common theme in his work.
Peter B. Grasse
3M Corporate R & D, Laboratory Manager, Recruiting and Leadership Development
3M
Peter Grasse has been at 3M for 33 years in various research and development roles. He helps lead the 3M Bicycle User Group responsible for earning a Bronze Bicycle Friendly Business award, and winning the National Bike Challenge in 2015. He is a member of the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition and has been a year round bicycle commuter for that last 4 years. Peter earned a BA Chemistry from Carleton College, Northfield MN and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. , , 3M Company, 3M Center, Bldg 220-7E-06, St. Paul, MN 55144
Ian Hall
Director, Office of Sustainability
University of Manitoba
Ian Hall is the Director of Sustainability at the University of Manitoba, western Canada’s first university and home to more than 35,000 students and staff. Under Ian’s leadership, the University has received the Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Award and achieved a Sustainability, Tracking, Assessment and Rating System Silver certification from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education. Ian holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration from the University of Manitoba, a post-graduate certificate in conservation planning from the University of Victoria, and is a member of the Canadian Institute of Planners. Ian is an active winter commuter, the co-founder of Actif Epica – a community-based winter cycling challenge and for the last two years has been co-director of the national cyclocross championships hosted in downtown Winnipeg.
Dylan Harris
Campus Planner, Campus Planning Office
University of Manitoba
Dylan Harris is an Urban Planner at the University of Manitoba Campus Planning Office. While at the University Dylan has focused on the development of the University’s Visionary (re)Generation Campus Master Plan. The Visionary (re)Generation process has made a commitment to create a “Connected” campus environment, providing fluid links throughout campus and its surrounding neighbourhoods, creating the highest quality human scaled environment possible. Encouraging walking and cycling is a key objective of the Visionary (re)Generation plan. Dylan is a graduate of the Master of City Planning Program at the University of Manitoba where he completed his practicum project Pedal Power: Designing Effective Cycling Infrastructure in Winnipeg with Lessons from Minneapolis, which he presented at the International Winter Cycling Congress in Winnipeg (2014). Dylan is a commuter, racer, soul rider and true believer in the transformative power of the bicycle.
Colin Harris
Civil Engineer & Urban Designer
Alta Planning + Design
Colin Harris is a civil engineer and urban designer based in Minneapolis. Colin’s passion for non-motorized transportation, combined with his experience within multi-disciplinary design firms, has shaped his ability to collaboratively develop meaningful and innovative approaches to mobility and place. Colin lived and worked in Seattle and Bellingham, Washington before moving to Minneapolis in 2008. In 2009, Colin co-founded the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition and became quickly inspired to start a local Open Streets initiative. After many months of planning and organizing, the first Open Streets Minneapolis event took place 2011. Colin continued to lead the initiative and grew it to six events in 2014. Colin has a degree in civil engineering from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island and is a year-round cyclist.
Aaron W. Hautala
President & Creative Director
RedHouseMedia
Aaron W. Hautala is the President and Creative Director of RedHouseMedia, an advertising and communications firm based in Brainerd, Minnesota. In addition to this role, Aaron is also the volunteer President of the Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Crew, the trail stewards of the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Silver Ride Center, Cuyuna Lakes Mountain Bike Trails. During his time as President of the Crew, Aaron has assisted with the process of evolving Cuyuna from a summer cycling destination to a now nationally celebrated top five destination for winter mountain biking. Aaron has also worked extensively in the creation of partnerships both public and private in order to bring the Cuyuna Master Vision for Trails to life.
Geoff Heath
Mechanical Director
The Winnipeg Repair Education N' Cycling Hub (WRENCH)
Geoff is an educator, nature lover and bike nerd who was completely oblivious about how to fix much of anything until he got involved with The Bike Dump community bike shop in 2005. Since then he’s gone on to work with community bike shops all over the US, Mexico & Guatemala, as well as help develop over 30 community & school bike shops in his home-town of Winnipeg. He has spent the past 6 years co-directing The WRENCH, working with youth to build & use bikes as vehicles for social change. He’s passionate about radical education and helping provide access to bikes & bike repair knowledge in marginalized communities. When he isn’t slinging wrenches you might find him in the garden, in the woods, in a book or in the basement making art and beer.
Carol Hejl
Landscape Architect
Metro Transit
Carol Hejl has worked with Metro Transit for two years in the Planning & Urban Design department. Her primary focus is integrating transit facilities within the public realm and providing facilities for people to access transit safely, easily, and comfortably. She helped develop the layout for a Bike & Ride pilot project, served on the Technical Advisory Committee for the Ramsey County Bike Plan, and She enjoys her (almost) daily bike commute and is currently attempting her first year of winter cycling.
Ginny Marie Herman
Event Coordinator
Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition
Ginny is the Event Coordinator of the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition. She resides from the Black Hills of South Dakota, and has been living in Minneapolis for over a decade. She & her daughter, Liberty, have been living car free since 2012 when they traded their car for a bike with New Belgium’s Tour de Fat. In 2015 Ginny & the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition Team put on 8 Minneapolis Open Streets events as well as coordinating Minneapolis Bike Week. She truly believes that placemaking opens community conversations that lead to action and lasting change.
Matti Hirvonen
Executive Director
Network of Finnish Cycling Municipalities
Matti Hirvonen works as an Executive Director in Network of Finnish Cycling Municipalities since 2008 and his main task is to offer best possible tools and operating models for cycling promoters all over Finland in different cities, municipalities, companies and NGOs. In order to increase cycling in Finland, high quality assortment of measures is needed to improve cycling infrastructure and maintenance year round as well as motivate people cycling more often. Hirvonen is involved various types of cycling promotion programs in local regional, national and international level, infrastructure development projects, campaigns and marketing. He is running for example National Cycling Week and Bike to Work and Winterbike to Work –campaigns, which have grown the biggest cycling campaigns in Finland. Convincing politicians and other decision makers for the importance of cycling is big part of his job and crucial to get big changes happen in traffic policy. Therefore Hirvonen is specialized in different benefits of cycling, focusing most of all the economic impacts and cost-efficiency. One of the his latest points of great interest is e-cycling and it´s huge potential in Finland, especially in winter.
Mattias Hjort
Researcher
Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
Mattias Hjort is a researcher at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI), since 2002. He has a Master of Science in Applied Physics from Linköping University and a PhD in computational physics from the same university. His main field of research is concerns friction between tyre and road, and he is responsible for the experimental tyre friction measurement equipment at VTI. Other research areas include vehicle dynamics, active safety systems, and heavy vehicles.
Tom Huber
Senior Planner
Toole Design Group
Tom Huber is a senior planner with Toole Design Group’s Madison, WI office. Prior to joining TDG, he was the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Wisconsin DOT (WisDOT) for 18 years. At WisDOT, Tom was responsible for writing the statewide bicycle plan, co-writing the award-winning state pedestrian plan and assisted in the development of 12 metropolitan bicycle and pedestrian plans. Tom was responsible for producing the state’s bicycle and pedestrian planning guidelines and managed the development of WisDOT’s bicycle and pedestrian design manuals. At TDG, Tom was the chief investigator for the FHWA’s Guide for Maintaining Pedestrian Facilities for Enhanced Safety. All of Tom’s experience as a planner came in a state considered to have four distinct seasons and an especially long and cold winter. Tom is a year-round bicycle commuter and seldom misses a commute because of snow, ice, or frigid conditions.
Tony Hull
Nonmotorized Transportation Planning Consultant
Tony Hull is a freelance Nonmotorized Transportation Consultant with over 15 years of experience in planning, design and evaluation of active transportation projects. Tony has extensive experience overseeing the development and implementation of pedestrian and bicycle count programs in the states of Delaware, Minnesota and Ohio. Most recently, Tony served as a key researcher and co-author of the NCHRP 797 Guidebook on Pedestrian and Bicycle Volume Data Collection. Tony is a graduate of the Ohio State University, serves on the TRB Committee on Pedestrians and is a long-time member of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP).
Linda Hunter Feltes
Founder
Bicapes: bicycling capes for women
Linda Hunter Feltes, MS became one with her bike while a graduate student at UC-Davis, California—where, admittedly, winter is easy. She has biked across several US states and has been a year-round bike commuter since moving to Minnesota in 1982. She still owns her original (1981) Specialized Stumpjumper. Professionally, Linda has advocated for health and wellness, particularly for girls, women and seniors, for over 30 years. She currently manages the worksite wellness program for the State of Minnesota.
Monica Hutton
Architectural Intern
Peter Sampson Architecture Studio
Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Peter Sampson Architecture Studio is recognized in Canada for its works in light infrastructure for city living. In 2014, the firm was awarded a National Urban Design Award by the Royal Architecture Institute of Canada for bikeLAB, a small volunteer run service station designed to elevate ridership in downtown Winnipeg by offering year-round maintenance and knowledge exchange. Established in 2008, the studio advocates for healthy, social ecologies through the development of low-impact models for urban development and mobility in a Canadian winter city.
William Hyerle
Technical Consultant
Eco-Counter
Prior to integrating the transportation field, William was the co-founder of a small wind turbine development company based in Raleigh, where he braved the North Carolina winter. William joined Eco-Counter in Montreal to help jurisdictions implement and maintain their pedestrian and bike counting programs. Despite slightly different weather conditions, he still enjoys riding to work in the winter. His presentation will be about adjusting cycling policies to overcome weather barriers.
