Women/Trans/Femme Summit
Thursday, June 21st 1-5pm
Karissa is a local maker, bike racer and photo taker. She joined the SheWolves 4 years ago and quickly fell in love with the camaraderie and constant support from her fellow female cyclists. In her spare time she’s making sculptures and jewelry and hopes one day to have her own studio.
Mia Bolton is just a girl who rides a bicycle in San Diego.
In January of 2017 she donated her trusty Toyota for life on two wheels as Tour de Fat’s car-to-bike trader. For five years she worked at Mixte Communications — an annual winner of SANDAG’s bike-friendly business awards — where she directed media relations and communications strategy for grassroots social justice and environmental organizations including the San Diego County Bike Coalition and the North American Bikeshare Association.
Now as a freelance writer, she contributes feature articles to a variety of publications including San Diego CityBeat’s yearly Bike Guide, international surf magazines and more. In her free time, she focuses her energy on the cultivation of Lady Days, her passion project that shares stories of women empowering women, building an inclusive community and making the world better for all of us. She is one of the Regional Bike Summit Organizers.
Khalisa Bolling is passionate about building healthy communities and improving people’s quality of life. She earned a Masters of Public Health from SDSU. She has managed a Lead Hazard Control Program, a Healthy Homes Program, and a program that connected youth to the outdoors. Presently she works for UCSD in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, coordinating a peer empowerment program aimed at increasing physical activity among older adults.
Khalisa serves as the board chair for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition and previously chaired the advocacy committee. She is committed to advocating for infrastructure that will allow biking to become a viable transportation option for all. She also previously served on the Groundwork San Diego board, a non-profit that engages businesses, residents and government officials around transforming the Chollas Creek watershed into a community asset.
Long time La Mesa resident, Pauline Callahan, is both a Martial Artist and a Cyclist.
Pauline began her Martial Arts training in 1983, after a family tragedy influenced her decision to learn to protect herself and her loved ones. She earned her Black Belt in Tong Soo Do in 1988 and went on to achieve 2nd and then 3rd Degree status several years later. Pauline utilized her skills and knowledge to teach children’s Karate at the YMCA for 12 years and Karate and Women’s Self Defense at the La Mesa Recreation Center for 17 years. She was a Teacher’s Assistant for several years to Grand Master Michael Conniry for his Women’s Self Defense classes at Grossmont College and in his studio, Pacific Martial Arts Foundation, in El Cajon.
Pauline’s love for cycling began in 2000 after knee surgery that required cycling as physical therapy. Loving the outdoors and needing the physical activity lead to her joining the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition. She became an LCI in 2003. She now helps SDCBC with Bike Rodeos, Community Rides, Road Safety classes, and is on the Education Committee. She teaches adults and children how to ride and is especially pleased to have taught two very special women, ages 62 and 54, who never learned to ride as children , and are now avid riders and bicycle advocates. Pauline and her husband Dan are proud to be the 2017 co-recipients of the “Kerry Kunsman Volunteer of the Year” award presented to them by the SDCBC.
Cisco is a native of San Diego, a Chicano Park Muralist, and works in the community he calls home. He currently holds a full time position with the King Chavez Neighborhood of Schools as the Technology Instructor/Edtech for the Primary Academy and is also the resident artist for the organization. Francisco runs the after school program KCicletas (KC Bikes), a club that is advocates for cycling and raising awareness in Barrio Logan Community. The bike club teaches each student the practice of riding bicycles on roads in a manner that is in accordance with the same principles for driving in traffic as well as teaching maintenance and repair, riding in a group and puts them on a path to a healthier more affordable form of transportation and exercise.
Maria Cortez grew up in South East San Diego and attended Lincoln High School. She has worked at Franklin Elementary for 27 years, and has been involved with City Heights CDC as volunteer, and now staff member, for 18 years. Maria is very active in the community and serves as the President of the Teralta West Neighborhood Alliance and is involved with the City Heights Town Council, City Heights on Patrol and Teralta Park Action Team. Additionally, Maria has been advocating for different transportation issues since 1985 and has been on the Centerline Working Group since 2000. She is the co-chair on ITCH (Improving Transportation in City Heights) and played a large role in obtaining free bus passes for students attending Hoover, Crawford, Lincoln and San Diego High Schools.
Inés de la Crass is from the border area, “Llantijuan”, or Tijuana, in the Kumiai language. She is an activist dedicated to breast feeding, child rearing, and maternity. She sings in a musical group called La Otra Banda, (Latin American folk music) and Parche de Ira, (post punk). She is an anarkofeminist, was a part of the Binational Feminist Collective and the Tarentella Collective. She presently participates in the Colectiva Zapatista, la Red de Apoyo al CIG and the NosotrAs Collective. She is a high school teacher, and has studied Sociology at The Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN), Philosophy at UABC, and the Dramatic Arts in INBA. She enjoys writing prose, poetry, plays and essays. She is passionate about writing and distributing fanzines. She has written many, including Viaje al centro del útero that depicted life during and after her pregnancy.
Tez is a first generation trans gender non conforming mestizx, born and raised in East Los Angeles with roots in so cal/southwest- Raramuri and Jalisco Mexico. They are currently teaching bike educational classes for a wide range of communities in San Diego and Los Angeles. Tez is passionate about using the bicycle as a tool for liberation by organizing QTIBIPOC Spirit Bike Tours/Rides. For the past 16 years, Tez has done freedom work in many overlapping communities for social/food/medicine justice.
Marisa grew up poor with a single mom, which motivated her to be an entrepreneur since her teens. In 2010 everything changed when she formed her own company called Light Me Up Safety Lights. She has traveled all over the country installing spoke lights at campgrounds, festivals and hosting her own Electric Light Parades. She’s the Tinkerbell of bike lights, bringing a Disneyland effect to night time bike rides. She shows many that its okay for a woman to get her hands & arms dirty with bike grease to earn a living. People in the community know her for her authenticity & honesty, and her business has allowed her to teach at-risk teens how to use their hands & help her install lights.
Crecencia Garibo-Soto Learned how to ride a bike at 62 years young. Her passion and desire to ride a bike came from when she was young and watched her brothers ride bikes as a way to get to work. She grew up with this desire her whole life, but her mother always told her that bikes were only for men.
Esperanza started volunteering with the community 12 years ago at her youngest daughter’s school. She realized that many parents, herself included, didn’t understand their children’s educational system and their rights as parents. She participated in a leadership academy and as a result started to advocate in her neighborhood. Presently she is extremely active in her community, continuing to volunteer at her daughter’s elementary school, even though she is going to enter college this fall. She is a promotora for Environmental Health Coalition, for SAY San Diego, for City Heights CDC and is a member of Mid City CAN’s Improving Transportation in City Heights (ITCH) Team. She says “Where they need me, I’m there.”
