Staff
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Rob Sadowsky joined the BTA as executive director in June 2010. Previously, Rob served as Executive Director of the Active Transportation Alliance in Chicago, Illinois for six years from 2004 to 2010. He has over 20 years of non-profit advocacy and management experience working on issues of affordable housing, community economic development and transportation policy. He serves on the board of the Alliance for Biking and Walking, the League of American Bicyclists, Institute for Bicycle and Pedestrian Innovation and the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium. He serves on the State of Oregon’s Access Management Oversight Task Force.
Lisa has served as Development Director since 2010. She first joined the BTA as a volunteer to help coordinate the 2010 Alice Awards + Auction. An east coast transplant 16 years ago, Lisa brings years of fundraising experience and a passion for Portland and the impact bikes have on our lifestyle. She was delighted when her first day commuting on two wheels brought the scent of both roses and jasmine in one trip. She is happy to add biking next to knitting atop her list of interests.
Egon joined the BTA in 2004 when he began managing the BSE program in six schools in Ashland and Talent in Southern Oregon. For seven years prior to that he was a youth instructor, ride leader and general mechanic for “Trips for Kids” in Marin County, CA. Wherever he lives, he wants to help make the community a better, safer and happier place to be a cyclist. Egon loves riding bicycles, putting bikes together, and teaching people big and small how to ride bicycles safely. Just plain being around bicycles makes him happy!
LeeAnne joined the BTA in August of 2007 as a bike safety education instructor, and later took on the role of Education Programs Manager in 2010. She brings enthusiasm and focus to her position and a growing statewide network of partners. Originally from Texas, she moved to New York City for a few years where she gave up her car and learned about the exciting world of bike commuting, walking and public transportation. Following the big city, she took a 6 month, 1700 mile hike on the Appalachian Trail. She has been working in education since 2001 in Texas, Arizona, and Oregon and believes that children are some of the smartest and best community members. LeeAnne loves backpacking with her partner, Jon-Paul, reading, hiking, eating tasty food…and biking, naturally.
Adam joined the BTA in May of 2010 to maintain and improve IT infrastructure, and get to the bottom of technology enigmas. He arrived at the BTA with 7 years experience in network security and administration at The United States Supreme Court and various educational institutions. A native of dense East Coast cities, Adam is a long time urban biking advocate, and believer in livable communities and healthy commuting. When he’s not at the BTA or biking around the city Adam’s probably playing music, listening to music, or thinking about music.
Clare joined the BTA in Spring of 2010 as a Bike Safety Educator for the Eugene area. Clare grew up riding bikes and later founded a high school mountain biking league in her hometown of Reno, NV. She moved to Eugene for college in 2004 and traded in her car for a road bike, a mountain bike, and a skateboard. She studied curriculum development and teaching through the Environmental Leadership Program at University of Oregon and has taught outdoor education and recreation through the City of Eugene Outdoor program. She loves incorporating the fun lessons learned through outdoor education into her bike safety classes.
Sheilagh joined the BTA in the spring of 2010 after volunteering on BTA bike safety community rides in Portland. She enjoys commuting, endurance riding, and racing. Family time might include racing with her son, a nice Sunday ride with the whole family or going to see a movie. Sheilagh also volunteers and rides in many major cycling and community events. Additionally, she coaches a High School Cyclocross team and organizes weekend training rides for her team, The Nomads. Sheilagh is passionate about developing responsible road users through Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety education for all students.
Joel joined the BTA Programs team in the Fall of 2007 after volunteering for the 2007 Walk and Bike to School Day. He has continued to help grow the Safe Routes to School movement in Portland for the last 4 years through the BTA’s Bike and Pedestrian Safety programs as well as our Walk + Bike efforts statewide. When not teaching kids how to be safe on the streets, Joel rides in OBRA races and on singletrack on his mountain bike. Joel serves on the board of the Northwest Trail Alliance, hoping that trails within the city will be open to all users in the near future. Joel lives in Portland’s Brooklyn neighborhood with his wife Kate. They are expecting a baby in June 2012.
Before joining the BTA as Office and Finance Assistant, Chris lived in several frosty medium-sized Midwestern towns where he cycled freely through the quiet streets and vast parks and developed a strong independent streak that would often make him late for dinner. At the University of Minnesota Chris studied Political Science and biked through snow until, after one too many frosty winter nights, he decided to move to Portland. Since then Chris has worked at the holiest of Portland institutions, the microbrewery. He also developed a passion for soccer and plays on a local softball team. Downtime finds him mulling over crossword clues and hovering over a stove, often with dubious results.