Chris Iverson
Planner/Engineer
Kimley-Horn
Chris Iverson is a Transportation “Plangineer” focusing on envisioning and implementing great bicycle, pedestrian, and transit projects. Originally from Colorado, he holds degrees from the University of Minnesota in Civil Engineering and Urban Studies. Chris has worked on various design & planning efforts around the upper Midwest, including projects in the Minneapolis/St. Paul region, Lansing, MI, Madison, WI, and Toledo, OH. He is also an active blogger for streets.mn and a former columnist for the Minnesota Daily. A year-round bicyclist and car-free #Millennial, Chris is passionate about tactical urbanism and progressive, small-scale transportation deployment strategies that help cities become more livable and accessible.
Mary Elizabeth Jackson
Bike Walk Saint Anthony Village
Mary Elizabeth Jackson, MS, works with her community’s bicycling and walking group, Bike Walk Saint Anthony Village, to help develop the city’s bicycle and pedestrian transportation system and bring people together to develop the city’s first bike and walk plan. She has been working in bicycle and pedestrian planning and design for 17 years and is often camera-in-hand taking photos of streetscapes, sidewalks and bridge structures.
Barbara Jacobson
Programs Director
Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition
Barbara Jacobson uses place as the guiding point to explore how to creatively engage community stakeholders and ultimately help solve built-environment issues. Currently, she is the Programs Director at the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, a co-founding member of the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition and is on the Project for Public Spaces Leadership Council. Barbara specializes on bridging equity gaps in sustainable and active transportation with emphasis on community engagement, economic development and equitable network connectivity. Her primary area of research has focused on the intersection of sustainable development and the relationship of place. She has spoken at the New England Bike/Walk Summit and at Boston University about safety programming and bicycling infrastructure as a catalyst for economic development. Barbara holds a B.A. in English from the University of Mississippi and a Master of City Planning from Boston University.
Ida Järlskog
Research Assistant
Swedish National Road and Transport Institute (VTI)
Ida Järlskog is a research assistant at the Swedish National Road and Transport Institute. She earned a Bachelor in Environmental Sciences in 2015 and undertook several courses in analytical chemistry. Ida’s work focuses on field measurements, lab analyses, evaluation and development of new measurement techniques and sensors. She prefers the winter season and the research questions about winter maintenance, salt and particles (PM10).
Soren Jensen
Executive Director
Midtown Greenway Coalition
Soren has twenty-five years of experience in the nonprofit sector, including positions with the United Way, American Red Cross, and National Parks Conservation Association in Washington, DC. He has been the executive director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition for the past four years. Soren is a former board member of the Corporate Volunteerism Council; a founding board member of the Minnesota Association for Volunteer Administration (MAVA); and served for seven years on the board of directors of HandsOn Twin Cities. He has a bachelor’s degree in communications and psychology from the University of Iowa, and a master’s degree in nonprofit management from Hamline University. Soren is an avid cyclist and regular bike commuter, and lives in south Minneapolis. He considers his bike commute to work to be one of the best in the nation, taking him on trails next to Lake Harriet and Lake Calhoun, then along the Midtown Greenway.
Roxanne Johnson
CycleHack Twin Cities
Roxanne Johnson has been a Twin Cities bike adventurer since age 4, and has bike commuted in the Twin Cities for more than 10 years. She started winter biking in 2006, or just didn’t stop when it got cold and snowy. She was once highlighted in a City of Minneapolis cycling profile project with a photo of her cross country skis on her winter bike. In 2015 she co-organized CycleHack Twin Cities, a local hack day focused on reducing barriers to cycling. You can find her on twitter at @roxLjohnson.
Hansi Johnson
Johnson’s life and career has been built around advocating for Outdoor Recreation and the amazing returns it brings to communities in the Upper Midwest. Photography has been a key tool in illustrating these benefits and has in turn become an avocation for him in itself. Johnson live in Thomson, Minnesota with his wife Margaret and our seven year old son Tae!
Dan Jurek
Co-Founder
True North Basecamp
Dan’s strong foundation of tourism marketing while working with Walt Disney World Resorts, The Chocolate Ox, JetBlue and Amtrak has been applied toward the development of True North Basecamp (TNB). TNB provide lodging for biking, hiking and paddling enthusiasts. Waterfront cabins and campsites with sweeping views in the heart of Cuyuna Lakes Recreation Area. More information is available at www.truenorthbasecamp.com Dan resides in Minneapolis with his wife Meredith and three children. He enjoys skiing, hiking, biking, home restoration and travel.
Kaisa Karhula
Project Manager
WSP Finland
Kaisa Karhula (M. Sc.) has been working as a project manager at WSP Finland since January 2016. Previously she has worked at Transport Research Centre Verne, Tampere University of Technology as a researcher. In her career Karhula has mostly worked with walking, cycling and urban transportation related projects. Recently she has worked with winter maintenance in Nordic countries and planning pedestrian-friendly cities. In addition, Karhula has looked into the functionality of the transportation system in the city centre including a parking study in the city centre of Tampere.
Emelie Karlsson
Research Engineer
Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
Emelie Karlsson is a research engineer at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Analytical Chemistry in 2012. Working in the road material laboratory for the past four years, Emelie has been responsible for testing different deicing/anti-icing chemicals against standard methods in the laboratory. The methods include the effect of deicers on runway pavements according to AMS 1435C, 1431D and the European method EN 12697-41 and ice melting capacity, ice undercutting and ice penetration according to standardized SHRP and AMS AIR methods.
Kevin Karner
University of Minnesota's Department of Parking and Transportation
Kevin Karner is presently a masters degree candidate working on issues of sustainable transportation in the Twin Cities, as well as an Americorps member hosted by the University of Minnesota’s Department of Parking and Transportation. When not a perpetual student, he enjoys recreational cycling, climbing, music and vintage arcade games.
David Kemp
Senior Transportation Planner
City of Boulder
DK has been putting people on bikes since 1997. Following an illustrative career as a bike shop salesman, DK moved on to conceptualize and implement the Tour de Fat event series with New Belgium Brewing from 2. From 2, DK served as the Bicycle Coordinator for the City of Fort Collins and helped grow the community from a silver to platinum level bicycle friendly community. In 2012, DK moved to Davis, CA to become the City’s Active Transportation Coordinator. While in Davis, he authored the City’s Beyond Platinum – Bicycle Action Plan. Desperately missing the mountains, DK moved back to Colorado in late 2014 to serve as a Senior Transportation Planner for the City of Boulder where he now specializes in multimodal infrastructure research and design.
Mike Kennedy
Director, Transportation Maintenance & Repair
City of Minneapolis Department of Public Works
Mike is a Civil Engineer with the City of Minneapolis, Department of Public Works. He has been with the city since 1990 and is currently the Director of the Transportation Maintenance & Repair Division. Activities in this division include construction and maintenance of all streets and alleys, bridge and sidewalk maintenance, and snow and ice control operations. Mike has been directly involved with the City’s snow and ice control program since 1994.
Ellie Kingsbury
Photographer
Ellie Kingsbury has been a fine art and commercial photographer since 1993. Biking to her equals freedom, so why let a little weather stop you? As she saw the number of winter bike commuters steadily increase over the years, she became curious as to who was shrouded under insulated clothing and the cover of night. Thus she started the series “Unimpeded” – portraits of winter bikers on the routes that they frequent. Ellie’s work has exhibited locally, nationally, and internationally. Her photography of winter bikers were featured for the winter 2013 publication of Rails to Trails.
Geoffrey Kisch
Volunteer
Bike Walk Wichita
Geoffrey started cycling year round as a newspaper delivery boy in New Jersey when he was 12. While home, job, and frequency of riding has varied over the years, the joy and independence of riding a bike has remained. His involvement with Bike Walk Wichita (BWW), a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of safe active transportation, progressively grew over the last two years. Through BWW, he completed the League of American Bicyclists League Certified Instructor training and is helping the Education Workgroup develop programs to encourage and empower a broad spectrum of Wichitans to embrace active transportation. He is also working with the Wichita Children’s Home to develop an Earn-a-Bike Program specifically for homeless youth. Geoffrey and the other volunteers work side by side with the youth, building relationships, mentoring, teaching hands on bicycle maintenance skills, safe riding practices, and advocating for bicycles as a viable year round transportation option. Geoffrey’s day job as a field service representative for an aircraft engine manufacturer takes him all around the US and even a little internationally, which has afforded him the opportunity to experience cycling with incredible people in some really cool places.
L. Kling
Organizer | Community Organizer
Grease Rag Ride & Wrench | Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition
Laura Kling has been winter biking since 2009, and got their start by helping to host a Winter Biking Skill Share at Grease Rag Ride and Wrench, a group of women, transgender, and femme people who ride bikes. They wanted to start winter biking but had so many questions, that pulling a group of more experienced women, transgender and femme friends together to share their knowledge seemed like the best way to get going. And they haven’t been able to stop! Laura has been organizing with Grease Rag since 2009, and has helped to organize most of the seven annual winter skill shares. In addition to winter skill shares, Grease Rag hosts 13 open shop nights a month for women, transgender and femme folks, bike camping trips, social events, skill shares and other community-enriching spaces. Laura has been a community organizer at the Minneapolis Bicycle Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy organization working for better biking infrastructure, since 2014. They work with community members and organizations to elevate their voices in planning processes. A lot of their work focuses on protected bikeways, from greenways to trails to on-street, because they believe it is the safest and most comfortable infrastructure for all road users.
Bartek Komorowski
Project Leader, Research and Consulting
Vélo Québec
Bartek Komorowski has been working with Vélo Québec since 2010—initially as an external consultant and, as of 2012, as Project Leader in the Research Department. Since earning the degree of Master of Urban Planning from McGill University in 2007, he has been involved in numerous research and consulting projects on cycling and active transportation for clients across Canada. With Vélo Québec, Bartek has worked on street design projects as well as cycling master planning and policy projects for the cities of Montreal, Toronto, and Ottawa, for the ministries of transportation of Ontario and Quebec, and for various regional planning agencies. He has also worked on bicycle infrastructure projects with a number of smaller rural and suburban communities in Quebec and Ontario.