Kurt Haider is a bicycle enthusiast and recent bicycle advocate with the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition and Walk + Bike Carlsbad. He lives in Oceanside with his wife and two children, who also participate in many family bicycle activities with him. Kurt recently received his certification as a League Cycling Instructor through the League of American Bicyclists thanks to the SDCBC. Kurt is an active LCI and assists with the Smart Cycling classes offered in Oceanside. He is passionate about bicycle education and advocacy and loves sharing his perspective to the benefits of cycling.
Carrie grew up cruising her SoCal neighborhood while on her banana seat bike with tassels flying! She has always loved bikes. Her first true mountain bike ride, while trying to keep up with a group of guys, took her up a steep trail overlooking the Pacific Ocean where she promptly threw-up, took in the view and then declared, ” I love this!” That was the early 90’s. Since that time Carrie has lived, raced and ridden all over the West. Her passion is finding new trails, exploring with friends and endurance races and rides. She has competed at the World Cup level, raced multi-day adventure races, raced cyclocross, loves her single-speed, is an IMBA certified instructor, bike packed the Arizona Trail, finished the Kokopelli route, Stagecoach 400, and many other events across the region. Long-term goals include bike packing the Trans-America Trail and the Tour Divide. This week she will head out on a 275 mile bike pack route called the “Bones to Blue” which circumnavigates Donner Lake and then Lake Tahoe. Carrie is married and has two boys ages 14 and 10. She has always made her passion for biking a key component of her life and says, “giving myself the gift of time on the trails, adventuring with friends, helps me be a better wife, mother and human!”
Denise is the fastest woman in the world on bike. She set the first ever Women’s Paced Bicycle Land Speed Record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in September 2016 at 147mph. She is also 15x USA National Cycling Champion.
Angela has been heavily involved in the health and fitness world for over 20 years. She is a certified yoga instructor, a health coach, healthy cooking instructor, a League Cycling Instructor for the League of American Bicyclists, and an ACE Certified Personal Trainer. She also worked as a Healthy Cooking Ambassador teaching under the African Heritage and Healthy program for the Oldways organization, where she shared with individuals in the community on how to prepare delicious and healthy meals.
Angela promoted cycling awareness in her local community forming the Cleveland Chapter of Black Girls Do Bike in 2014. Membership was through Facebook and word of mouth. The initial meeting of the chapter consisted of 14 women from various areas in Northeast Ohio. Awareness of the group and membership grew rapidly reaching over 700 women just before Angela relocated to California. After settling here in San Diego, she became a member of the Black Girls Do Bike – San Diego Chapter.
In Ohio, she participated in VeloSano – Bike to Cure Ride raising money for cancer research in two consecutive years and was one of the spokespersons for 2015 event. She rode 100 miles in both the 2014 and 2015 and dedicated her rides to her mom, a colon cancer survivor, her grandmother, whom she lost to breast cancer and herself, thyroid cancer survivor.Along with cycling, she enjoys her daily yoga practice, cooking, exercising, photography, reading, and beautiful San Diego. Angela shares her passion for living a healthy lifestyle in her blog, www.reroutingyourself.blogspot.com, and social media – Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
For the past 12 years, Monique López, founder of Pueblo, has been a social justice planner and policy advocate working on a variety of issues such as transportation justice, environmental justice, and public space access throughout Southern California. Their experience and heart for social justice shapes Pueblo’s model, values, and approach. A few of Monique’s most notable accomplishments include:
- Leading the participatory design process of a fourteen acre public space in the Eastern Coachella Valley working closely with farm workers and their families;
- Working with a broad coalition of advocates and residents to help secure over $120 million in transit and active transportation investments in environmental justice communities in San Diego;
- Co-designing with residents and in partnership with community-based organizations two community supportive and innovative transit and active transportation oriented alternatives that were included in an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to improve regional mobility to substitute freeway expansion alternatives;
- Developing plans for the Cities of Salem, Woodburn, and for the Oregon Secretary of State to engage Latinx people in the planning and electoral process; and
- Co-authoring an environmental justice ballot initiative, which was passed by 68% of voters, to prohibit the importation and disposal of sewage sludge into Imperial County and playing an integral role in coordinating a successful grassroots political campaign.
Monique is a certified planner with the American Planning Association and has earned a Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Oregon and a Master’s in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach. She has also earned her Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science with a Minor in Religion from Vanguard University. When she is not working with community members, she loves to ride and work on her bike and is an avid storyteller.
Michelle Luellen is the Program Director at San Diego County Bicycle Coalition (SDCBC). She is dedicated to the hope of positive change in our communities, especially in the areas of active transportation, housing, education, and sustainable living. She has actively supported grassroots movement building in both Chicago and the Borderlands of San Diego and Tijuana.
She did not get a driver’s license until she was 30 years old, and spent the majority of her adult life commuting by bike and transit.
Always up for a challenge, she passed her LCI certification when she was six months pregnant. She received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education with an emphasis in History at DePaul University in Chicago and her Masters of Arts in Nonprofit Management at the University of San Diego. In her spare time she writes poetry, bakes cookies and steps on her son’s Legos. She is one of the Regional Bike Summit Organizers.
Adonia E. Lugo, Ph.D. is an anthropologist who believes we can transform our transportation systems through multiracial mobility movements. Since receiving her PhD from the University of California, Irvine in 2013, Adonia has organized people of color active transportation advocates and professionals around the country, most recently as part of the The Untokening. She teaches sustainability and social justice at universities in the Los Angeles area, serves on the advisory boards for Multicultural Communities for Mobility (MCM) and Orange County Environmental Justice (OCEJ), strategizes community-based planning with Pueblo, and develops sociocultural methods for bicycle research with Bicicultures. You can learn more about Adonia’s work at her website, urbanadonia.com. Her book, Bicycle/Race: Transportation, Culture, & Resistance, is now available from Microcosm Publishing.
Claudia Ramirez Martinez was born in Guadalajara and has lived in Tijuana since 1989. They are a multidisciplinary artist who works individually, also in collaboration with other artists and is most interested in exercises of collective action. They have participated in many expositions and public interventions. To name a few, Desiertas Islas, with Marisa Raygoza in Galería de la ciudad del Instituto Municipal de Arte y Cultura (IMAC) Tijuana in 2017. Their art was featured in a poetry anthology, Visual Mexicana, La Palabra Transfigurada en 2013. In 2009, the City of Tijuana Cultural Development fund supported their Project tiled “Tzompantli Vivo,” a public art installation with community input. They teach a diverse range of workshops for both adults and children, mixing various disciplines such as printmaking, poetry and performance. They are a member of the NosotrAs Collective and the Red de apoyo al CIG in Tijuana.
