Active Transportation Alliance Board Election

The Active Transportation Alliance will conduct its annual board election at 10:45 a.m., Sunday, May 30, 2010, at Butler Field in Grant Park. Current Active Trans members can vote on a proposed slate of board candidates to govern the organization. Please see bios below

Questions? Contact Membership Director Lee Crandell at lee@activetrans.org or 312.427.3325 x294

Justyna Frank
Justyna is the co-owner of Rapid Transit Cycleshop, an business she and her husband founded in Chicago in 1994. Since the inception of the business, Justyna has been involved in advocating the use of bicycles for transportation, as well as expanding opportunities for alternative styles of cycling through promoting recumbents, trikes and folding bikes. Despite being a bike shop owner, Justyna has stayed firmly committed to her 21 year-old Bridgestone bike, which she uses for errands and transportation. She is also an enthusiastic walker.

Ben Helphand
Ben is the Executive Director of NeighborSpace, a nonprofit urban land trust dedicated to preserving and sustaining community gardens in Chicago. He is a founding board member of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail, a community group that advocates for the conversion of an elevated rail viaduct on Chicago’s NW Side into a multi-use linear park. Ben also serves as the Mayor’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee’s representative on the Sidewalk Snow Removal Taskforce and on the Wicker Park Bucktown SSA Pedestrians and Passengers Committee. Prior to working for NeighborSpace Ben worked as the Pedestrian Program Manager and Director of the Civic Footprint at the Center for Neighborhood Technology.

Bob Hoel
Bob retired 6 years ago after 34 years at RR Donnelley. In 2008 his interest turned to bike advocacy, initially heading up the advocacy efforts of the Elmhurst Bike Club, one of the largest bike clubs in th e Chicago area. In 2009 he asked the mayor of Elmhurst to form a Bike Task Force, which Bob chairs. By the end of 2009, Bob was named to the Active Trans Hall of Fame for his work in bike advocacy. He has attended the last two National Bike Summits, sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, networking and learning about both local and national bike issues. Bob was recently named a Director of the League of Illinois Bicyclists, filling an open position. His business experience, masters in finance from Kellogg and recent bike advocacy will add strength to the Active Trans Board. Bob rides year around with most of his 3,000+ miles for transportation, working in an occasional recreational ride to clear his head. He also has extensive experience biking in such bike utopias as France, Netherlands, Denmark and Germany.

Jaime de Leon
Jaime de Leon is the New Communities Program (NCP) Director for Enlace Chicago, a community-based organization in Little Village, where he has lived most of his life. He is the son of Mexican immigrants from a working-class background. After graduating from Northern Illinois University, he entered the world of non-profit through Public Allies Chicago, a 10-month apprenticeship program. Now in his ninth year at Enlace, his main responsibility is the implementation and management of community development and organizing initiatives to improve the quality of life for the Little Village community. Jaime serves on the board of Mikva Challenge, Chicago Public Art Group, and the Firehouse Arts Center and has also been an adjunct professor at North Park University. He is also the proud father of a 6-year-old daughter who he recently taught to ride a bicycle. As a Chicago Community Trust fellow, Jaime also worked on a documentary about Ciclovias in South America.

Cecilia Roth
Cecilia Roth is an attorney at a large private law firm in Chicago. Her practice focuses on employee benefits law. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and her law degree from the University of Michigan. She commutes to work on the Metra train and then walks across the Loop to her office. She also is a recreational walker, jogger and bicyclist, and her husband is an avid bicyclist. She and her husband raised three children, all of whom walked to school from nursery school through high school. Between college and professional school, she and her husband served in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic. Bridgestone bike, which she uses for errands and transportation. She is also an enthusiastic walker.