Jake Krohn
Jake Krohn is a stay-at-home dad and self-employed technology consultant. He’s an amateur urban enthusiast whose readings of Jane Jacobs and James Kunstler during his formative years shaped his worldview. He lives in Fergus Falls, MN, with his wife, Arielle, seven-year-old son Gus, and one-year-old daughter Lulu. Jake serves on the Fergus Falls Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and is a member of Pedal Fergus Falls, a local chapter of BikeMN.
Glenn Kubish
Bike Commuter/Blogger
Glenn Kubish is an all season bicycle commuter and blogger from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He has presented at Portland’s Filmed By Bike festival and the Winter Cities ShakeUp in Edmonton and has guest hosted the popular Sprocket Podcast in Portland. Glenn has a BA in political philosophy and an MA in communications and technology, and enjoys combining insights and wisdom as a way to keep in motion the bicycle revolution of the present. He tweets at @kub64
Joe Laha
Joe Laha has been a cycle commuter since 2002 and a year-round cyclist since 2008. He has spoken on the topic of transit alternatives and the car-free lifestyle at Ignite Minneapolis 7 (June 2014) and about winter cycling at Ignite Minneapolis 9 (November 2015). He races (if you can call it that) in the Fatbike Birkie and with Team Meat Mane in the Powderhorn 24. He lives in Minneapolis’ North Loop neighborhood with his partner, Bridget Kromhout, their cat Iria, and way too much cycling-themed art. Aside from cycling, Joe enjoys homebrew, heavy metal guitar, and arguing about sci-fi TV of the 1990s.
Doug Lauer
Landcare Supervisor
University of Minnesota
Doug Lauer is a University of Minnesota Landcare supervisor tasked with removing snow from the University’s 900 acre Twin Cities campus, comprising 265 buildings, 46 miles of sidewalk and plaza and 16 miles of streets and bike facilities. He has been at this at the University for 18 years.
Martha Laugen
City Manager
Madison BCycle
Martha joined the BCycle team in December 2014 as the Madison City Manager. She rides a BCycle regularly for commuting to work and errands, and was among the top riders for 2014. Martha has worked in local bicycle advocacy since 2011, coordinating memberships and events for the Wisconsin Bike Fed and serving as their “Share and Be Aware” ambassador. For Martha, promoting bicycling as a safe, accessible transportation option is natural progression of her personal and professional interests in healthy, active living. In past roles, she managed multi-site obesity treatment programs and coordinated research with the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center. When she’s not commuting or racing on the bike, Martha can most often be found coaching or preparing to race as a rower with the Mendota Rowing Club. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College and a Masters in Public Health from Boston University.
Doug Legg
Manager of Street Maintenance
Denver Public Works
Doug Legg is a Manager with Denver Public Works Street Maintenance. He helps carry out the Division’s annual street and alley paving programs, as well as snow removal operations. Doug has a strong background in fleet operations and maintenance and in researching the vehicles and equipment needed to do a job right. Doug has been working for the City & County of Denver for 16 years, serving as a Heavy Equipment Operator, Crew Supervisor, Operations Supervisor, and now Manager. Each position has given him experience and perspective in different kinds of maintenance operations including: snow removal, pothole patching, street sweeping, concrete replacement, asphalt road resurfacing, and special projects. Recently, he has been brainstorming and implementing new, creative ways for Street Maintenance crews to maintain Denver’s growing bike lane infrastructure year round!
Bill Lindeke
Bill Lindeke has been living without a car in Saint Paul for 10 years, and has a PhD in geography from the University of Minnesota focusing on bicycle planning and the formation of bicycling habits. He writes the Cityscape column for Minnpost and is president of the board for streets.mn, a website focused on transportation and land use in Minnesota. He serves on the Saint Paul Planning Commission and is chair of the City’s Transportation Committee.
Greg Lindsey
Professor
University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Greg Lindsey specializes in transportation and environmental planning and management. His current research involves analyses of non-motorized transportation systems. He is an investigator for the Rail to Trail Council’s Trail Modeling and Assessment Platform project and investigator for several projects supporting the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative.
Taylor Lonsdale
Research Engineer
Small Urban and Rural Livability Center (SURLC) at the Western Transportation Institute of Montana State University
Taylor Lonsdale, PE has 22 years of civil engineering experience and is a staff member of the Small Urban and Rural Livability Center (SURLC) at the Western Transportation Institute of Montana State University. As a member of the SURLC staff, Mr. Lonsdale is working on projects that inform the ability of communities to increase the quality of life through changes to the built environment. Mr. Lonsdale previously served as the Safe Routes to School Coordinator for Montana. In this role he helped to identify the key aspects of improving the safety and accessibility for walking and biking for school children and the whole community. His true passion is empowering people of all ages to walk and bike safely in their community.
Will Lumpkins
Lead Outreach Organizer
Northside Residents Redevelopment Council
Will Lumpkins works as a Lead Outreach Organizer for the Northside Residents Redevelopment Council (NRRC) in North Minneapolis. He currently serves as Minneapolis’ 4th Ward Bicycle Advisory Committee Representative, Technical and Demonstration Subcommittee Chair for the Northside Greenway Council, and is a Co-founder of the North Minneapolis Bicycle Advocacy Council (NMBAC). For the last two years, he has worked with neighbors to advocate for a new Greenway and various other infrastructure projects in North Minneapolis. He is a specialist in Northside Greenway survey education and training.
Mike Lydon
Principal
Street Plans Collaborative
Mike Lydon is a Principal with Street Plans and leads the firm’s New York City office. Mike is an internationally recognized planner, writer, speaker, and advocate for livable cities. NPR, The New York Times, CNN Headline News, ABC News, City Lab, Planetizen, Salon, Next City, Architect Magazine, and Streetsblog have featured his work, among other publications. Mike is the creator and primary author of the The Open Streets Project and the globally acclaimed series Tactical Urbanism: Short-Term Action, Long-Term Change Vol.1 – 4. With Tony Garcia, Mike authored the full-length book Tactical Urbanism, published by Island Press in March 2015. Mike also collaborated with Andres Duany and Jeff Speck in writing The Smart Growth Manual, published by McGraw-Hill in 2009 and honored by Planetizen as one of the top ten planning books of 2010.
Kristen Maddox O'Toole
Transportation Planner
Alta Planning + Design
Kristen Maddox is a transportation planner with Alta Planning + Design. She assists in managing a wide variety of education and encouragement campaigns, bicycle/pedestrian master planning efforts, data collection and analysis, and more. Building upon the lessons learned while a Fulbright grant recipient to Denmark, Kristen dedicates her work to creating active communities that meet everyone’s needs. Kristen is Head of Recruitment and Outreach for Women Bike Chicago, a local grassroots organization that encourages women to bike more often for transportation and recreation.
Sheldon Mains
Founder
SPOKES Community Bike Center
Sheldon has been a life-long casual and commuting bicycle rider. In 2013 he started the SPOKES community bike center in Minneapolis to specifically help get more East African immigrants biking (in 2015, SPOKES merged with Cycles for Change). Getting SPOKES started involved dealing with city, state and federal bureaucracy for its initial funding, obtaining funding from other sources, hiring staff and developing it’s first programs (with the help of Cycles for Change). He is a League Certified Instructor and has taught the Adult Learn-to-Ride class since 2013. Sheldon rides his beloved 1988 Trek road bike in the spring, summer and fall and a Specialized with studded tires from first snow to spring slush.
Christie Manning
Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies and Department of Psychology; Associate Director, Educating Sustainability Ambassadors at
Macalester College
Dr. Christie Manning has a Bachelor’s degree in Human Factors Engineering from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Cognitive and Biological Psychology from the University of Minnesota. She is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and the Associate Director of the Educating Sustainability Ambassadors Program at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her research and teaching explore the cognitive, social and situational factors that influence people’s behavioral and lifestyle choices and how these choices positively or negatively impact ecological systems. She is particularly interested in people’s cognitive and emotional response to information about climate change. Christie is co-author on the 2016 academic textbook, “Psychology for Sustainability”.
In her non-work life, Christie is an avid biker- both for recreation and commuting. She is also an enthusiastic but haphazard vegetable gardener.
Nick Mason
Deputy Director
Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota
Nick Mason is the Deputy Director for the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota. He has been involved in the bike industry and bicycle advocacy for over twelve years. While working at Dero Bike Rack Company, determined bike parking best practices, including the publishing SRTS Bike Parking Guide. While serving on the State Bicycle Advisory Committee, Mason helped to develop the Minnesota Share the Road safety education campaign. As an LCI, he has enjoyed teaching winter biking and assisting with training of every new League Cycling Instructor in the state since 2009. Mason currently serves as chair of the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee. He lives and bikes year round with his family in Minneapolis.
Allie Mastny
Youth Programs Manager
Cycles for Change
Allie Mastny is committed to creating positive development opportunities for young people, organizing for racial and social justice, and promoting environmental sustainability. Allie manages Cycles for Change’s youth apprenticeship program and works to build positive youth-adult partnerships, foster cross cultural relationships, and cultivate youth leadership. She also coordinates educational bike classes and is helping plan the national Youth Bike Summit conference (hosted by C4C in May 2016). In her spare time, Allie rides fixed gear with her partner and their puppy (in a dog Burley). Allie has a degree in Environmental Studies from St. Olaf College and was the Assistant Director of Camp Sunrise, a program of YouthCARE, from 2.
