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Thanks in part to Advocacy Advance Grants from the Alliance for Biking & Walking, two statewide organizations recently announced the hiring of new, full-time executive directors. And they’re both familiar faces.

Out on the west coast, Dave Snyder took the helm of the California Bicycle Coalition this month. Dave has a long history of bike-ped success, including growing the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition into a political powerhouse with thousands of engaged members and starting several nonprofits aimed at environmentally sustainable and socially just transportation options in the Bay Area. Dave’s got a long history with the Alliance, too — not only has he led a number of our Winning Campaigns Trainings, but also served as our director of program development back when we were still called the Thunderhead Alliance.

The veteran advocate will be the CBC’s first ED in four years, thanks to a $30,000 Startup/Capacity Grant from the Alliance’s Advocacy Advance program. According to the CBC: Snyder will lead efforts to secure substantial long-term funding, strengthen relationships with bike industry allies and the local bike advocacy community, and increase California’s influence in national bike advocacy.

“The recent midterm elections signaled a sea-change for the national transportation agenda,” CBC president, Chris Morfas, said in the group’s most recent newsletter “Fifteen years of gains for bicycling nationwide are now under serious threat. This couldn’t be a better time for us to have someone with Dave’s skills.”

On the other side of the country, Georgette Yaindl is leaving her ocean paradise and returning to her roots. Her hiring as the first executive director for Bike Walk Connecticut is also being funded, in part, by a $15,000 Advocacy Advance Grant from the Alliance.

According to Bike Walk Connecticut: “Yaindl is returning to Connecticut where she worked for many years, including as the first Executive Director of the Connecticut Bicycle Coalition. She left the CBC in 2000 to work for the Hawaii Bicycling League as its Community Liaison. In 2007, she graduated from the University of Hawaii William S. Richardson School of Law and focused her practice in Hawaii in the areas of environmental, and labor and employment law. Bringing a wealth of experience and knowledge to the position of Executive Director, Georgette also has a lifelong passion for biking and walking, and wants to help re-establish Connecticut’s identity as a center for innovative transportation technology.”

“Dorothy was right,” Georgette says. “There is no place like home. I am stoked knowing I shall soon be back in the mix helping improve the health and vitality of our residents and communities via the simple yet revolutionary acts of bicycling and walking. Aloha!”

Read more from the CBC and Bike Walk Connecticut.

Last week, we introduced you to Elizabeth Stampe, the first executive director of Walk San Francisco.

Well, the Idaho Pedestrian and Bicycle Alliance, an organization that got its start in 2009, is also celebrating its first staff hire. Meet Whitney Rearick, a former anti-poverty activist with a penchant for “nerdy” instruments.

Where are you from and how did you end up in Boise, Idaho?

I was born and raised in Nashua, New Hampshire, and headed to Utah as a VISTA volunteer after college, where I stayed for 8 years. I dabbled with the east coast again in graduate school, but missed the west, and Idaho called with a job with Mercy Housing Idaho.

I understand you’ve worked for a number of nonprofits in Idaho and Utah; what kind of advocacy work have you done in the past?

I’m fortunate to have worked for a variety of do-good organizations. I lobbied the legislature and organized around tenant rights and affordable housing for an anti-poverty organization in Utah and built low-income housing in Massachusetts and Idaho. In my four years as the campus planner at Boise State University, I helped find ways to make the campus more sustainable. More recently, with Winter Wildlands Alliance, I advocated for different kinds of nonmotorized users — backcountry skiers and snowshoers — in an effort to preserve nonmotorized winter trails.

I know you’re a bike commuter — what drew you to the bike-ped movement?

I can’t remember a time when a bike wasn’t my main mode of transportation, and a source of much fun and friendship. There are so many ways to be a cyclist or walker — in the hills, on the roads, as a social event, to commute, in races and scavenger hunts. It’s an exciting time to be part of the movement. Planning departments are finally understanding the role of pedestrians and cyclists to community livability, and I see the bike-ped movement as a major source of community transformation.

The IPBA is still a relatively new organization; what are some of the challenges of being the group’s first ED?