Susie Murphy started riding mountain bikes in the early 1990’s in order to follow her husband, Sean Murphy, who had taken up riding with their young daughter in a backpack. She just needed to keep on eye on them, but they soon discovered a family pastime that took them on many adventures. Some of their best times were camping at Sea Otter, traveling to races down in Baja, and going to 24 Hour races with all of their friends.
Susie’s first race was in 1995 at Callaway Vineyards in Temecula. She threw up in the first quarter mile and ended up coming in third. She won a Rock Shox hat! Susie did her last race in 2005 and won the Am Cup Series Super D State Championship for women over 40 while her daughter won the same title for women under 18. In between she entered a lot of sport division races in California, Arizona and Baja California and occasionally brought home some hardware.
Susie has volunteered in the cycling community for many years with over 20 years as a member of the Mountain Bike Assistance Unit at Cuyamaca Rancho State Park. Now rides for her are a little slower, races few and far between, and bikepacking may be the new thing!
Susie is so happy to have landed her dream job as the Executive Director of SDMBA. She finds meeting and learning from all the dedicated volunteers both locally and nationally amazing. She is one of the Regional Bike Summit organizers.
Carolina has worked at the intersection of community-based research, environmental justice, and border studies for the last seven years. She earned a PhD in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management with an emphasis in Gender and Women’s Studies from UC Berkeley in 2017. As a first generation queer Chicana , Carolina believes that her struggles for social and environmental justice should create an impact on both sides of the border. She is also passionate about food justice and anti-domestic violence work. Carolina enjoys biking to pretty places, dancing, sewing, color coding, and cooking vegan food.
Dr. Sherry Ryan is a Professor of City Planning and the Director of the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University. She joined the City Planning faculty in fall 2002. She earned her undergraduate degree in Romance Languages and Latin American Studies at Princeton University, and an M.S. in Civil Engineering and a Ph.D. in Transportation Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interests focus on active transportation planning, travel behavior/land use interactions, and community health. She has published numerous journal articles on travel behavior, land use patterns, and the built environment’s effects on health. She has also served as a consultant project manager for several significant local and regional planning efforts in Southern California, Arizona and Mexico, including the City of San Diego’s 2013 Bicycle Master Plan Update, SANDAG’s first ever regional bicycle plan in 2010, and multijurisdictional planning efforts in Guadalajara, Jalisco and Leon, Guanajuato. She is nationally recognized for leading the development and implementation of regional active travel data collection programs in San Diego, Maricopa County, Arkansas, and Los Angeles. One of her recent projects – the City of San Diego’s Pedestrian Crossing Policy Update – received the Center for Disease Control and Prevention Excellence in Pedestrian Safety Research award in 2013.
Sheila Mitra Sarkar has a doctoral degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Transportation Planning. She is the former Director of California Institute of Transportation Safety, San Diego State University. Presently, she has her own consulting firm in San Diego. She is affiliated with several academic institutions in India. Sheila has over 50 publications and conference papers in transportation planning and social justice. She has traveled extensively to learn about different transportation systems and is actively involved in ensuring gender is included in transportation planning and decision making. She is organizing a workshop entitled Bridge the Gap: Removing Gender Bias in Transportation Research in Washington D.C. for the Committee on Women’s Issue in Transportation for Transportation Research Board.
Karen Marquez Saucedo (Tijuana). Poet, writer, autonomous feminist, community co-educator, member of the Guarache Cosmico collective, the NosotrAs collective, and the Red de Apoyo al CIG. Holds a bachelor’s in Educational Intervention from la Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (UPN), Tijuana. Her book of poetry, Sensorama, was published in 2016. She manages the Facebook page: Gestiona Mundágora Feminismo Autónomo and makes fanzines.
Helping to make our communities more active, more connected, healthier, more environmentally focused, and sustainable is Kristine’s passion. And much of that has to do with transportation choices and how we move around our communities, the SD region, and beyond. Kristine had an altogether different career path up until several years ago when she decided to stick her neck out, leave the biotech/pharmaceutical drug development world (think disease treatment) and join the efforts made by organizations focused at the wheel hub of health + community + environment (think prevention!). Kristine hope to be opening minds to more transportation choices and to the fun and benefits of bicycling and going CAR FREE. And she enjoys being able to “walk the talk” along the way (ok, really bike the talk!). Kristine is not looking back since there are more YAHOO moments with this work. Pedal on…..
Adriana Souza has a master’s degree from UnB (Universidade de Brasília), and is currently completing a PhD at the Postgraduate Program of Transportation in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department of the same institution. She is also an international researcher at ISCTE (Instituto Universitário de Lisboa), focusing on women’s walkability in Brasil and in Portugal.
She has been working with urban mobility since 2011, when she worked as Special Advisor for the Transportation Department in Brasília (DETRAN-DF), coordinating several projects connected with cycling and traffic accidents. In 2013, she began a more specific study about Active Mobility (walking and cycling). In 2015, she incorporated into her research the relationship between gender and the public space. Also in 2015, she was invited to join the team at Department of Planning and Mobility as Director of Pedestrian Mobility. In 2017, she moved to Portugal to further develop her research and now she is back in Brazil to finish her PhD.
Erin Stephens is an alternative transportation advocate and an amateur triathlete. She served two years as an AmeriCorps member in Kona, Hawaii for Habitat for Humanity West Hawaii, and worked an additional year as staff. There, she started using her bike to save money on the high gas prices. Living in Boston, DC, and Sydney, she relied solely on public transportation and her bicycle. She has experienced the payoff of growing cities that invest in alternative transportation. Younger generations will factor that heavily when choosing a place to live.
Friday, June 22nd 9-5
District Eight City of San Diego Councilmember David Alvarez
David grew up in the Barrio Logan community of San Diego, the neighborhood on the working waterfront that has a long history of environmental degradation, high asthma rates, and industrial-residential conflicts. His childhood home was next door to a chrome plating plant, and he can trace his own asthma to the constant presence of toxic emissions affecting residential areas, school playgrounds, and parks. That experience sharpened his resolve to fight for social, economic and environmental justice.
Elected to the San Diego City Council in 2010, David is currently Chair of the Environment Committee, and a member of the Smart Growth & Land Use Committee. Additionally, he serves on the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System Board, SANDAG Borders Committee, Otay Valley Regional Park Policy Committee, and Bayshore Bikeway Working Group. He also is a member of the Board of Director’s for Local Progress, the League of California Cities Latino Caucus, National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), a board member of the newly formed San Diego Coffee Training Institute and serves on the Advisory Board for The Science Exchange.
Councilmember David Alvarez was born in San Diego to Jose and Maria Alvarez and has four brothers and one sister. Growing up in Barrio Logan, David attended local public schools: Perkins Elementary, Memorial Junior High, and San Diego High School. David was the first in his family to graduate from high school and college. He graduated with honors from San Diego State University. Councilmember Alvarez, his wife Xochitl, their daughter Izel and son Javier Andres reside in Logan Heights. He is an avid cyclist and bikes to work often.