Kat McCarthy
Facilitator
Grease Rag Ride and Wrench
Kat is a facilitator with Twin Cities-based Grease Rag Ride and Wrench. Grease Rag is a women/ trans/ femme (WTF) -centered community created to encourage and empower WTF cyclists in a collaborative and fun learning environment through rides, discussions, shop nights and educational seminars in a safer space. Kat has been cycling in Minneapolis for ten years and has been involved with Grease Rag since its beginning in 2009. In addition to Grease Rag, she has also co-organized Babes in Bikeland, a bike race and ride for WTFs, which is one of the largest races of its kind.
Danny McCullough
Regional Trail Manager
Three Rivers Park District
Danny McCullough is the Regional Trail Manager at Three Rivers Park District. He has worked in the Park and Recreation field for 17 years, having obtained his degree in Biology from Middle Tennessee State University. Danny has served on the Minnesota State Non-Motorized Transportation Committee under MnDOT since 2009 and has been involved with numerous bicycle and pedestrian related technical advisory boards. The trail system he currently manages is over 150 miles and sees over 4 million visits per year, extending throughout suburban Hennepin County and Minneapolis.
Jason McDowell
Creative Director
OnMilwaukee
Jason McDowell is the Creative Director for OnMilwaukee, an entertainment magazine and city guide for the city, and, after a bitter break up, has been volunteering with the Milwaukee Bicycle Collective since 2006. He started with zero knowledge about bicycles and eventually worked up enough knowledge to split his spare time between the Collective and other for-profit shops.
Kenya S. McKnight
Principal Consultant
The K’MA Group
Kenya S. McKnight is Principal Consultant of The K’MA Group. The K’MA group focuses on community engagement and public involvement in the areas of transportation and community development. Kenya is an Executive Committee member of the Metropolitan Council Transportation Advisory Board and also serves as the secretary of North Minneapolis Greenway and North Point Health and Wellness Board of directors and a general board member of Alliance for Metropolitan Stability. Kenya has also served as the vice chair of the City of Minneapolis city-wide Neighborhood Community Engagement Commission (NCRC), was awarded a ten month Hubert H Humphrey Policy Fellowship in 2012 where she studied national and international public policy development and leadership, awarded a two-year Bush Fellowship in 2012 focused on regional planning and Transportation. Kenya has worked on a variety of social and economic justice issues in transportation, business housing, education and community development over the past 16yrs as a community activist, organizer and policy leader including a 5 month internship at Policy Link in Oakland, CA focused on US HUD Sustainable Community Initiative across 144 regions in America.
Thomas Mercier
Research & Evaluation Coordinator
Three Rivers Park District
Thomas as the Research & Evaluation Coordinator for Three Rivers, is tasked with both documenting use of various park and trail facilities but also to collect and represent the perspectives of those users. His work includes staff observation counts, automated counters and user intercept surveys. The information gathered is intended to shape, guide and inform the decision making process in regards to the planning, operation and management of the park and trail system.
Tim Mitchell
Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager
Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT)
Tim Mitchell is the Bicycle and Pedestrian Program Manager for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and has been in the position since the beginning of 2009. In this role he supervises a staff which has responsibilities for design specifications, planning and policy development for non-motorized forms of transportation, the delivery of the Safe Routes to School Program and management and operations of three parking facilities in downtown Minneapolis. Before coming to MnDOT, Tim spent three years with the Federal Highway Administration in the Minnesota Division Office where he focused on metropolitan planning, review and approval of environmental documents and stewardship of several small discretionary programs including Transportation Enhancements, Scenic Byways, Recreational Trails Program, the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program and several others. Prior to arriving at FHWA, he spent seven years with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources where Tim held several positions including GIS specialist for the State Park system, Trail Grant Program Coordinator and lastly, State Snowmobile and Cross-Country Ski Program Coordinator. Tim currently lives in Rochester, Minnesota and enjoys spending his free time outdoors, on his bike and with his three young children.
Mehri Mohebbi
Visiting Scholar
University of Michigan - Transportation Research Institute
Mehri Mohebbi (Mehrsa) is a community planner, walking/biking advocate, and journalist. She was born in Tehran, Iran to a Persian family who knew the value of gender equality. Her parents have been her role models. Since her childhood, Mehri’s multifaceted character has been evidenced by her keen interests in Urban Planning, Sociology, and Persian Literature. Mehri’s poetic inclination directed her career endeavors towards cultural components of urban life. She has academic degrees in Architectural Engineering and Urban Planning. She also has years of leadership, teaching, and research experiences in the Middle East and United States, from being the delegate of international organizations (such as the International Society of City and Regional Planners, the Netherlands) in Iran to a board member of a non-governmental organization (Tehran University Architects). These experiences provided her with opportunities to attend professional activities worldwide, which tremendously influenced her perspective on urban development and social sustainability. During her professional journey, she proved her devotion to women’s rights through extraordinary leadership roles in the Middle East. She has also received numerous grants and awards. Among them was a fellowship from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) to work on minority women’s urban accessibility in the Detroit Metro Area. At the same time, she started to teach at the College of Design, Arts, Architecture, and Planning (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati. These experiences created the foundation for her professional perspective as a community development expert. Her main research interests are: Racial/Ethnic Minorities’ Urban Accessibility, Active Lifestyle Planning, Transportation and Social Equity, Environmental Justice and Urban Accessibility, and Equitable Place-Making. These topics manifest themselves in her planning pursuits as well as teaching methods. Being a professional woman in a region, where discrimination against women is institutionalized culturally and legally has provided her with the knowledge and motivation to be a productive social advocate for diverse and multicultural communities. Her personal life has directed her towards devotion to gender equity in urban accessibility. “I never let fear stop me. In my view, tomorrow will reward us with a world in which there is no need for social catalysts.”
Michele Molstead
Outreach Team
Nice Ride Minnesota
Although she suffered the misery of freezing fog in the Portland, Oregon, region for decades, Michele Molstead didn’t ride a bike in and on snow until two years ago. She believes in the possibilities of everyday cycling, hopes for more converts to all-season riding, and longs for snow. Michele is delighted her bachelor’s degree in English is helping put more people on more bikes for the local bike share organization; she hopes her nascent bike resource website, BikeMSP, can provide an outlet for her fondness for words and cycling. When she isn’t riding a bike for work, transportation, or joy in the Twin Cities, she wishes she were.
Pamela Moore
Program Director
Transit for Livable Communities
Pamela Moore is the Program Director at Transit for Livable Communities. In this role, she provides oversight for the Transportation Options program, designed to address the high cost of getting around. Her professional experience includes program conceptualization, development, implementation, coordination, and management. Pam has a professional and volunteer background in community-based agencies, philanthropic organizations, and educational institutions. Most recently, she was a co-developer of a federally funded Adolescent Health fellowship program at the University of Minnesota. Pam earned her M.A. in Human Development from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota and her B.A. in Speech Communications (emphasis in Cultural Studies) from Drake University. Professionally, she enjoys working on projects that directly impact the lives of individuals and improve systems. Personally, she is a member of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minnesota and a co-founder of Black Girls Do Bike Minneapolis.
Shawna Mullen Eardley
Active Transportation Coordinator
Healthy Duluth
Shawna is the Active Transportation Coordinator for Healthy Duluth, a non-profit organization that works to increase community health. She is also a League Cycling Instructor and a board member of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota. She is a year-round cycle commuter and a 3-season bicyclist with her 5 year old, and loves to challenge the idea that you can’t bike in Duluth because of the weather and hills.
Max Musicant
Founder & Principal
The Musicant Group
Max Musicant is the Founder and Principal of The Musicant Group – an award winning placemaking and public space firm dedicated to transforming underutilized spaces into great places where people want to be. He believes and has demonstrated through the work of his firm that our community and commercial interests all benefit from more humane, inviting, and lively places for people. Since founding The Musicant Group the firm has transformed places as varied as Class A office buildings to vacant lots, from urban main streets to suburban strip malls. Notable projects include, programming and managing the reimagined common area of the 1.4M square foot Capella Tower and transforming a derelict plaza on Nicollet Mall into the “Piazza on the Mall”. Max holds an M.B.A. from the Yale School of Management and a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Eric Nelson
Engineer
Three Rivers Park District
Eric Nelson has been a civil engineer for 16 years and has spent the past 7 years as an engineer for Three Rivers Park District. He oversees the Park District’s Infrastructure Management Program, supervises the engineering section, and manages large capital improvement projects. He is a licensed professional engineer in the State of Minnesota, has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.
EG Nelson
Community Funding Coordinator
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota Center for Prevention
By day, EG explores opportunities to integrate health equity into community funding initiatives; at all other times EG is a tandem enthusiast and advocate for animals and queer people. For the past seven years, EG has planned Cirque du SoGay, an annual biking event that aims build community by connecting queer people to each other and community resources. EG is also a competitive vegan chef and baker and has placed in the MN State Fair several times.
Anna Niska
Researcher
Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI)
Anna Niska (maiden name Bergström) has been a researcher at the Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute (VTI) since 2002. She has a Master of Science in Environmental Engineering from Luleå University of Technology and a PhD in Highway Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Her doctoral thesis was on the subject “Winter maintenance and cycleways.” Her main field of research is within effects on cycling of road maintenance and operation including accident studies, effects on cycle flows, evaluations of winter maintenance methods, etc.