It’s hard to ask folks to donate money to become a member of your organization without having some successes under your belt — but, on the other hand, it’s hard to build statewide successes without money or a solid member network. Fortunately, our board has gotten a good head start on both, and the Alliance [Advocacy Advance] grant has helped tremendously. It’s the reason IPBA was able to hire me.

What are your top goals for the IPBA for the remainder of 2010 and going into 2011?

Right now we’re focusing on raising money and building a network.  One way we’ll get the word out about IPBA will be through a campaign for a three feet to pass bill.  We’ll also be building the groundwork for our longer-term plan to create a statewide complete streets policy.

  What’s your favorite place to walk or ride in Idaho?

Boise has a glorious greenbelt along the river that goes right through town. There’s something new to see along it every day. In my many years riding the greenbelt, I’ve seen the gamut: picnicking families, dozing students, marching bands, historical reenactors, polite protestors, a giant puppet penguin, mass baptisms, teenagers bobbing the river in innertubes, people in waders fishing for trout, along with otter, mink, fuzzy young geese and birds of every size and type.

I understand that you ride a bike that has a bit some sentimental value… ???

My mom rode a 10-speed Motobecane to her job at Digital Equipment Corporation in the 1970’s and 1980’s. After she passed it along to me, I commuted on it in Boston, and now Boise.  A few years ago, after a particularly humiliating wreck (never, ever dangle shopping bags from your handlebars while riding a curvy path!), I needed a new fork, and a friend who used to work in a bike shop sent me what he called the “Matisse fork,” which is covered with small dabs of every color of touch-up paint.

At the Alliance Leadership Retreat every two years we have a Talent Show; what’s one of your hidden talents?

I play the nerdiest musical instruments. I grew up playing the viola, and took up trombone in high school. About 15 years ago, after admiring a pearl white, used accordion emblazoned with the name “Ginger,” a friend bought it for me, and I recently took up ukulele. I have a jaw harp and a nose flute in a drawer somewhere. Of all of these, the viola is the only one I’m any good at, but that doesn’t stop me from trying.

Keep up with the IPBA on their website — or “Like” them on Facebook.

Walk Oakland Bike Oakland is delighted to introduce their very first Executive Director, Kassie Rohrbach. Kassie was one of the co-founders of Energy Action Coalition (EAC), a youth-led coalition of environmental and social justice groups. She helped grow EAC into a robust and effective organization for change. Kassie brings eight years of coalition-building, policy development, and organizational development to WOBO.  Kassie recently visited the staff at the Alliance DC office, and discussed her vision and goals for WOBO. We wish her success and know that she will keep the momentum moving forward for bicycling and walking in Oakland.

For more information about Kassie and WOBO please visit http://www.walkoaklandbikeoakland.org

Kevin Hardman became head of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin just a month ago. It’s a big change from his executive experience in business and real-estate development, but Hardman’s business and marketing skills will be very handy in growing the organization. Hardman has special expertise in shepherding large teams of public and private partners towards common goals. “I was attracted to the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin because of their commitment to all types of cyclists, their broad membership base, and their momentum in advocating for the integral role that bicycling plays in the creation of rich, interesting communities.” Welcome Kevin!

Click to read more…

Bill Wilkinson, who played a pivotal role in the formation of the Alliance, has retired from his post as the Executive Director of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking (NCBW).  From founding and hosting the International Pro Walk/Pro Bike conferences, to playing a key role in policies now in federal law and guidance reports, Bill has been a remarkable force for bicycling and walking.  His 30 plus years of experience, humor, and gumption will be missed and it is with boundless gratitude that we thank Bill and wish him a happy retirement. We also welcome Sharon Roerty, who has been with NCBW for some time, as the new Executive Director.

To learn more about NCBW, Visit their web site.

According to the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, “Allison Vogt, a former aide to Congressman Tom Allen who now directs an Alabama conservation agency organization in the Southeastern U.S., has been named as the new executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine.  ‘An outstanding field of more than 30 candidates applied for the position, and we are thrilled that Allison has accepted,’ said John Balicki, president of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s board of directors.  ‘She brings management experience, fresh ideas and enthusiasm.’”

Read the Bicycle Coalition of Maine’s Press Release…