David is proud to continue the work he began in childhood and strive to carry out every day: to bring social, economic, and environmental justice to the people he serves.
Jenny, the San Diego Group Leader at Alta Planning + Design, leads street transformations and placemaking projects all over Southern California. Through her background in architecture, urban design, street design, and construction management, she has developed a unique skill set to smoothly move projects forward through all phases of design and implementation while ensuring that communities implement their vision. Her experience includes community planning, bicycle and pedestrian master plans, community facilitation as well as Complete Streets and public space design. Jenny is passionate about successful community outreach and community investment.
Lenin Ballasteros works with the City of Imperial Beach as a Mayoral Apprentice. Previously, he worked as a Policy Analyst with the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, and as a Research Assistant with the Brookings Institution. Lenin graduated from UC San Diego with a B.A. in Economics, and a minor in Public Service. As a UCSD student, and Imperial Beach resident and city staffer, Lenin had first-hand experience, and a front-row seat, during the implementation of the San Diego region’s first dockless bikeshare deployments.
Jim Baross has been a bicycle instructor since 1975. He is the President of the California Association of Bicycling Organizations (CABO,) has taught hundreds of League Certified Instructors (LCIs) as a League Cycling Coach, has ridden across the United States twice, is the present chair of the SDCBC Education Committee, and the Vice Chair of California Bicycle Advisory Committee for the State Dept of Transportation. Jim regularly testifies as an expert witness on court cases that involve bicycles, and has taught California Highway Patrol members bicycle safety information.
Daniel Rivera is the standing Director General Ejecutivo (Executive Director) of the Instituto Metropolitano de Planeación de Tijuana (Metropolitan Planning Institute of Tijuana). He studied his licenciatura at the Instituto Tecnológico de Tijuana, earning the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture, and, prior to assuming his position with IMPLAN Tijuana, worked with the Secretaría de Infraestructura y Desarrollo Urbano del estado de Baja California (the Secretary of Infrastructure and Urban Development, an executive department of the state of Baja California).
Eric Carlton Bowlby a Massachusetts native, moved to San Diego in 1976 and earned a Associate degrees in both English and in Computer Science. He served as Executive Chair of the Sierra Club, San Diego Chapter in 1999 and 2000 and stepped down to take a part time job running the Sierra Club’s San Diego Canyons Campaign. In 10 years Bowlby built the Canyons Campaign to three full-time staff positions and established over 45 neighborhood-based “friends groups” or stewardship groups for San Diego’s canyons. In 2008, along with several other community leaders, Bowlby established a new non-profit called “San Diego Canyonlands”, dedicated to restoration, preservation and protection of San Diego’s wonderful canyons. SD Canyonlands has grown to ten staff and Bowlby continues to serve as Executive Director. Bowlby also served for ten years on the City of San Diego Wetlands Advisory Board and, after sixteen years, continues to serve on the City’s Open Space/Canyons Advisory Committee.
Dave Campbell coordinates the advocacy and policy work of Bike East Bay in 33 cities/town/jurisdictions in the East Bay, and at the Contra Costa Transportation Authority, the Alameda County Transportation Authority and other regional transportation agencies. Dave started Bike East Bay’s bike education program in 2002 and previously coordinated Bike to Work Day in the East Bay for 7 years. From 2000-2009, Dave served as the Chair of the Bike East Bay Board of Directors, and served as Vice-Chair from 1998-2000.
Dave joined Bike East Bay back in 1996 as a volunteer while practicing patent and trademark law in San Francisco and still acts as a legal advisor to Bike East Bay. Dave rides a Fuji road bike around town and wishes he spent more time on weekends riding his bike, but tennis, his other passion, keeps him on court. Contact Dave by emailing Dave (at) BikeEastBay (dot) org.
Peter is a transportation planner with the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System, responsible primarily for bus service planning in central, southeastern, and coastal San Diego. He was actively involved in the development and implementation of MTS’s Transit Optimization Plan, the largest service restructuring effort in the San Diego region in over ten years. Prior to joining MTS, Peter worked in transit consulting with TMD in Carlsbad, where he contributed to transit network redesign projects in Atlanta, the Tampa Bay Area, and Massachusetts. A native of Albany, New York, Peter holds a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from the Bloustein School at Rutgers University and a B.S. in Industrial and Management Engineering from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Josh Clark is an Active Transportation Planner at SANDAG. He leads the agency’s active transportation data collection, evaluation, and monitoring program. Prior to re-joining SANDAG he worked in Alta Planning + Design’s San Diego office as a Senior Planner. Josh represents Council District 3 on the City of San Diego’s Bicycle Advisory Board, and is co-chair of the San Diego chapter of APBP.
County of San Diego Supervisor Greg Cox
Since joining the San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 1995, Supervisor Greg Cox has been dedicated to improving the public safety, health and quality of life for all the families living in our region. He represents the more than 631,000 residents of the vibrant, multi-cultural neighborhoods of the First District, where he has lived his entire life.
A tireless champion for South County, Greg Cox resides in his hometown of Chula Vista. Both his parents were teachers in local public schools, and he too became an educator after earning his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from SDSU. He is a devoted husband and father of two grown daughters.
Cox began his public service career as a teacher in the Sweetwater Union High School District. He was elected to the Chula Vista City Council and then elected to two terms as Mayor of Chula Vista. His expertise was tapped by the Governor when he was appointed Director of Local Government for the Office of Planning and Research. Cox also built successful businesses in the private sector, where the bottom line matters most
Supervisor Cox oversees a regional government with a $5.789 billion budget and more than 17,000 employees. He has guided a dramatic transformation of County government, earning it accolades as one of the best, well-run governments in the nation.
Greg Cox works tirelessly to implement innovative ways to deliver valuable services to children, the elderly, foster and adoptive families and those needing access to affordable health care, workforce training and good jobs.
Over the years, he has helped create an array of major amenities in his district, including three vast regional parks, the Waterfront Park on the San Diego Bay embarcadero, new libraries and community centers in Bonita, Lincoln Acres and Imperial Beach, the Bayshore Bikeway, the Living Coast Discovery Center and the Olympic Training Center. He has had a hand in projects ranging from the development of the Chula Vista Bayfront to the Tuna Harbor Dockside Market.
Supervisor Cox’s reputation as a proven, trusted leader resulted in key appointments to the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority and the California Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission appointment by the Speaker of the California Assembly made him uniquely positioned to give San Diegans a voice in the effort to preserve public access to the California coastline and protect natural resources. He works to create parks, trails and bike paths throughout the state, just as he has done in our region. He has won numerous regional and national awards like the “Planning Advocate Award” from the American Planning Association and the Outstanding Public Official Award from National Association of County Parks and Recreation Officials.
