3 minute read
Meet Our New and Re-elected Board Members
BY RAVEN WELLS
Our 16 member Board of Directors leads the League in our mission to build a Bicycle Friendly America for Everyone. In August, you helped us elect five Board members, two new and three returning. Now, meet the faces of those volunteering their time and skills to rally the resources we need to make this vision a reality.
Melissa Lee
Melissa considers herself as an urban planner, community organizer, social alchemist, and reformed public servant, steeped in the certainty that anything is possible when radical imagination pairs with action. As Director of Planning and Community Engagement at Concordia LLC, Melissa leads a team of seasoned experts to work collaboratively and think holistically to create unique human-centered places and spaces around the world. She also serves as the Board President of Bike Easy, the regional bicycling education and advocacy organization dedicated to making bicycling easy, safe, and fun for everyone in Greater New Orleans.
Cadesha Prawl
Since becoming an LCI, Cadesha has dedicated her volunteer efforts to better local and national bicycling. She currently serves on the board of the New Haven Coalition for Active Transportation (NHCAT), whose mission is to offer free bicycle education that is accessible to all and provides strategic input as well as oversees the organization’s technology needs. Cadesha also serves as a Shero on the New Haven chapter of Black Girls Do Bike (BGDB). As a BGDB Shero, she finds great joy in introducing women to the joy of cycling, coordinating local group rides and the fellowship.
Mike Sewell
Mike serves as Gresham Smith’s active transportation service line leader bringing more than 20 years of experience in the planning, design and implementation of transportation projects. A daily bike commuter himself, Mike has lead projects ranging from rural roadways to major multimodal planning initiatives and his advocacy efforts for bicyclists and pedestrians have helped forge many important relationships within the local communities he serves and the broader transportation industry. Mike believes transportation is the lifeblood of our communities and, as an avid bicyclist, has focused his career on walking and bicycling as the great equalizer.
Karin Weisburgh
Karin uses her passion for bicycling to teach others to ride as a League Cycling Instructor. Karin worked for Consumer Reports for 32 years as a market analyst and was selected as Westchester’s Bike Commuter of the Year, commuting 10 miles each way through rain, snow, and all weather conditions every day by bike. She also served as Vice-Chair for Consumers Union Newspaper Guild and acted as grievance chairperson for six years. Beyond cycling and studying, her hobbies include tennis, bridge and travel (often by bike, such as a ride she took across the country in 2000).
Ralph Monti
As the immediate past chair of the League board, Ralph served during the initiation of new equity measures—including adding a new “E” for Equity into the League’s guiding “E” principles. As past president of a bicycling club, he worked closely with League staff in creating and presenting a robust menu of club sessions at the National Bike Summit. Also an active League Cycling Instructor (LCI), he helped launch a series of bicycle safety education workshops for children and adults throughout the Sarasota, Florida area and created a “Ride a Pedicab” program developed for mobility-challenged people.
Did you know you can apply to be on the League’s board?
Our Board candidates come from backgrounds of all kinds but one thing they share in common is the desire to help build an America where everyone recognizes and enjoys the many benefits and opportunities of bicycling. Find out how to apply to be on the League’s board by visiting bikeleague.org/