Gerik joined the BTA in 2010 as the Advocacy Campaign Manager focused on building strong public support for the Portland Bicycle Plan for 2030. As an advocate and organizer over the last ten years he focused on winning environmental, public health, and livability campaigns in the legislature and at the ballot box. A bicyclist originally from Eastern Montana, Gerik grew up mountain biking sandstone flats and backcountry singletrack. Now a daily bike commuter he likes to ride Mt. Tabor and Rocky Butte, and gets fired up about cross-town connections. When he is not volunteering for the Oregon Sierra Club or The Bus Project, Gerik spends as many weekends as possible surfing the cold waters of the Oregon Coast.
After never going home from the roadtrip that dropped him in Portland in 2006, Carl has become thoroughly enveloped by Portland’s rich bike culture and is involving himself with just about everything bikey the city has to offer. Despite rumors to the contrary, however, it is true that Carl has spent some time not riding a bicycle. He took a break from his bikes at Middlebury College while studying sledding, skinny-dipping, cheese, and architectural history, but a semester in Copenhagen brought him back to his old bikey habits. While living on an island in the St. Lawrence River, he commuted for a few summers by kayak to architecture, construction, and environmental advocacy jobs. In 2007 Carl spent the summer delivering alternative transportation resources by bike as part of the City of Portland’s Smart Trips individualized marketing campaign and is now very happy to be part of the BTA’s Safe Routes to School team.
Margaux joined the BTA staff as an advocacy assistant in 2009 and is now the BTA’s Communication Director. Margaux became an advocate for biking and walking after spending a year in the cycle-friendly town of Strasbourg, France. After returning to Portland to finish her history degree, she worked as a barista and then traveled through South America, where she biked the world’s most dangerous road. She loves food carts, Twitter, the New York Times crossword, and neighborhood transportation activism.
Stephanie has been an active participant in local bike culture since first moving to Portland in 2001. She holds a particular fondness for the Breakfast on the Bridge crew, the annual spring Bunny on a Bike Ride, and the wacky bicycle events coordinated through Shift. Stephanie has been a bike commuter since she finally got brave enough to remove her training wheels at age eight. During the summer of 2003 she biked from Portland, OR to Brooklyn, NY. Previous to joining the Safe Routes to School Team in March 2007, Stephanie served as assistant director at St. Francis Dining hall, worked as a landscape gardener, and led bike tours for teenagers. When not working or biking, Stephanie enjoys cooking, gardening, camping, reading, and playing old time banjo.
Susan joined the BTA in 2009 as the Statewide Advocate, working to connect Oregonians with active transportation resources while cultivating existing and creating new relationships within communities. Susan brings nearly six years of experience as a bicycle and pedestrian transportation consultant. Her consulting work in Chicago and nationally has included designing and implementing programs that reduce barriers for people to walk and bike more often. Susan is a Midwest transplant who cut her bicycle commuting teeth on the streets of Chicago during college. She was encouraged by a friend to purchase a bicycle in order to have a cheap and easy mode of transportation, never expecting to fall madly in love with the two-wheeled machines and spend nearly all her time working, riding, or talking about bicycles. Susan also loves to ride bikes fast and is vice president of her racing team, Veloforma.
Tom came to the BTA in March of 2006 as a volunteer and soon became an intern on the Bicycle Boulevards Campaign. On the campaign, Tom helped develop, administer, and review an online survey and assisted field work in Davis, CA, Berkeley, CA, Eugene, OR, Seattle, WA, and Vancouver, BC. He continued to volunteer in the office between classes at PSU following his internship and started working part-time as the Safe Routes To School program assistant following an internship with Alta Planning + Design. Tom completed his bachelor’s degree in community development in the spring of 2007. He enjoys hiking with his family, racing cyclocross and volunteering as a board member for Bikes To Rwanda.
Angie joined BTA in August 2010 as Finance Director. She brings over 12 years of experience in accounting and business administration in various sectors. An Oregon native, she returned to Portland in late 2009 after spending several years in Washington DC working as an accountant for a tax and estate planning law firm. She honed her bicycle commuting skills on the busy DC streets where she became a proponent of sustainable forms of transportation. Outside of the BTA, Angie is an active musician and lindy hop enthusiast. She also enjoys baking pies, crafting and collecting records.
Greer graduated from Beloit College in 2011 with an Environmental Studies degree, and immediately moved out to Portland to join the BTA team as a development intern. Eight months later she took the post as Development Associate. Greer began her work with transportation non-profits in Chicago and continued to focus her collegiate studies on urban development and transportation policy. A native Northwesterner (from Seattle) she is ecstatic to be back in the rainy PNW and is happily cycling most everywhere. She’s currently looking into buying her second bike and a pair of bike shorts.