Kevin Cox, or better known as KC to the Electra team, was appointed president of Electra Bicycle Company in January 2014 after spending two years as the Executive Director of Sales and Marketing. Under his guidance, Electra has celebrated several victories. This includes having the number 1 selling bicycle in the United States since 2014, best selling e-bike in 2017 and earning a coveted spot on Oprah’s Favorite Things list. Additionally, Kevin was instrumental in moving the company back to its hometown of Encinitas, CA, where the global headquarters is found today.
Prior to Electra, Kevin’s professional endeavors ranged from entrepreneurism to business abroad. Early in his career, Kevin spent six years living in Italy, working in the fashion industry and later starting a lifestyle and fashion apparel brand. He has founded multiple companies ranging from high-tech start-ups to retail design and brand building to action sports product companies. Kevin also spent several years at Giant Bicycle as the Director of Sales and Retail Development.
Looking ahead, Kevin and the Electra team are motivated to continually challenge bicycling’s status quo and expand the company’s product portfolio by developing new and innovative products that help more people ride bikes more often. This growth will position Electra as the leading lifestyle brand in the bicycle industry. Having spent most his life in the “saddle,” Kevin’s passion for bicycling is in his DNA. Whether on a road or lifestyle bike, the goal is always the same…grab life by the handlebars and enjoy the ride.
Councilmember Mike Diaz-District 4
Mike Diaz was born in Tijuana, Mexico and moved to Chula Vista at age 4 with his parents Jose and Maria, three brothers and a sister. Mike went to school at Castle Park Elementary and graduated from Castle Park High School in 1976. Mike spent 32 years in the fire service.
During his fire service career, Mike spent much of his time volunteering with the California State Firefighters’ Association. He spent the first 15 years on their Political Action Committee. There, he worked with state legislators to create public safety bills that have kept our citizens safer. Mike finished his work with California State Firefighters Association as an executive board member.
Since retiring, Mike has worked part-time for the Sweetwater High School District as a Career Technical Education instructor. Mike teaches high school students many of the skills used in the fire service, which allows them to compete for fire service careers.
Mike is married to his wife of 36 years, Debra Diaz. Mike and Debra have two daughters and four grandchildren. They all live in the southwest Chula Vista community.
Ike started Fly Rides along with his wife, Megan in 2011 after completing a 3K mile tour on acoustic bikes in Italy and France and being introduced to ebikes for the first time in Europe. Ike brings a wealth of knowledge and has played a pivotal role in leading the charge on growth and advocacy within the ebike industry. Fly Rides is now one of the largest ebike retailers in the U.S. and the #1 dealer nationally for many of the brands they carry.
San Diego Fly Rides is the #1 rated tour in SD on TripAdvisor and utilizes Bosch equipped ebikes for all their tours.
Fly Rides opened up their second location last year in Los Angeles which has already grown rapidly and is now the #1 Rated outdoor activity in LA on TripAdvisor.
Ike currently sits on the board of directors for the National Bosch Dealer Advisory Board and has served on the La Jolla Village Merchant’s Association Board of Directors. Ike is helping eMTB’s (electric mountain bikes) gain acceptance by having Fly Rides sponsor events like the Boogaloo eMTB race series.
Ike and the Fly Rides team are dedicated to promoting ebikes that perform like bicycles first, but with the added versatility of a refined mid-drive motor. Fly Rides only supports class 1 eMTB’s for trail access and focuses primarily on ebikes that are pure pedal assist and do not use throttles.
City of San Diego District Nine Councilmember Georgette Gómez
Gomez is a native San Diegan, born to working class immigrants. She was raised in Barrio Logan, attended Serra High School and graduated from San Diego State University majoring in Environmental and Natural Resource Geography. Gomez, a progressive Democrat, represents some of the most transit-dependent neighborhoods in the city, including City Heights and parts of southeastern San Diego. She was elected in 2016 on a platform of shaking things up at City Hall. Prior to her election, she worked for the Environmental Health Coalition on issues of air quality and environmental justice. She was elected Councilmember for District 9 in 2016, and is the chair of the Board of Directors of San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS).
Andy Hanshaw, MPA, has been Executive Director at the Bike Coalition since July of 2011. He is also the founder and organizer of the annual Bike the Bay community bike ride that takes place each August in San Diego. A career nonprofit and development professional, he has lead efforts to help small businesses working with Business Improvement Districts in San Diego and Portland, Oregon and he also led fundraising efforts for the recently built San Diego State University Alumni Center. He rides just about anywhere, anytime and he enjoys going on long rides all throughout San Diego County as well as his daily bike commute from Point Loma where he and his wife Sandy live and own The Wine Pub, a cozy, bike-friendly wine bar and restaurant.
Luis Moreno Hernández is a diputado local (state assembly member) of the XXII Baja California legislature. He studied his licenciatura at the Universidad de Tijuana, receiving the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations; later earning his Master’s degree in Dirección y Gestión Pública Local (public administration) from the Unión Iberoamericana de Municipalitas in Spain. In the Baja California state legislature, he presides over the Comisión de Desarrollo Metropolitano, Conurbación, Infraestructura, Comunicaciones y Transportes (the Commission on Metropolitan Development, Conurbation, Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation), and acts as Secretary for the Comisión de Asuntos Fronterizos y Migratorios (the Commission on Border and Migration Issues).
Sam brings with her extensive experience in the bicycle transportation industry, working for the City of Boston Bicycle Programs, researching bicycle transportation, work with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, and as Board President of the non-profit Portland Bike Share Inc. She has been a bike commuter for 15 years and has been working in the bikeshare specific field since 2012.
John Holloway is the Principal Mobility Planner at KTUA. The challenge of creating urban non-motorized mobility networks inspires him, especially creating more efficient overall mobility that encourages people to get around other than by driving, including connecting trails with other facilities. KTUA’s mobility division’s work is primarily bikeway and pedestrian planning and design, urban streetscape design and traffic calming, along with recreational and open space trail planning and design.
Carol Hosmer is the owner of Selle Anatomica, the only saddle manufacturer in the United States. In 2010 she acquired SA following the death of the founder, her brother Tommy. Today SA is a family company, employing both of her sons, making saddles right here in Poway CA and shipping around the world. Selle Anatomica has also incubated an aerospace company – Light Composites – as a result of lessons learned in development of their carbon saddle.
In 2012 after owning the company for a period of time, Carol determined she should probably get a bike and go back to riding – which she had abandoned while raising a family. Today she pedals between 75-100 miles/week.