Travis Norvell
Pastor
Judson Memorial Baptist Church
Travis is the pastor of Judson Memorial Baptist Church (a liberal church with a sense of humor) in South Minneapolis. During the 2014 Polar Vortex he sold his car and became an instant winter biker. He and his family do their best to live as urban agrarians. He enjoys biking in Minnesota because here, unlike in his home state of WV, folk do not throw beer bottles at you.
Stewart G. Osgood, P.E.
President and CEO
DOWL
Stewart Osgood is President of DOWL, a civil engineering firm headquartered in Anchorage with 26 offices in 8 western states. With 500 employees, the firm focuses on water, transportation and civil/mining practice areas. As President and CEO of DOWL over the last 13 years, Stewart has led the company through unprecedented growth, both organic and through mergers and acquisitions. Stewart provides the overall strategic direction for the company and is responsible for its financial health and well-being. Stewart is a licensed civil engineer with design experience in civil, geotechnical, and structural engineering. He received his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Vermont, and his M.S. in Arctic Engineering from the University of Alaska. His experience includes transportation and aviation related design work, master planning and permitting, as well as coordinating and organizing design efforts among various disciplines, preparation of reports and drawings, specifications, cost estimates, and construction schedules commensurate with the scope of work and budget, and overseeing day-to-day operation of projects. He has worked and played extensively in high latitude areas of Alaska, Greenland, and Antarctica, as well as the northern tier contiguous states. Stewart maintains a home in both Anchorage and Seattle. He is an avid cyclist, and a runner and flyfisher. He has two teenage sons that are in college on the west coast. He and his partner Amy enjoy cooking, wine, and travel.
Dan Patterson
Comprehensive Planner
Hennepin County
Dan Patterson is a comprehensive planner for Hennepin County, Minnesota’s largest county at 1.2 million residents. He helped develop goals and put the finishing touches on the county’s Bicycle Transportation Plan when he arrived in 2014. His priority for biking is to normalize it and to make it safe and comfortable for people who are interested but concerned about biking. He previously worked as a planner specializing in active living and regional trails for Dakota County, Minnesota, from 2006 to 2014. He also worked as a newspaper copy editor and designer during college, grad school and in-between. He has a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs and a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Northern Illinois University. Dan bikes for transportation year-round but doesn’t make a big deal out of it. He loves to travel, make wine at home and dig in his vegetable garden. He lives in south Minneapolis with his wife, Caitlin, and their 20-month-old son, Walter.
Brian Patterson, MCIP, RPP,
Senior Transportation Planner
Urban Systems
Brian is a senior transportation planner with Urban Systems, one of Canada’s leading transportation planning firms. Brian specializes in active transportation planning and design and leads Urban Systems’ active transportation practice across Canada. Brian has been involved in over 50 bicycle and pedestrian plans, designs and studies for communities of all sizes across Canada, and has worked extensively with many Canadian winter cities, including Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Calgary. Brian also brings a unique perspective to this conference as he is based in Vancouver, Canada. Although Vancouver may not conjure up images of cold, snowy winters to many people, Brian can also share Vancouver’s unique context for winter cycling, including heavy rain, temperatures often near the freezing mark, low lighting, and challenging topography which combine to create unique challenges for year-round cycling.
Alexis Pennie
Chair
Northside Greenway Council
Alexis Pennie is a Co-founder of the North Minneapolis Bicycle Advocacy Council (NMBAC). For the last two years, he has worked with neighbors to advocate for a new Greenway and various other infrastructure projects in North Minneapolis. Additionally, he recently Co-founded Twin Cities Black Bike Week and partnered with Major Taylor Bicycle Club of Minnesota to help plan the National Brotherhood of Cyclists (NBC) 2015 conference and kick-off the first ever Slow Roll Twin Cities, which saw nearly 100 people participate in its inaugural ride in Minneapolis. In addition to fighting for better biking and walking improvements in under-served communities, he works as a consultant for local and regional active-living and health initiatives. Alexis graduated from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, with a B.A. in Communications Studies and is proud to live and work in Minneapolis because of its diversity and unique environment.
Timo Perälä
Navico Ltd. | Winter Cycling Federation
Timo Perälä is the founder and the chairman of the Winter Cycling Federation. He runs his own company Navico Ltd. located in Oulu, Finland. Timo is also the chairman for Finnish Cycling Embassy and has been working also as the cycling coordinator for the city of Oulu since 2013. He started working on active transportation projects early on in his career and was the first one to complete a national winter cycling study in Finland in 2. Timo is specialized in winter cycling maintenance projects.
Michael Petesch
Non-Motorized Transportation Researcher and Planner
University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs
Michael Petesch is a Non-Motorized Transportation Researcher and Planner at the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs specializing in collecting, validating, analyzing and managing bicycle and pedestrian traffic data. He is currently working with MnDOT on the Minnesota Bicycle and Pedestrian Counting Initiative.
Pillsbury Pedal Power
Pillsbury Pedal Power is an elementary school bike program that was started five years ago at Pillsbury Community School by Minneapolis teachers Mark Trumper and Susan Tuck. Using community supported small grants, they built Pedal Power around positive bike experiences to enable over 180 fourth and fifth grade students from diverse and immigrant backgrounds to become more connected to their community each year through biking adventures. Mark and Susan were motivated by student surveys indicating that a significant percentage of Pillsbury students didn’t own bicycles and/or know how to ride by fourth grade. Students now learn to ride and practice biking skills both during the school day and after school. The after-school group, which rides twice a week for two hours, rode all the way to Stillwater last spring, 28 miles. Pedal Power was honored in 2014 as Public Health Heroes by City of Minneapolis; Mark & Susan received Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards in 2015 for their innovative work. Pedal Power is also represented by six Junior Coaches who have been inspired to extend their riding season into winter: Afnaan Jama, Hailey Toledano, Melissa Torres, Manny Gomez, Salmon Shafi and Luismario Guazhambo.
Leah Puffer
CycleHack Twin Cities
Leah Puffer lives in South Minneapolis. She has a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of New Orleans and is a contributor to Streets.mn, a Twin Cities-based urban planning, land use, and transportation website. In 2015, she co-organized CycleHack Twin Cities (CycleHackTC.com). In 2016, she will be working on the Art Shanty Projects on White Bear Lake. She is on Twitter at @LKPuffer.
Minna Raatikka
Project Manager
Network of Finnish Cycling Municipalities
Minna Raatikka works as a project manager and planner in various types of traffic planning and research and development projects. She is specialized in promoting sustainable traffic planning, mostly cycling and walking. She works part time in the Network of Finnish Cycling Municipalities, which main goal is to promote cycling among Finnish cities. Raatikka has worked with activating mid-sized cities to increase cycling, different mobility management campaigns (e.g. Bike to work) and overall cycling promoting among municipalities. Personally, she thinks cycling is simply the best way to commute to work and hobbies. She sees winter cycling as a natural part of Finnish way to enjoy snow and good winter maintenance.
Ali Rahim Taleqani
North Dakota State University
Ali Rahim Taleqani is a graduate student in the PhD program at North Dakota State University. Previously, Ali has attended California State University where he received a Masters of Arts in Global Logistics, Iran University of Science and Technology where he received a Master’s of Business Administration and Azad University where he received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. Ali spent 8 years working in logistics and the transportation industry. Ali’s research will focus on deploying technologies into people’s everyday lives in urban and rural areas.
Olatunji Oboi Reed
President & CEO
Slow Roll Chicago
Olatunji Oboi Reed serves as the President & CEO of the Slow Roll Chicago bicycle movement in Chicago, Illinois. Slow Roll Chicago is working to build an equitable, diverse, and inclusive bicycle culture in Chicago. The organization’s mission is to connect a diverse group of people to utilize bikes and the activity of cycling as vehicles for social change, transforming lives and improving the condition of communities, by organizing community bicycle rides. With Oboi’s leadership, Slow Roll Chicago envisions bikes as a form of transportation, contributing to reducing violence, improving health, creating jobs, and ultimately making neighborhoods more liveable. An active cyclist for over ten years, Oboi rides at the intersection of community, culture, and health. With an extensive background in both nonprofit management as well as corporate social responsibility, he is most proud of his work to create a diverse coalition of people, organizations and businesses all working together to achieve equal bicycle usage across the City of Chicago with respect to race, income, and geography. Oboi was recently awarded the 2015 White House Transportation Champion of Change award by The White House and the United States Department of Transportation. Oboi is a Community Representative Member of the City of Chicago’s Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council and is a member of the Board of Directors of Streetsblog Chicago. Previously, Oboi served as the Regional Manager for Corporate Social Responsibility & Community Affairs at Nike and the Vice President & Director of Community Relations at Citibank. He studied Economics at Roosevelt University and continues to study the Health Economics of Candomble traditional healing in the African-Brazilian population of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Hilary Reeves
Strategic Advancement & Communications Director
Transit for Livable Communities
Hilary Reeves is Strategic Advancement and Communications Director at Transit for Livable Communities, a Saint Paul, MN, nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding options for transit, bicycling, and walking. She manages media relations, fundraising, and a new program, Transportation Leadership Certification, that certifies nonprofit organizations for adopting multimodal transportation best practices. She managed communications and outreach for the multi-year federal Bike Walk Twin Cities Nonmotorized Transportation Pilot Program (which added 100 miles of bike routes in Minneapolis and surrounding communities) and has managed communications for transportation funding campaigns. She has contributed regular pieces on bicycling, walking, and transit for the Southwest and Downtown Journals. The new Green Line LRT near her office in Saint Paul has been a bit too convenient, in that she’s bicycling less, but perhaps walking more.