Staff photos by Will Vanlue/prudentcyclist.com
Board
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, elected by our members each October. The Board establishes and monitors major policy direction, oversees the finances and helps secure resources for the organization, and works in cooperation with the staff to fulfill the BTA’s goals.
Theresa Carr is a senior transportation planner and project manager in the Transportation Business Group of CH2M HILL’s Portland Office. She manages long-range multimodal transportation plans and analyzes the economic, land use, and social impacts of large-scale transportation projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Theresa has practical experience in Oregon analyzing how land use and transportation affect each other through scenario planning. She managed the “Alternate Modes” Study in Salem which explored bicycle, pedestrian, and transit infrastructure and policy investments to reduce auto travel over the Willamette River by eight percent. She is currently the deputy Project Manager for Oregon’s Mosaic (formerly known as Least Cost Planning) effort which looks at both direct and indirect effects of supply and demand side transportation investments in an expanded cost-benefit analysis framework, so that decision-makers can weigh equally hard costs such as infrastructure construction with typical soft costs such as health benefits from bicycling and quality of life. She is currently managing the Eugene Transportation System Plan and led the contract and public involvement for Eugene’s recently-completed Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan.
Theresa has a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Boston College in Chestnut Hill, MA and a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University in Portland, OR. Theresa is a member of Women’s Transportation Seminar (WTS), and serves on the board of the Portland chapter as the Appointments chair. She is an accredited member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), is a member of the Transportation Research Board’s Social and Economic Effects of Transportation committee, and is a fellow of the Eno Transportation Foundation.
Chris Achterman joined the BTA board in 2010. An Oregon native, Chris grew up in Salem where he frequently rode cross-town to his grandmother’s house or up Fairmont Hill to meet with friends. Professionally, Chris is an orthopedic surgeon. After graduating from Washington University (St Louis), Chris returned to Oregon in 1980 and now focuses on pediatric orthopedics at Emanuel Hospital. Chris’s return to cycling began in 2000, when he bought a recumbent and signed up for Cycle Oregon. He can be found observing monthly Portland Bike Advisory Council meetings as well as Metro’s Blue Ribbon Trails Committee meetings. Chris has attended the last two Oregon Bicycle Summits and currently serves on the Active Transportation Council. As a physician, Chris has a strong interest in active transportation and its impact on public health and the environment, and brings this focus to the BTA Board.
Tommy Brooks joined the BTA Board in the Fall of 2008. He currently serves on the Board’s Legislative Committee. During the day, he is an attorney who works on land use and energy issues, and it is that combination of issues that makes the BTA a natural fit for him. Prior to becoming an attorney, he spent most of his professional life working for Portland Mayor Vera Katz, so policy and politics seem to be part of his DNA. The space Tommy occupies in the cycling world consists mainly of his regular bike commute to work and the occasional triathlon when he’s feeling in shape. Tommy is also eagerly awaiting the days when he can bring his new daughter along for weekend rides.
Kenji Sugahara is the Executive Director of the 4,000+ member Oregon Bicycle Racing Association. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the University of Oregon School of Law, and is now a member of the Oregon State Bar. Originally from Connecticut, he currently resides in Salem with his wife Tessa. Not only does Kenji love road bikes, he enjoys mountain biking, track riding and cyclocross. Known for crashing all the time on his mountain bike, he always gets up with a smile. He believes the success of cycling in Oregon can be credited to the wonderful cycling community and efforts of great organizations like the BTA. His love of cycling is evident every time he gets on the bike — he’s always grinning when he’s on two wheels (which happens to include his motorcycle).
Susan Remmers believes the solution to some of our most entrenched social and economic problems is the equitable distribution of the natural and built assets that make up this region we call home. She is excited to contribute to the BTA’s efforts to craft policy and influence decisions that increase infrastructure and program investments that expand access to bicycling for all. Professionally, Remmers owns Remmers Consulting, a public interest firm offering executive coaching, organizational assessments, and strategic positioning to progressive and entrepreneurial organizations. Previously she served as Executive Director for the Community Cycling Center, a social enterprise committed to using the bicycle as a tool for empowerment and a vehicle for change. Remmers has served on numerous local, regional, and national boards of progressive, mission-driven organizations including Oregon Action, a statewide economic advocacy organization, and MRG Foundation, a local social change foundation.
Austin Ramsland joined the BTA Board in the fall of 2008. In addition to serving on the Development and Branding Committees, he is committed to expanding the BTA’s range into the community until every bike messenger, Cross Crusader, and TEAM BEER member sports BTA stickers on their top tubes and memberships in their wallets. A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Austin is the co-owner of Sweetpea Bicycles.