John Howard is the founder of John Howard Performance Sports. One of the most intriguing and daring endurance athletes of all times, John Howard has:
- Won the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon (1981)
- Set the bicycle speed record of 152.2 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats. (1985)
- Won the USA Cycling Elite level Road Championships four times (1968, 1972, 1973, 1975)
- Spent 10 years on the US National Cycling Team
- Ridden on the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Olympic Teams
- Won America’s only gold at the Pan-Am Games Road Race (1971)
- Won the Tour de L’Estra (1972)
- Won a stage and finished 3rd overall at the Tour of Ireland (1973)
- Won the Tour of Newfoundland (1975)
- Won the first 1000-mile Tour of Baja (1975)
- Finished 2nd in the Race Across America (1982) and co-founded the race
- Set the world 24-hour cycling distance record of 593 miles (1987)
- Set the world 24-hour canoeing record of 104.6 miles (2000)
- Been named Competitive Cycling Magazine’s Cyclist of the Decade (1970’s)
- Never given up—he has been USAC and NORBA Elite and Master’s National Champion 18 times
John is a member of the US Cycling Hall Of Fame and of the UltraCycling Hall of Fame. He has authored four books and numerous articles on cycling.Over the past three decades, in addition to his pioneering work in bike fitting, John has established a reputation as one of the country’s best cycling coaches. His clients have included Brad Huff, US PRO National Elite and Pro Criterium Champion, 2005-6, Denise Mueller, Scott Tinley, Scott Molina and Mark Allen to name a few.
Ryan Johnson is a Planning Associate in the Los Angeles office of Alta Planning + Design. His experience includes pedestrian & bicycle master planning, transportation counts and audits, transit station access plans, safety & encouragement campaigns, and Safe Routes to School planning. Ryan is a founding member of Southern California’s chapter of the Association of Pedestrian & Bicycle Professionals, an appointed representative on the City of Los Angeles Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and a 2012 graduate of UCLA’s Master of Urban & Regional Planning program.
Gabriela Guinea Johnston (moderator)
Gabriela Guinea Johnston, socia of the civil-society organization, Alianza por la Movilidad Activa, A.C. (Alliance for Active Mobility), is originally from México City, where she studied her licenciatura at the Universidad Iberoamericana, earning the equivalent of a Bachelor’s degree in Art History. Since relocating to Tijuana-San Diego, she worked for many years with a bi-national radio station and, currently, administers Proyecto Mariposa, a live-work studio space for bi-national arts practitioners in Tijuana. She enjoys riding her electric bicycle on both sides of the international boundary.
Kevin Loomis is the President of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association, a trails advocacy organization with over 1,000 members. Kevin started as SDMBA’s Advocacy Chair Person, becoming President August of 2014. Kevin’s successes are seen via collaboration. After 20 years of effort, SDMBA partnering with the Marines, Agencies and various Governments, saw the opening of the Stowe Trail in Santee. During his Presidency, several new trails were built at Black Mountain, Del Mar Mesa, Cuyamaca State Park, Chula Vista, and Sweetwater. In addition, the County is in the process of opening San Diego’s first Bike Park in Chula Vista and SDMBA is partnering with the National Forest Service for trails in Orosco Ridge and Mount Laguna Recreation Area. You’ll often hear Kevin proudly proclaiming, “San Diego is a year-round international mountain biking destination!”
Alejandro Martinez is a Mexican-American photographer born and raised on both sides of the border in the Tijuana-San Diego region. Currently, he is a teaching artist at The AJA Project, a non-profit organization based in City Heights, San Diego.
Asher Meyers is an aerospace cost analyst currently assisting the US Air Force, a master’s in data science candidate, and an ardent believer in cities based around propinquity, walking and biking. He has lived in Los Angeles, Brussels, Copenhagen and Ithaca, NY.
Alison Moss is an Active Transportation Planner at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG). In her current role, she manages 5 (urban bikeway) capital projects, in various stages of development: one in planning, two in preliminary engineering and two in final design. Prior to working at SANDAG, she worked at KTU+A Planning and Landscape Architecture as a Senior Planner. Alison serves as Board Member and Secretary for the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals (APBP).
Jeff Motch has a degree in Art from SDSU and his work has graced the covers of bands such as Jack Johnson, blink-182, G. Love and many local bands, he has designed for the San Diego Padres, Patagonia, several local restaurants as well as created fine art posters. He ran the local music zine 360, was art director for Cargo Music/Headhunter Records, spent time in Italy working for Acerbis Italia, studied beer for over 20 years at Live Wire and co-owned his design firm, Lively and Motch, for five years. Over the last 10 years he has opened 3 bike friendly restaurants (Blind Lady Ale House, Tiger!Tiger! & Panama 66) as well as a tiny brewery (Automatic Brewing Co). Jeff is an avid bike commuter and weekend rider, and has lived and biked in the SD Uptown area for over 25 years.
Crystal Najera is the Climate Action Plan Program Administrator for the City of Encinitas. She has a BS in Environmental Biology and Management from UC Davis and an MS in Water Resources Management from UW Madison. Ms. Najera recently updated the City’s Climate Action Plan and is now actively working to implement the plan. She is an avid cyclist, having lived in many bike-friendly cities, including Davis, CA, Madison, WI and Amsterdam, NL. She regularly bikes to work and bikes her children to school.
Mr. Ramos has over 5 years of professional experience in the field of Civil Engineering working in the public sector. His experience includes working on land development projects, subdivision improvements, project funding, road and bikeway design. Currently working as a Civil Engineering Assistant for the County of Orange Public Works Engineering Group, he prepares PS&E for the County’s Capital Improvement Projects.
Kendra Ramsey is a Planning Associate with Alta Planning + Design in Sacramento and leads projects in California’s Northern and Valley communities She specializes in community engagement, public health, and equitable development, provides technical assistance to diverse stakeholders, and develops plans and programs for clients from the neighborhood to the state level. A founding member of both the Sacramento Region and North Carolina Chapters of the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, Kendra holds a MS in Community Development from UC Davis, a BA in Sociology, and is recognized as a Safe Routes to School National Course Instructor.
Tuan Richardson administers various capital improvement and maintenance projects from initiation to closeout within a system of historical, regional, wilderness, zoo, and harbor & beach facilities. In addition, Tuan has successfully obtained federal, state and local funding to close several gap segments along the County’s 66-mile regional bikeway route known as the ‘OC Loop’.
Prior to his tenure at OC Parks, Tuan has over 12 years’ experience in private landscape architecture firms managing the design and construction of master-planned communities, urban redevelopment, resorts, international mixed-use development, streetscapes, and parks. Tuan is a 1994 graduate from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona | Department of Landscape Architecture and in his limited spare time, enjoys mountain biking, running, and surfing.