Katja-Pauliina Rekilä
Norwegian Public Roads Administration, Directorate of Public Roads
Katja-Pauliina Rekilä is an engineer at Norwegian Public Roads Administration in Trondheim in Norway working mainly with research and development of winter maintenance of pedestrian and cycle paths. She is also project coordinator of building new friction and snow laboratory at Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She has her M. Sc. in Transportation and Highway Engineering from Aalto University, School of Engineering in 2015. In her Master’s thesis, she described a method to measure friction of bicycles of which an article is in preparation. When she is not concerned about winter maintenance of cycle paths, she is both an active every-day-city-cyclist and long-distance-road-cyclist. She is also training to her first triathlon race in addition to other physical and cultural activities.
Antonio Rosell
Founder & Director
Community Design Group (CDG)
Antonio Rosell is founder and Director of Community Design Group (CDG), a consulting firm specializing in bicycle and pedestrian planning, placemaking and urban design, and community engagement. He was recognized as “2015 Minnesota Planner of the Year” by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Planning Association. An Urban Planner and Civil Engineer with more than twenty years of professional experience, Antonio integrates innovation and best-practices in Active Transportation, community design, and citizen participation to facilitate community learning, consensus-building and project implementation. He has led numerous sustainable mobility planning, design and community engagement projects in Minnesota and neighboring states, and also internationally in Mexico and Peru. Antonio serves as Principal-In-Charge in all CDG projects, and also leads trainings for engineers, planners and other design professionals on pedestrian and bicycle transportation topics. He serves as Adjunct Professor in the Urban and Regional Planning Program of the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School, where he teaches a graduate course on sustainable transportation.
Arthur Ross
Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator
City of Madison, Traffic Engineering Division
Arthur Ross is the Pedestrian and Bicycle Coordinator for the city of Madison, Wisconsin, a position he has held for the past 28 years. He has been involved in the planning and design of all types of bicycle facilities including shared us paths, bicycle lanes and other on-street bicycle facilities, bicycle boulevards, and neighborhood traffic calming. Arthur is also experienced in the education of bicyclists of all ages, enforcement programs, bicyclist crash analysis, encouragement programs, and bicycle parking. Arthur is a year round bicycle commuter in winter climate zones, with experience in urban, suburban, and rural environments. He is active in professional organizations, having served on the Board of Directors of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, the League of American Bicyclists, and the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin.
Steve Sanders
Alternative Transportation Manager
University of Minnesota
Steve Sanders is the Alternative Transportation Manager for the University of Minnesota. He has been biking through Minnesota winters for over 20 years.
Juana Sandoval
Project Planner
Juana has experience managing bicycle and pedestrian projects, most recently as a Project Planner at the Minneapolis-based firm Community Design Group. Juana holds a bachelor’s degree from MIT, and a dual master’s degree in City / Regional Planning and Civil Engineering from Ohio State. Her experience includes transportation engineering, transportation planning, and public involvement. She has worked on projects at multiple levels of government, in Ohio and Minnesota. Her past work includes developing an award-winning Complete Streets policy, developing a pedestrian and bicycle plan for the City of Robbinsdale, leading extensive community outreach for the Saint Paul Grand Round project, as well as analyzing public input for the MnDOT Statewide Bicycle Plan. She is an AICP-certified planner (American Institute of Certified Planners), a League Certified (Bicycle) Instructor, an instructor for adults learning to ride bicycles at Cycles 4 Change, and an Engineer-in-Training. Juana has lived in various cold places, including metro Detroit, Boston, New York, and Minneapolis. She likes Minneapolis the best of all and is a fair-weather bicyclist.
Jeremy Sartain
Director of Wellness and Fitness Programs | Founder
Saint Paul College | East St. Paul Bikes
Jeremy Sartain is the Director of Wellness and Fitness Programs at Saint Paul College and Founder of East St. Paul Bikes (aka ESP Bikes). ESP Bikes works with inner city youth to teach basic bike maintenance skills, recruits donated bikes and puts trained youth to work fixing and giving working bikes back to their community members. Jeremy learned a lot about building access to bikes in his community and the role that basic bike maintenance education can play to make cycling sustainable for individuals. Jeremy recently received a neighborhood leadership award through the City of St. Paul for his work with ESP Bikes. Jeremy also owns and runs Sartain Athlete Services which includes events such as Fat Wednesday weeknight fat bike racing and the King Boreas Winter Triathlon.
Sierra Saunders
Multi-Modal Transportation Planner
Hennepin County
Sierra is a Multi-Modal Transportation Planner for Hennepin County. She holds a degree in Urban Planning and Sustainable Development from Western Washington University’s Huxley College of the Environment. Prior to joining Hennepin County, Sierra worked at Community Design Group, a local consulting firm, where she contributed to a variety of non-motorized transportation planning projects across the state. Sierra spent her formative years in Seattle and Bellingham, Washington, where a sprinkling of snow can shut down a city. Since moving to Minneapolis three years ago, she has purchased a real winter coat and become a year-round bicycle rider.
Dave Schlabowske
Deputy Director
Wisconsin Bike Fed
Dave was the first full-time staff member hired to open the Bike Fed’s Milwaukee office 15 years ago. A former professional photographer who got his start working for a Sandinista newspaper in tropical Bluefields, Nicaragua, Dave missed the cold and has always returned to his birthplace of Milwaukee. Dave likes wool, long rides, sour beer, riding to his deer stand on his fat bike and he enjoys a good polar vortex once in a while.
Ciara Schlichting
Regional Office Director, Minneapolis
Toole Design Group
Ciara Schlichting, AICP, is the Director of Toole Design Group’s Minneapolis Office. She is a native Minnesotan who will draw from her experiences living in and working with snowy cities to make them more bicycle and pedestrian friendly year-round. She is also the Chair of the Engineering Subcommittee of the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee.
Thor Shellum
Product Design Engineer
Quality Bicycle Products
Thor Shellum is an engineer and cyclist born and bred in Minnesota. He was raised in a Twin Cities suburb and got his start in bicycles at an early age. At just three years old and driven to keep up with his older sister, the training wheels came off his bicycle and he started ripping around the yard. As soon as he weighed enough to get a shovel in the ground, he began to build a BMX track in his back yard and that is where he spent a large part of his childhood. BMX was a big part of Thor’s life until he moved away from home in 2000 to get a Mechanical Engineering degree at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. With this transition, Thor made the switch from BMX bikes, to mountain bikes and commuters to get around the city. Bikes were now a form of utility and not just recreation for him. After college, Thor honed his engineering skills for a few years before landing his dream job at QBP (Quality Bicycle Products) in 2008 as a Product Design Engineer. Since then, Thor has been designing a wide variety of bicycle products for the various QBP brands and continues to expand his use of the bicycle. At this point, Thor is the Engineering Supervisor at QBP and spends much of his design time with Surly Bikes. He is proud to be an early innovator in the category of fat bikes and for being involved in the development of products for nearly every component and accessory on a bicycle. Thor continues to rip around the yard on his bicycle and believes that he can ride a wheelie on anything with two wheels.
Beth Simon
Benefits Specialist
Quality Bike Products (QBP)
Beth Chillstrom Simon, B.A., is benefits specialist at Quality Bicycle Products (QBP) with a background in intercultural relations and social work. Her passion for bicycling and total health and well-being aligns with the QBP philosophy to design wellness programs that are focused on developing and supporting lifelong skills and are relevant to employees, their families, and the company.
Gary Sjoquist
Advocacy Director
Quality Bicycle Products
Gary Sjoquist has been the Advocacy Director for Quality Bicycle Products since 1998. A mountain bike racer and advocate since 1990, Gary co-founded the Minnesota Off Road Cyclists, played an integral role in getting the Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area’s mountain bike trail network built, and in establishing Cuyuna as a fat bike destination. In 2012, Gary co-founded the Minnesota High School Cycling League to allow 7th to 12th grade students to race mountain bikes as a coed high school sport. In 2016, nearly 1000 students will race in this league at venues spread throughout the state. Gary is also the Series Director for the 11-race statewide Minnesota Mountain Bike Series; attendance for all 11 races in 2015 was more than 4,000. As part of his work for QBP, Gary has hosted 4 annual Global Fat Bike Summits since 2012. In 2016, he will host 5 regional fat bike summits in Crested Butte, CO, Marquette, MI, Ogden, UT, East Burke, Vermont, and Valdez, Alaska. Fat bike brands Salsa, Surly, and 45NRTH are among the 16 proprietary brands included in QBP’s nearly 40,000 products offered to some 4800 bicycle retailers in the U.S. Gary is also heavily involved in 45NRTH’s Ride Groomed initiative that helps land managers groom singletrack for fat bikes. Since 2010, Gary has worked extensively to help the MN DNR and other land managers including the Forest Service, BLM, and National Parks integrate fat biking into their recreational opportunities. Through his fat bike summits, he has also helped demonstrate the economic benefits of fat biking to Chambers of Commerce, economic development agencies, and Nordic communities throughout the U.S. Gary was inducted into the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame in 2012.
Alex Snyder
Milwaukee Bicycle Collective
Alex Snyder is an urban studies master’s student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research has focused on urban transportation issues, including urban freeway removal. Since 2014 he has worked as a project assistant for the Urban Affairs Association, an international professional organization for urban scholars and practitioners. He volunteers his spare time at the Milwaukee Bicycle Collective, an independent non-profit bike shop. Previously in Milwaukee, he worked as an assistant project manager for the Burleigh Street Community Development Corporation. In Eau Claire, Wisconsin, he served on the city’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission. He holds a B.A. in Public History (2011) from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and was graduated from the Department of Defense’s Defense Information School in 2008.