Rick Potestio is a professional architect and avid cyclist whose daily explorations of the Portland region began when he was a young kid, eventually leading him to the sport of bike racing. He is a member of the Rapha Racing Team and founder of River City Bicycles Cross Crusade Cyclo Cross Series, the largest series in the nation and host of the US National Championships, the US Gran Prix of CycloCross, and other events. Rick is currently a member of the Metro Executive Council for Active Transportation, PDXplore, and the Gresham Design Commission. He is a founding member of the Portland-Bologna Sister City Association. His architecture office, PotestioStudio, has been recognized with numerous local, regional and national design awards.
Susan Otcenas joined the BTA Board in October 2007. She serves as the Board Treasurer and as a member of the Finance Committee. A self-described “numbers geek,” Susan holds a BS in Economics and Finance from the University of Maryland. After a banking career that spanned 10 years and 2 coasts, in 1998 Susan co-founded TeamEstrogen.com, an online retailer of women’s athletic apparel. Susan has been riding a bike since she was old enough to walk. In high school, she was fortunate to live in a town small enough that no bus service was offered and nearly every student walked or biked to school. Susan has traveled extensively by bicycle, both domestically and abroad. She believes bicycles break down barriers – physical, cultural and socioeconomic – between people, and provide a path to independence for people in all walks of life. She especially encourages more women to ride for health, recreation and transportation.
Randy Miller is a fifth-generation Oregonian who returned to Portland after graduating from Boston University in 1969. A businessman active in numerous business and civic organizations over his career, he developed a deep interest in biking and its community improvement aspects after leading a Best Practices delegation to Scandinavia in 2008. Randy aspires to help link the cycling community to the many organizations with which he is associated to encourage others to better comprehend the benefits of cycling, and to support wider ridership among those less inclined.
Jim Middaugh joined the BTA board in the Summer of 2008. Jim is an avid cyclist with several Cycle Oregon’s and many other road trips under his belt. Jim chairs BTA’s Advocacy Committee, where he uses his political and communications skills to advance cycling throughout Oregon. Jim currently is the Communications Director at the Metro, the Portland area’s regional government, where he works on land use, transportation, climate change and other issues important to cyclists and everyone. Jim also served as Chief of Staff for former Portland City Commissioner Erik Sten and has worked for a variety of environmental advocacy groups including Oregon Natural Resources Council and Environmental Defense. Prior to moving to Portland, Jim worked in Washington, D.C. for Oregon representatives Peter DeFazio and Jim Weaver.
J.S. May joined the BTA board in May 2010. As Director of Development for the Portland Art Museum, J.S. is a seasoned fundraising and communications professional and has worked with a wide range of local, regional, national and international nonprofit organizations. He and his teams have helped raise more than $250 million for PAM. Before joining PAM, J.S. led the fundraising practice for Metropolitan Group, a Portland based social marketing firm, and Doernbecher Children’s Hospital Foundation at Oregon Health and Science University; he also served as the director of corporate support for Oregon Public Broadcasting. A graduate of the University of Oregon, J.S. volunteers for numerous non profit organizations and has served multiple terms as president of the board for both the Portland Schools Foundation and the Portland Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. J.S. is an avid yogi, cyclist and reader.
David Kottkamp joined the board in 2010. David grew up in Portland and continues a love affair with the city. David worked for Neil Goldschmidt for 7 years as campaign staff, as a bureau director, and as Mayor’s Office staff. While working for Nike and its predecessor for 20 years he lived in Germany for 4 years and experienced state of the art bicycle transportation in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and other cities. David has lived in Bend the last 12 years and hopes to contribute to raising the level of Bend and Oregon’s bicycle transportation. He believes in the foundations of bicycle transportation: safety, the environment, and fun. David has been a volunteer SMART reader, and served on the boards of Planned Parenthood Columbia-Willamette, Cycle Oregon, Oregon States Park Trust, and Oregon State Parks Commission.
Stephen Gomez joined the BTA Board in February 2008 and has served as Chair since 2010. He is passionate about Portland’s unique livability and progressive culture and hopes that his service through the BTA contributes to the positive growth of our community. Stephen worked at Nike for 17 years through 1998, with his last five years as VP of Nike’s global apparel business. Since then he has started a restaurant and partnered with a group of former Nike and Patagonia execs to found Nau, Inc., an outdoor lifestyle apparel company. Stephen has served on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters and Cycle Oregon and currently is on the board of New Avenues for Youth.