In conjunction with NBA great Bill Walton and San Diego businessman John Sarkisian, I am the Executive Director at San Diego Sport Innovators. We are a business development organization in fact. In reality we are a Community of Entrepreneurs, educators and Service providers focused on Sport, Active and Healthy Lifestyle companies. Our SDSI mission is to help jump start young companies, and create commerce and jobs in the healthy living space. We have graduated 81 companies and helped raise over $85 Million in capital… and enjoy an amazing 89% success record. 46% are lead by Female founders or execs.
This is my 50th year in the sports business. My journey has included a world of experiences and a role in many, many brands…from K2 and Solomon in my winter sports life, to Merrell Hiking boots, Nike and Callaway Golf, Reef Sandals, Sanuk footwear, Boardworks Surf, OTZ shoes, and more. Every stop along the way has enrichened my life and my experiences.
My mission is to try to take those experiences and use them to motivate young people interested in the Sport and Active lifestyle business community. But THE Mission is to gather all who are interested in the San Diego Lifestyle industry to make our town the healthiest place to live and work!
Roberto Romero studied Biology, with emphasis on Manejo de Ecosistemas de Zonas Áridas (management of ecosystems in arid zones), earning his Master’s degree from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. He’s an advocate for sustainable forms of development in rural and urban communities of the Baja peninsula. For the past four years, he has focused on projects that emphasize the role of transportation systems in sustainable urban development, promoting the bicycle as a transportation modality, and, in a related way, seeking to improve roadway safety through Vision Zero. He’s a founding member of BCSiscletos Colectivo de Ciclismo Urbano, A.C., a nongovernmental organization that has attained important achievements through their work promoting the construction of more equitable cities in México. Currently, he collaborates with Ensenada se Mueve to position issues of roadway safety and use of bikes for daily trips in the city of Ensenada. He also participates with national networks, like the Bicired and Liga Peatonal, which advocate for integral urban mobility schemes in Mexican cities (taking into account all roadway users, particularly pedestrians and cyclists), and is the coordinator of different civilian initiatives that push for change in public policy concerning air quality management across Baja California.
Maya Rosas serves as Circulate San Diego’s Director of Policy, where she leads Circulate’s efforts on Vision Zero and other campaigns for safe streets. She has been working in active transportation advocacy, land use planning, and development in both the non-profit and private sectors in San Diego since 2012. She previously worked at Circulate as the Policy Assistant where she played an instrumental role in advocating for the adoption of Vision Zero in the City of San Diego and also advocated for smart growth projects through the MOVE Alliance. Maya most recently worked as a land use consultant for Atlantis Group, where she helped see development projects through all phases of the entitlement process. She has co-authored Circulate San Diego reports on Vision Zero and democratizing Community Planning Groups.
She is the founding president of the YIMBY Democrats of San Diego County, a board member of the San Diego Leadership Alliance, and served as an elected board member of the Uptown Planners, her Community Planning Group, for 2 years. She is a graduate of the San Diego State University Master in City Planning program, where she wrote her thesis on pedestrian collision risk factors in the City of San Diego. She was selected as one of San Diego’s 40 Under 40 in SD Metro magazine in 2015 and previously received a Fulbright Fellowship to Mexico.
José Zeferino Sanchez Martínez
Arq. José Zeferino Sanchez Martínez: The Arq. José Zeferino Sanchez works with the Commission on Metropolitan Development, Conurbation, Infrastructure, Communications and Transportation of the XXII Legislature of the State of Baja California as an adviser based in the City of Tijuana. He received his degree in architecture from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, and has diverse experience working with the public and private sectors in Baja California.
Casey has been with the City of San Diego’s Park and Recreation Department for over 16 years and began his career with the City as a Park Ranger. He currently oversees the Open Space Division which provides land and resource management for over 27,000 acres of open space, 225 miles of trails, management of 55 Maintenance Assessment Districts, the City’s Gas Tax Median Maintenance Program and the City’s Brush Management Program. Approximately 21,000 acres of open space lands are within the Multi-Habitat Planning Area (MHPA) and are managed in accordance with the Multiple Species Conservation Plan (MSCP). The Open Space Division has an annual operating budget of approximately $56 million with 96 budgeted full-time positions.
His story is a triumph over almost insurmountable odds. Nelson Vails was the youngest of 10 children growing up in the Harlem projects who became the first African American to win an Olympic medal in bicycling in the 1984 Track Sprint. The self-proclaimed “Original Gangster” started winning races in Central Park at a young age and worked as a New York City bicycle messenger to support his family. Nicknamed “The Cheetah” because he was the fastest cat in the jungle, Vails rode furiously while working, trained in Central Park after work and raced locally on weekends.
By 1981 it all paid off when he earned a spot on the U.S. team which led to a gold medal in 1983 in the Pan American games in Venezuela. He represented the USA at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, where he won the silver medal in the individual 1000-meter Match Sprints, behind countryman Mark Gorski. Vails was the 1984 National Sprint Champion and National Tandem Sprint Champion in 1984, 1985 and 1986. In 1985 he earned a silver medal in the Tandem Sprint at the World Championships. In the 1980s and early 1990s he competed professionally in 6-Day circuits in Europe and in Japanese Keirin events from 1990 to 1995.
Since his retirement in 1995 Vails has been a cycling commentator for major TV networks and starred with Kevin Bacon in “Quicksilver” a movie about NYC bike messengers. From the projects in Harlem, to the Olympics and now the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame, Nelson Vails has demonstrated that he has been able to beat the odds and see the world on two wheels.
Stephan Vance is a Senior Regional Planner at the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG.) His three and a half decades of work with SANDAG has encompassed public transit monitoring, transportation funding and grant program administration, bicycle and pedestrian planning and project development, smart growth planning, urban design, and the connections between built environment and public health. His current work is focused on developing two regional bikeway corridors, the Bayshore Bikeway and the San Diego River Trail, and on developing a regional complete streets policy. Outside of work, Stephan is a long-time member of the Board of Directors for the San Diego County Bicycle Coalition and the California Bicycle Coalition.
Randy Van Vleck facilitates participatory community planning, connects residents to decision-making opportunities, and advocates for policies and projects that achieve transportation justice in the Mid City, Urban Core, and South Bay area of San Diego. As the Transportation & Planning Manager of the City Heights Community Development Corporation he’s helped secure $188 million in biking/walking/transit projects in the Mid City area. He recently co-led a campaign to change the planned SR-94 freeway expansion in a way that will now include transit-priority alternatives and close to $100 million in transit investments.
Randy grew up in Chula Vista, California with his brother and primarily his mother who immigrated to San Diego from Brazil. He stays rooted in his hometown through his volunteer work with Bike Walk Chula Vista, which he founded in 2012. Under his leadership, Bike Walk Chula Vista was able to generate community, business, and political support for a 4 mile bike lane project on Broadway Ave.
