League Board Candidates

The League’s Board of Directors serves a critical role in guiding the organization to a sustainable and vibrant future. The following candidates are up for election for member-elected Board positions. Those elected will start their terms in March of 2018.

If you were a current League member as of October 27, 2017, you will have received an email on November 1 from [email protected] with a subject line starting, “Vote Now!” that includes a link to a secure site through which you may cast your vote.

Harry Brull

I am honored to run for re-election for the League Board. Thank you all for giving me the opportunity, for 9 years, to be part of this exciting organization..  These continue to be thrilling, yet challenging times for American bicycling. The League is well positioned to take a leading role in advocacy, education, and support of cycling. Whether it be for transportation, recreation, fitness, or exploration, our goal is to make cycling safe and enjoyable for everyone.

I have now had the opportunity to participate in eleven Bike Summits. The energy of hundreds of bicycle advocates converging on Washington is electric. The opportunity to meet with supporters (and fence-sitters and skeptics) in the House and Senate is gratifying. I have enjoyed the colleagueship and professionalism of the League’s staff and the talent and energy of my fellow board members. Thanks for the opportunity to serve as Board Secretary and a member of the Executive Committee. Helping guide the organization as a board member has been extremely gratifying.

Most satisfying, though, has been helping individual members (and non-members) with particular issues. From finding an LCI, to getting League services delivered in a  timely manner, the personal contact has been rewarding.

Thank you in advance for your support; please contact me if I can be of help in any way.

Ralph Monti

Ralph is Chair of the League board and President/CEO of Special Interest Media, Inc, an international media advisory firm. He’s the past president of The Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey, one of the nation’s largest bicycling clubs, and is a certified League of American Bicyclists LCI. He is very active in bicycle safety education and bicycle advocacy. He recently helped create and launch a monthly series of bicycle safety education workshops throughout the greater Sarasota County, Florida area. He teaches a monthly bicycle safety session at the Sarasota Boys and Girls Club. Ralph is also an active member of the Florida Bike Association, and lobbies for better bicycle infrastructure for the state of Florida. His goal is to help build an American bicycle infrastructure that rivals European cities like Copenhagen and Amsterdam.

Bob Oppliger

As an exercise scientist Bob appreciates the benefits of cycling personally and professionally. He’s an avid bike commuter, tour cyclist, LAB Life Member, LCI, and regular at the National Bike Summit. As a biking activist, he co-founded Bike to Work Week in 1990, organized 45 bike rodeos at area grade schools in the past three years reaching several thousand kids, and persuaded the city council to make platinum-level Bicycle Friendly Community part of the 5-year strategic plan. In the past year, he secured more than $12,000, 18 bikes and over 60 helmets to encourage biking, bike education and a biking culture within his community. As a leader in the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), he hosted LAB staff at ACSM’s national meetings discussing topics including the League’s Bicycle Friendly America and equity initiatives. In 2016 with his encouragement, LAB and ACSM reached agreement on cooperative efforts related to advocacy, education, and research. The agreement embraces LAB’s Strategic Framework, by creating synergy with like-minded organizations to promote a common agenda and resonates more effectively with the public and policy makers. Bob’s civic and professional engagement would benefit the LAB. He would consider it a privilege to serve as a board member.

Mike Sewell

Mike has more than 20 years of experience in the planning, design and implementation of transportation project. Mike established Gresham, Smith and Partners as a leader in multi-modal design, complete streets, and network planning.  Under his leadership the Louisville office became a gold-level bike-friendly business as ranked by the League of American Bicyclists. He also excels in leading public involvement campaigns, effectively communicating engineering concepts to the public and gaining support for meaningful infrastructure projects.

As a daily bike commuter, Mike’s understands the issues and opportunities associated with integration of people on bikes and pedestrians into our policies, plans and projects.  Through his national advocacy for complete streets he has helped to forge many important relationships within the communities we serve. The University of Louisville School of Engineering named him as Outstanding Young Engineer in 2008, and he earned the prestigious D.V. Terrell Award from the Kentucky Society of Professional Engineers in 2012 for his work in engineering outreach. Mike was also honored on the Louisville Business First “Forty Under 40” list in 2013. Mike earned a Bachelor of Civil Engineering and a Master of Engineering in Civil Engineering, both from the University of Louisville. 

Karin Weisburgh

Karin Weisburgh resides in Larchmont NY, is a lifetime bike commuter, and bikes to get around (i.e., non-car owner). She has received several awards & write-ups in the press (including the New York Times) for her devotion to bike-commuting and has written a manual of how to commute by bike year-round. She has has been a member of the League beginning in 1982, a major donor for over 10 years, and an LCI for 2 years. As a recent retiree from Consumer Reports (CR) where she worked for 32 years as senior market analyst, she is looking forward to ramping up her commitment to cycling by joining the LAB board.

During her tenure at CR Karin was a member of the CWA. She held leadership positions as Grievance Chair, VDT (Ergonomics) Committee co-chair, and Negotiations Committee member. She initiated an annual Bike to Work Day event. As a market analyst she made industry contacts and attended Interbike for several years. She attended and lobbied at the Bike Summit in 2009.

In addition to bike-commuting Karin is an avid bike tourer and has ridden across the country (east to west and north to south), in Europe, Canada, South America, and New Zealand.

Locally, Karin is a member of the Westchester Cycle Club, and has volunteered for several events to give bikes away, teach kids to ride, and perform safety checks.

Dr. A.J. Zelada

Dr. A. J. Zelada has been a longtime cyclist. In 1975, he bicycled from NYC to Illinois; he traveled from Oregon to NYC by bicycle in 1982. His advocacy began on the Bicycle Transportation Alliance (Portland, OR) legislative committee, which initiated the 2007 vulnerable road users (VRU) designation & the 2008 Safe Passing Distance (three foot + rule). He was a member of the Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Committee for Oregon Department of Transportation in 2007-2015 & served as Chair from 2013-2015.

He developed Providence Elderplace Bicycle Ride with peer physicians, physical therapists, occupational therapists & Volunteers of America to provide outdoor recreational bicycling experience for medically fragile elderly patients in 2015-6. In 2017, he started Safe Routes to Groceries events with New Seasons Markets including Portland Bureau of Transportation, local bicycle shops, local pannier makers and advocacy groups.

“In the nineties, I began to have a deeper understanding of how bicycling has an impact on humans; I knew its impact on my personal self. I have moved on and see bicycling as under the active transportation umbrella.  I come from a health perspective and was taught well by my several experiences within the bicycle / pedestrian  politic.”