David Forman joined the board in 2010. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, David moved to Portland from New York City where he learned to ride on city streets to get to the Central Park loop. Now he enjoys his daily ride downtown from Southeast Portland. David is an active civic volunteer and has extensive experience serving on a variety of nonprofit and community boards, including the Portland/Multnomah Sustainable Development Commission, the Oregon State Bar Task Force on Sustainability, and Voice for Oregon Innovation & Sustainability, Inc. In 2004, the Portland Business Journal recognized David as one of the most influential community and business leaders under the age of 40. Through the BTA, David hopes to advocate for local and state policies that promote safe and reliable cycling and bridge the communication gap between cyclists and other modes of transportation. For his day job, David is a partner at the law firm of Tonkon Torp LLP where he works with clients to promote the development of renewable energy and sustainable practices and products.
Martina Fahrner joined the BTA Board in 2010. As one of the partners of Clever Cycles, Martina has spent the last 3 years trying to convince families to use bikes as transportation. Based on the shared experiences of families in Portland and cities all over the US, Martina would like to improve cycling conditions for parents and kids, whose needs sometimes differ from those of commuters. During her decade as an IT usability professional, Martina learned a lot about user research, consensus building, uphill battles and the power of evangelizing, and she is not afraid to use it. She also feels strongly about better communication between drivers and cyclists. She dreams of the day when riding a bike as a woman with kids will be nothing special anymore. Martina hates to admit it, but she has ridden her bike for 40 years now!
Pamela Treece is currently working with Greater Portland Inc. She was the executive director for Portland-Vancouver Regional Partners for 5 years before the merger with Greater Portland Inc. Pam was with Pacific Power for 21 years retiring as the vice president for Oregon external affairs. Pam is an active person who enjoys riding her bike, swimming, kayaking and playing golf. She has run several marathons and competed in many triathlons. An active, healthy lifestyle is a value that is very important to her. She has served on numerous boards including American Leadership Forum, Rose Festival, Planned Parenthood, Oregon Sports Authority, YWCA and the Governor’s Council for Health, Fitness and Sports. She is currently a director on the board of The Commerce Bank of Oregon. Pam is a lifetime resident of the region and holds a bachelor’s degree from Portland State University and a master’s degree from Lewis and Clark College.
Shelli Romero was raised in urban, rural and suburban Oregon. Currently, she works as the Public Policy and Community Affairs Manager with the Oregon Department of Transportation in Region 1. Shelli is an advocate for civil and human rights and believes in equity in all its forms. She serves on the Board of Home Forward (formerly known as the Housing Authority of Portland) and the Portland Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. She is also a member of the Portland Charter Review Commission. Shelli was also formerly appointed by Governor Kulongoski to serve on the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon and has a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. She is also a graduate of the Leadership Development Program from the Center for Creative Leadership; the Executive Leadership Institute from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; the National Hispanic Leadership Institute; the American Leadership Forum and Emerge Oregon. She has lived in the Foster/Powell neighborhood of Southeast Portland for fifteen years.
Adnan Kadir is a partner in the bike touring company LifeCycle Adventures where he has worked since 2008. Under Adnan’s direction, LifeCycle Adventures increased both growth and profitability, and in 2010 expanded from California to Oregon. This region now accounts for nearly one third of the company’s revenue. Adnan presently runs the Operations side of the company in Oregon (with its headquarters here in Portland) and shares executive duties. Adnan also coaches athletes through Aeolus Endurance Sport. He coaches all levels of athlete from recreational to professional. Before moving to Portland in 1997, Adnan earned an M.A. in English Literature and worked as a technical writer for a variety of local and multinational companies in areas ranging from software to manufacturing.
Nick Ehlen is a commercial real estate broker with Melvin Mark Brokerage Company, a full-service commercial real estate company based in Portland, OR. He was chairman of the board of directors for ChristieCare (which merged with Youth Villages in 2011). Along with the Youth Villages Board, Ehlen sits on the Portland Parks Foundation board, Rosemary Anderson High School advisory council, and is a trustee of the James R. Kuse Family Foundation. He is a past Oregon Ballet Theatre board member. In February 2011 he was named to the Portland Business Journal’s list of “Forty Under 40″ recognizing 40 of the most influential business executives in the greater Portland area who are under the age of 40. A Portland native, Nick earned a bachelor’s degree from the London School of Economics.
Committees
Interested in getting more involved in the BTA's work and operations? The best way to start is by joining a committee. Committees are comprised of staff, board, and members with relevant experience or skills. Email the staff lead to learn more about the committee's responsibilities and meeting schedule.
Advocacy Committee
Gerik Kransky
Development Committee
Lisa Anguilla
Finance Committee
Angie Sabin
Marketing and Communication Committee
Margaux Mennesson
Programs Committee
Stephanie Noll