Tony Spaay
ZAP Specialist
Dero
Tony Spaay of Dero is an expert in bike counting program development and data tracking technologies, and is a winter bicycle commuter as well. Tony will speak about incentives for Dero employees as well as the benefits bike commuting brings to the company (from money savings to PR). He also works on Dero ZAP for Corporate Wellness Programs – technology and support for counting commuter trips.
Patrick Stephenson
Copywriter
Minnesota Public Radio
Patrick Stephenson is a copywriter at Minnesota Public Radio, a co-host of Pedal Hub, and the director of 30 Days of Biking. Follow him on Twitter @patiomensch, where he tweets like 1,000 times a day — mostly about bikes.
Sarah Stewart
Senior Public Health Specialist
Minneapolis Health Department
Sarah Stewart, MPH, MEd has worked as the Active Living Coordinator at the Minneapolis Health Department for five years, where her work has focused on changing policies, systems, and environments to better support physical activity and health in communities using a health equity lens. Prior to her work in Minneapolis, she has organized community health coalitions in Massachusetts and taught health and special education classes in Missouri. She has degrees in public health, education, and biology. She especially loves to bike and walk the myriad trails and greenspaces of the Twin Cities with her family.
Lana Stewart
Lana Stewart is a sustainable transportation advocate, civil servant, parent, blogger and year-round cyclist who has chosen cycling as her main form of transportation since moving to Ottawa in 2000. It wasn’t until after the birth of her son that she realized how challenging strollers were on transit and how much better and faster cycling was to move around the city. Slowly but surely, she has tackled the challenges that an Ottawa winter can bring with her son along for the ride. She and her son have yet to freeze in four years of winter cycling in Ottawa and have no signs of stopping (unless it’s for snacks).
Charles Strawser
Pedestrian & Bicycle Transportation Planner
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Transportation Demand Management Unit
Since 2009, Charles Strawser has been the pedestrian & bicycle transportation planner for the Transportation Demand Management unit of University of Wisconsin-Madison, where (among other things) the bike parking capacity has grown from 8,900 spaces on campus to nearly 14,000, overtaking the amount of (very expensive) car parking on campus. Charles served six year as a program manager for Wisconsin Bike Fed, the statewide bicycle advocacy organization including two different stints (2002 and 2007) as interim Executive Director. Charles also served on the city of Madison’s Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Motor Vehicle Commission for many years. As a graduate student at UW-Madison, Charles had the opportunity to intern with faculty in the Urban and Regional Planning department on a project to write the state of Wisconsin’s model ordinance for local municipalities to accommodate traditional neighborhood (“new urbanist”) development. Charles has been advocating for better bicycle transportation facilities for more than two decades (and effectively implementing them for somewhat less time).
Anders Swanson
Strategic Planner & Sustainable Transportation Consultant | Secretary, Winter Cycling Federation
Anders Swanson is a multi-disciplinary artist, strategic planner and sustainable transportation expert running an independent consultancy out of Winnipeg, Canada. What began as a 5-year stint as a bicycle mechanic at Natural Cycle, has turned into a lifelong pursuit of change. Working locally and internationally with a bevy of highly-talented people and organizations, his work has resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tangible walking/cycling infrastructure improvements and important changes in the way people perceive bicycle culture, winter and kid-oriented transportation planning. As a writer/analyst, his policy work includes the winter maintenance strategic guidelines for the City of Calgary’s downtown cycle track network, Manitoba’s walking and cycling policy framework. As a software designer, his accomplishments include world-wide traffic counting software CounterPoint and teacher-focused school transportation planning software BikeWalkRoll. As a cartographer, he has mapped large areas of his home province and beyond (from proposed bike touring networks, to the City of Winnipeg’s yearly Bike Map, to neighbourhood scale walking maps in Mandarin aimed at recent immigrants). As a photographer and filmmaker, he has documented cycling infrastructure best practices and evolution dozens of countries. On a volunteer basis, he spearheads international Winter Bike to Work Day. At home, he helped found both The WRENCH and Bike Winnipeg, and spawned the local version of Ciclovia. More recently, he began the experimental Plain Bicycle project. Awards for his efforts include the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Award, the Manitoba Eco-network Individual Award, the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ Visionary Award and a Cycling Visionaries Award from the European Cycling Federation’s VeloCity conference in Vienna. Anders is currently the Coordinator of the Winnipeg Trails Association, Chair of Canada Bikes and Secretary of the international Winter Cycling Federation.
Pekka Tahkola
Planner | Vice President
Navico Ltd | Winter Cycling Federation
Pekka Tahkola, the Vice President of Winter Cycling Federation, is true winter cycling expert, based in Oulu, Finland, the best winter cycling city in the world. He has been touring around the world spreading the word about the joy of winter cycling and the miracle of Oulu – located almost at the Arctic Circle. Despite the northern location and harsh winter conditions, winter cycling is considered just a normal everyday activity by the residents. Pekka has held lectures and advised cities e.g. in Finland, Sweden, Poland, the Netherlands, Russia and Kazakhstan. He has also been involved in the establishment of several cycling-related NGOs and is an expert in organizing cycling events of all sorts. Pekka wrote his master’s thesis at Navico Ltd in 2 about increasing the modal split of cycling in the region of Oulu, and about the obstacles on the way. After this he’s been working at Navico Ltd as a planner and cycling coordinator. Pekka specializes in projects regarding promotion of walking and cycling. In addition, he’s been participating various other projects at Navico Ltd as a designer and analyst. Currently one of his main projects is working as the cycling coordinator for the City of Oulu. Pekka has also been involved in the establishment of several cycling-related NGOs and is an expert in organizing cycling events of all sorts.
Anthony Taylor
Adventures Director, The Loppet Foundation | co-Founder, Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Minnesota | Vice President, The National Brotherhood of Cyclists
“Each day presents us with the opportunity to create positive effects. Even the simplest, seemingly insignificant choices we make in our daily lives—what we eat, what we wear, what we use on our bodies, in our homes and how we get there – have a ripple effect that reaches far beyond us personally. By living in balance with nature, you strengthen the connections between yourself, the world and creation.” – Anthony Taylor
Anthony is an accidental advocate. He has never stopped biking since receiving a Schwinn Apple Crate for his Birthday in 1971. He and his mentor Louis Moore, using bikes as a tool in the 80’s to raise money for building playgrounds, developed a love for racing and the challenge of endurance races. In the 1998 a group of African American women that wanted to complete the AIDS ride from Mpls to Chicago approached them for help and the seeds of Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Mn were born. MTBCMn was founded in 1999 with the commitment to increase the participation of the African American community in cycling for sport, transportation and health improvement. Anthony is a member of the League of American Bicyclists Equity Advisory Council, an LCI, Co-founder of the Major Taylor Bicycling Club of Mn, A founding member and VP of the National Brotherhood of Cyclists. He is currently working to create a community bike center in Minneapolis. Anthony hails from Milwaukee, WI via Grenada, MS. He is a graduate of the Univ of MN, BS, Chem E and MBA from Univ. of St. Thomas . Anthony actively engages in partnerships that use the bike as tool to build community, increase personal power, safety and improve the wellbeing of our communities with a special commitment in African American communities and other historically oppressed communities. This is his first winter using his bike as a primary mode of transportation.
Herbert Tiemens
Policy Advisor & Bicycle Program Manager
Province of Utrecht
Educated as urban planner Tiemens worked for the last 18 years at local governments on different scales about traffic related issues and cycling in particular. He worked at traffic calming measurements and improving bicycle facilities, but also at integrated transport planning. Tiemens wrote different policies to improve cycling as a means of transport in the long term. The challenge for him is to combine short term improvements with policies that work on a long-term. In his current position Tiemens works for the Province of Utrecht as policy advisor and bicycle program manager. He is member of the advisory board of Fietsberaad, the Dutch knowledge centre of cycle expertise. For the Dutch Cycling Embassy network he is available as international bicycle ambassador. In this function he hosts visiting professionals in the Netherlands. Also he supports local governments abroad to improve their bicycle policies and advices them on their cycling facilities. His specialties are integrated spatial plan development and complete street design. Tiemens likes creating bicycle-friendly infrastructure and he is specially fond of the combination of public transport and cycling. Most of his experiences date from his work in the municipalities Houten and Pijnacker in the Netherlands. In the past he worked for Fietsberaad Internationaal/ Dutch Cycling Embassy on ThinkBike workshops in Washington DC, Dublin and Helsinki and various bicycle events all over the world.
Lucy Tobin
Prospect Researcher
University of Minnesota
Lucy Tobin is a year-round cyclist who has commuted by bike in the Twin Cities ever since she started working at the University of Minnesota over 8 years ago. Prior to living in the Twin Cities, she lived, worked, and commuted by bike in Tianjin, China while teaching English for 10 months after graduating with a B.A. in sociology from Minnesota State University, Moorhead.
Jennifer Toole
President
Toole Design Group
Jennifer Toole has worked for over 25 years in multimodal planning and design, and serves as an expert consultant on bicycle and pedestrian projects throughout the United States. As a certified planner with a degree in Landscape Architecture, her experience includes hands-on project design, as well as national and statewide research and planning initiatives. Jennifer crafted a vision for Toole Design Group’s bike share practice, beginning with a study of bike share systems nation-wide done pro bono for FHWA. Based on this work, the company has established itself as a leader in planning bike share systems, including tailoring business models to individual operator needs. Jennifer served as the Principal Investigator for the 2012 edition of AASHTO’s Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, and was the co-author of ITE’s Transportation Planning Handbook – Chapter 16 (Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation).
Kalle Vaismaa, DSc.