Randy founded and co-organizes Los Cruzadores which has been leading transnational bike rides from San Diego to Tijuana since 2006. He is an appointed member of the City of San Diego Bicycle Advisory Board, is one of the founders of CicloSDias, and served on the San Diego County Bike Coalition Board of Directors for 6 years. Randy graduated with Cum Laude Honors from UC San Diego with a BA in Sociology and a Minor in Urban Studies & Planning.
Councilmember Chris Ward was elected to represent San Diego’s 3rd City Council District in June 2016, and took office in December of 2016. He serves as Chair of the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee and Chair of the Select Council Committee on Homelessness, Vice Chair of the Budget and Government Efficiency Committee, and as a member of the Infrastructure and Rules Committees, as well as serving as the Vice Chair of the San Diego County Regional Task Force on the
Homeless and an alternative member to the California Coastal Commission.
As a Councilmember, Chris has been a fierce advocate in identifying tangible outcomes that will significantly reduce San Diego’s overall homeless population. Within the last year, the San Diego has brought online three temporary shelters to house 700 individuals, an additional storage facility to serve 500 clients, and will soon break ground on a centralized homeless navigation center. In February of 2017, he introduced the City’s first Equal Pay Ordinance. With the unanimous support of his colleagues on the
City Council, the ordinance passed making San Diego the largest City in the nation committed to ensuring equal pay when spending your hard-earned tax dollars. As Chair of the Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, he has focused on developing mechanisms to support local business and help create good paying jobs.
He previously served as the Chief of Staff to State Senator Marty Block, also representing the communities of the Third City Council District and most of the City of San Diego. In these capacities, Chris has been strongly committed to excellence in constituent services, facilitating public participation in policymaking, and organizing state and local resources to make our neighborhoods a better place every day.
Previously, Chris was an environmental planner at the firm EDAW, working with local government to develop land use plans and conduct environmental review. Before dedicating a career to public service, Chris worked as a researcher at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at UCSD on the front lines of San Diego’s burgeoning biotech sector.
Councilmember Ward has been active in the community through volunteer services for many years prior to taking office, serving on his community planning group and the San Diego Community College District’s Citizens Oversight Committee. Chris has been a member of the San Diego Human Dignity Foundation board of directors facilitating endowments and providing philanthropy for LGBT Youth, HIV/AIDS, senior and other nonprofit organizations as well as a member of the San Diego LGBT Center Board of
Directors. He served on the San Diego GLBT Historic Task Force, volunteered with a number of other organizations, and was accepted in the Truman National Security Project Class of 2015 Partners.
Chris earned his Bachelor of Arts degree at Johns Hopkins University and a Masters in Public Policy and Urban Planning at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. He and his partner Thom are homeowners in University Heights with their daughter, Betty and cairn terrier, Monty.
Jeanie Ward-Waller, Caltrans (Keynote Speaker)
Jeanie Ward–Waller is the Caltrans Sustainability Program Manager based in the Director’s Office in the Sacramento headquarters office.
Jeanie is well known as an effective advocate for active transportation, health, and equity in California. She is the former policy director of the California Bicycle Coalition and the former senior California policy manager for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Before moving to California, Jeaniewas a licensed structural engineer in Massachusetts.
At CalBike, Jeanie built successful coalitions with public and non-profit partners to advocate for lower-income populations, public health, and better climate policies. She led efforts to increase funding for bikeways and sustainable modes of travel, prioritizing low-income households and bicyclists’ rights.
At the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, Jeanie coordinated outreach, technical assistance, and resources for the organization’s partners and disadvantaged communities to access active transportation funding. For her efforts, in 2015 Jeanie earned a “Streetsie” Award for Tireless Statewide Advocacy from Streetsblog California, which noted that Jeanie “embodies the kind of knowledgeable advocacy that we need, and benefit from, in Sacramento.”
Jeanie earned a Master of Philosophy degree in Engineering for Sustainable Development at the University of Cambridge. She received a Masters of Engineering degree in civil engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering at Brown University. Jeanie is a Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) accredited professional.
Mark West, Mayor Pro Tem City of Imperial Beach
Mark West was elected to City Council in December 2016. His primary goal is improving the quality of life for all residents and ensuring that Imperial Beach remains the Best of the Best of Southern California. Mark’s community involvement previously included membership on the International Boundary and Water Commission, the Imperial Beach Redevelopment Successor Agency, the Mayor’s Advisory Committee and the Community Action Group for the Imperial Beach Sherriff. Currently Mark serves on the San Diego Regional Airport Authority, South County Economic Development Council, San Diego Association of Government (SANDAG) Bayshore Bikeway Committee and is the alternate on the SANDAG Executive Committee.
Mark hails from Denver, Colorado, where he was born and raised. Upon graduation from high school in 1986, Mark enlisted in the United States Navy, for which he retired in 2011 after a successful twenty- four year career.
Following retirement, Mark enrolled at the University of Colorado Denver and completed a Master in Public Administration. During that time Mark worked on coastal pollution issues in Imperial Beach and in Mexico while serving as the Program Leader for the No Border Sewage Committee for Surfrider San Diego. In 2014, Mark was selected to be the Chair of the San Diego chapter of Surfrider, leading the largest and most active chapter in the world. Protection of oceans, waves and beaches remains a top priority for Mark.
Mark has two adult children, and he and his wife Megan currently have two-four legged children, Chloe and Nani. In addition to daily surfing, he enjoys walking the trails of the Tijuana estuary, working in his garden, traveling the world, eating good food, biking, and reading an occasional book.
Craig has more than 30 years of experience in transportation planning, engineering and project management, both in the private and public sectors. His areas of expertise include highways, railroads, transit, and active transportation, including ADA, Complete Streets and Context Sensitive Design.
He worked with Illinois DOT for 23 years, then 15 years in the private sector, and most recently back to the public sector as the City of Carlsbad’s Transportation Planning and Mobility Manager, where he leads the City’s short and long range transportation and mobility efforts.
Sophie Wolfram is the Director of Programs at Climate Action Campaign, where she promotes adoption and implementation of policies, plans, and programs to reduce GHG emissions and improve quality of life. She was the lead author of the organization’s 2017 Climate Action Plan Report Card, which offers an in-depth evaluation of climate planning and implementation in all 18 cities in the county, as well as in the County of San Diego. She has also helped ensure that the Climate Action Plans for Encinitas and La Mesa would include targets for rates of commuter biking, walking, and transit, and she works to elevate the importance of and accelerate progress toward the City of San Diego’s transportation targets. In 2017, Sophie graduated from the University of Montana with an MS in Environmental Studies. She wrote her thesis on grassroots environmental justice networks in the Imperial Valley and Southeast San Francisco. She earned her BA in History from Yale University in 2010.