Leading Advisor
WSP Finland
Dr. Kalle Vaismaa works as a Leading advisor in WSP Finland. His fields of know-how are cycling and urban transport. Vaismaa has managed large projects of the urban transport promotion, for example PYKALA-projects in 2009−2013. The aim of the PYKALA-projects was to get cycling and walking as a part of Finnish urban transport system. The project included 20 European example cities. Previously Vaismaa worked in Tampere University of Technology as a Research Manager. He has written his PhD dissertation on cycling promotion: Which actions cities have to do to increase the modal share of cycling over 15% or even 30% of all trips. Vaismaa has authored or co-authored many books of cycling, for example “Best European practices in promoting cycling and walking”, “Vitality from cycling and walking” and “The connection between cycling safety and volume” (in a book Cycling Futures – From Research into Practice).
Brian Valentine
Park Ranger
National Park Service
Brian Valentine is a National Park Service Ranger, based in Saint Paul, MN. He connects visitors to the National Park Service and the Mississippi River through interpretive programs and guided recreational opportunities. He is a Minnesota native with 10 years of experience in the National Park Service.
Angela van der Kloof
Sustainable Mobility Consultant
Mobycon
Angela is an enthusiastic project manager, speaker and trainer with 25 years of working experience. She is specialized in cycling planning, education and engagement, including developments in electric bicycling. Angela has a background in Human Geography (MSc) and teaching (BEd) and works on projects at local, national and international level and excels when working in projects with concrete results: presentations, reports, plans, brochures, workshops, trainings, deliverables, websites. It is her aim to be a source of inspiration and knowledge and create synergy between people. To her the bicycle and cycling are tools to stimulate participation and interaction in an environment that is social and accessible for all.
Lindsey Wallace
Biking in Minneapolis
Lindsey Wallace is a diehard Minnesotan and member of the Minneapolis Bicycle Advisory Committee. Armed with a master’s degree in public health and a bicycle, she pedals the city observing how the built environment impacts healthy choices. She lives in Minneapolis, and in-between bike rides, she cooks for friends, walks her dog, and writes about biking at bikinginmpls.com.
Liz Walton
Landscape Architect
MnDOT (Minnesota Department of Transportation)
Liz Walton is a landscape architect at the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and project manager for Minnesota’s Mississippi River Trail bikeway. She is also a technical liaison to various MnDOT specialty and statewide offices, where she works to advance bicycling and walking. Liz is a Minnesota native and knows that with the proper clothing and the right attitude winter can be very enjoyable.
Sara Watson Curry
Director of Operations
Great Rides Fargo
Sara Watson Curry serves as the Director of Operations of the non-profit Great Rides, which is based in Fargo ND. The organization’s goal is to help the community find and share it’s passion for bikes. Great Rides shares this love through fantastic events, programs, cycling-centered infrastructure and advocacy. Sara began this role in January of 2015 as Great Rides took on the role of administering the first Bike Share in North Dakota, leading the organization for the community’s open streets festival: StreetsAlive! and hosting over 70 group rides in the spring and summer. The bulk of their community interactions are from Spring through Fall with a winter race providing a valuable opportunity to reconnect with its bike buddies. Prior to joining the team at Great Rides, Sara directed the Youth Services at the Moorhead Public Library. Her love of bikes grew with the Fargo Moorhead Community Bicycle Workshop of which she was a founding member and active collective member of from from 2. The Workshop provided a space for community members to repair and maintain their own bike in a supported environment and also offered an earn a bike program. Sara makes her home near the Red River in Moorhead, MN with her husband Joe, dog and a small collection of bikes.
Cathy Watts
Co-Chair
Saskatoon Cycles
Cathy Watts has been the Co-Chair of Saskatoon Cycles for past 5 years. She is retired and a passionate year-round cyclist who wants to make the city safe for 8-80 year olds, including her grandchildren.
David Weiner
CEO and Founder
Priority Bicycles
David Weiner is CEO and Founder of Priority Bicycles. After spending many years in the bicycle industry, starting with working in his local bike shop as a teenager through to a role in purchasing and technology at Giant Bicycles after college, Dave moved from California to New York City to pursue a career in the software business. Dave grew in his role to become the CEO of a public ally-listed multinational software company, Dave spent the next ten years working with brands to grow their business by harnessing new technologies. Despite his integral role at his firm, he still had the desire to come back to his passion- bicycles. That, combined with a desire to evaluate his own priorities – and spend more time with his family and two young children – he decided to resign from his role, and follow his dream of creating a company – Priority Bicycles – that would combine his backgrounds in cycling, supply chain, and technology. Priority Bicycles is an independent New York-based company dedicated to making cycling simple for recreational riders by offering bicycles that are easy to buy, easy to ride, and free of routine maintenance. Priority launched as a socially-funded company on Kickstarter in 2014, raising $550,000 in 30-days and selling over 1,200 bicycles. Since the launch, Priority has shipped thousands of bicycles and accessories through expanded global delivery, created a children’s line, developed fleet partnerships with premiere hotels and resorts, and had its story featured in top media around the world including Inc. Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, Popular Science, and APM’s Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal.
Stephanie Weir
Women on Bikes Program Manager
St. Paul Smart Trips
Stephanie is a community organizer, bicyclist, and amateur giant squid researcher. She grew up romping through the woods, climbing trees, and racing her bike down bumpy dirt roads in southern Michigan. She moved to and fell in love with the Twin Cities after graduating from Kalamazoo College in 2005. Stephanie has worked for a variety of small nonprofit organizations on issues such as homelessness, community development, and transportation. She specializes in grassroots organizing, advocacy, and program development. Stephanie has a Master of Nonprofit Management from Hamline University.
Kevin White
Transportation Planner
Kimley-Horn
Kevin White, AICP is a multimodal transportation planner with over six years of experience in pedestrian and bicycle planning and design, land use planning, public engagement, and geographic information systems. Kevin is a certified planner with a range of experience in the Twin Cities leading municipal pedestrian and bicycle plans, assisting with area transit planning projects, and others. Kevin is also developing multi-modal transportation solutions as part of the Campus Master Plan updates for the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Toledo (Ohio).
Kate Whitfield, P.Eng., MCIP, RPP, LEED®AP
Professional Engineer and Registered Professional Planner
Parsons Inc.
Kate Whitfield, P.Eng., MCIP, RPP, LEED®AP is a Professional Engineer and a Registered Professional Planner with 10 years of experience in the Ottawa consulting industry. With her dual accreditation and her role as a project manager, Kate excels in tying together the planning, engineering, detailed design, and implementation elements of projects undertaken by Parsons. As a Planner with experience in community planning, policy, Environmental Assessment (EA) and development approvals, Kate appreciates the public and private sector nuances of projects and uses her skills in engaging stakeholders in public settings. Kate has a passion for the planning and geometric design of complete streets and active transportation. Current projects include the O’Connor Street bikeway (all 27 blocks) and the Nepean Trail and Akerson Multi-Use Pathway Functional Planning Studies. With her LEED®AP, Kate has demonstrated her commitment and interest in green community infrastructure and a sustainable future for Ottawa. Kate can be seen around Ottawa with her dutch cargo bike, affectionately called ‘the bucket’ by her two young sons who are along for the ride. The bakfiets allows for an easy transition between her work commute, school drop-off/pick-ups, errands or trips simply for fun. Kate’s technical background will contribute to the discussion. She will provide insight on technical design issues related to cargo biking with family in winter. From a personal perspective, she is a less-experienced winter cyclist. The distance and two river crossings factor into Kate’s multi-modal commute using bike/walk to transit. In her neighbourhood, you witness the parental decision to walk or bike to school with kids and then return home to drive to work or take transit – or, to simply drive in a highly walkable neighourbood because “it is easier”. Kate’s presentation addresses these issues and others in the context of cycling with your family in the winter.
Rachel Widome
Assisant Professor of Epidemiology
University of Minnesota
Rachel Widome, PhD, MHS is a social epidemiologist and faculty member in the Division of Epidemiology and Community Health at the University of Minnesota. She studies how social and economic factors influence chronic disease risk behaviors (tobacco use, eating, physical activity). She is particularly interested in how policy can be used as a risk prevention tool to promote public health. Rachel lives in Minneapolis with her husband and 3-year-old son. They are a car-free family that loves to bike.
Joni Wilm
Senior Transportation Planner and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
Anchorage's Metropolitan Planning Organization, AMATS
Joni Wilm is a Senior Transportation Planner and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Anchorage’s Metropolitan Planning Organization, AMATS. Joni is working on several bicycle initiatives for Anchorage including a complete streets policy, a bicycle and pedestrian safety awareness campaign, incorporating land use and transportation through transit oriented development planning, and implementing Anchorage’s existing bike plan and pedestrian plan. When she is not in the office, Joni can be found biking, hiking, running and skiing on Anchorage’s elaborate intercity and mountain trail systems.
Julia Winkels
Organizer
Grease Rag Ride and Wrench
Julia Winkels is a Grease Rag Ride and Wrench organizer, working with other volunteers to create fun, inclusive, safer-spaces for women, transgender, and femme riders. She is a racer, bike camper, and year-round commuter. When she’s not on her bike, she’s at work, at school, or playing music.
Kelley Yemen
Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator
Hennepin County
Kelley Yemen is the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Hennepin County. She works within Department of Planning to coordinate bicycle and pedestrian projects, policies and programs across all units of Public Works, across departments within Hennepin County and our external partners. In 2013, she moved back to the Twin Cities, where she grew up, after working for NYC DOT as a pedestrian planner and for A. Nelssen Associates as an urban designer. She received her Masters of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University and her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison.
