Your San Francisco Bicycle Coalition staff is hard at work representing you on the streets and at City Hall. Become a member of the SF Bicycle Coalition and get this team of advocates working for you!
Brian Wiedenmeier
Executive Director
After starting as the SF Bicycle Coalition’s Development Director in May 2014, Brian became Executive Director in July 2016. He has been a member since 2007. He brings almost a decade of nonprofit resource development and management experience to the job, including leadership roles at ODC and Performing Arts Workshop. A passionate advocate for better bicycling in San Francisco, he has worked for safer streets in his SoMa neighborhood and beyond. Brian holds an MPA from San Francisco State University and a BA from the University of Minnesota. Email Brian.
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Rahul Young
Deputy Director
Rahul joined the team in May 2018 as Deputy Director. He brings two decades of environmental sustainability and operations expertise to the role, including experience serving as the COO of Tides and Vice President at ICF. He’s been biking in San Francisco for over 20 years, most recently on a cargo bike with his partner and two daughters through the streets around their home in the Mission. Rahul holds an MS in Civil Engineering and a BA In Public Policy from Stanford University. Email Rahul.
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Janice Li
Advocacy Director
Janice joined the staff in October 2013 as Community Organizer and has been Advocacy Director since December 2015. She previously spent time at PUSH Buffalo focusing on grassroots leadership and critical education around issues of affordable housing and community development. She has served as chair on the Port of San Francisco’s Waterfront Working Group since 2015 as well. As an Outer Sunset resident, you might catch her leisurely riding through Golden Gate Park most mornings. Email Janice.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Melissa Lewis
Communications and Marketing Director
Melissa started at the SF Bicycle Coalition in July 2019 having most recently come from AIDS/LifeCycle where she spent five years working on fundraising, recruiting and year round community engagement. As the Communications and Marketing Director, she and her team will lead the organization’s digital and print strategy, email communications, external affairs, and media relations. “There’s incredible work being done here and it’s my job to make sure people know how to get involved and support our mission.” Melissa has biked from SF to LA, across Zambia, and is looking forward to taking her and her partner’s new pup on bike rides around the Bay! Email Melissa.
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Adam Comeau
Development Director
Adam joined SF Bicycle Coalition in July after spending three years with AIDS/LifeCycle as a Fundraising Manager. As Development Director, Adam works with our Membership and Development teams to ensure there is a healthy revenue stream to support the work of our Programmatic and Advocacy teams. Adam became a cyclist in 2016 when he got back on a bike for the first time in 20 years to train for AIDS/LifeCycle. Somewhere between San Francisco and Los Angeles Adam fell in love with biking. When Adam isn’t riding his bike through the city, he loves to travel, cook with his friends or find any excuse to lay in one of the many parks this city has to offer (when Karl the Fog is not around). Email Adam.
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Christopher White
Program Director
Chris, who joined the team in June 2017 as Program Coordinator for our adult Bicycle Education program, is Program Director. His background is in theater and education: for 12 years he was the Founding Artistic Director of SF experimental performance troop Mugwumpin, as well as an actor for many Bay Area theater companies. He’s taught theater at St. Mary’s College and the San Francisco Art Institute and led master classes at institutions all over the Bay Area. He got to know the city by biking to clients’ homes as an academic private tutor before developing content for ed-tech startup Versal.com. Chris is excited to keep expanding beyond his habitual urban biking by doing more bike camping. Email Christopher.
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Janelle Wong
Operations Director
Janelle handles our bookkeeping, financial reporting and budgeting, contracts, human resources, and office management. Before joining the staff, Janelle spent more than a decade in public accounting, both for accounting firms and in-house while biking to school with her sons. Janelle is a Pacific McGeorge School of Law juris doctor. Email Janelle.
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Jeremy Hobbs
Technology Strategist
Jeremy, who joined the team in October 2018, brings 15 years of technology management and leadership expertise, including experience serving as the CIO of the San Francisco Art Institute. He has been a SF Bicycle Coalition member since 2012 and has used a bicycle as his primary form of transportation for two decades. Jeremy has a strong commitment to travel by bicycle and has ridden long distances, over the river and through the woods, on four continents. He holds a BFA in Art & Technology, Photography and Art History and a BA In Visual Critical Studies from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Email Jeremy.
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Susan Gallentine
Marketing and Events Manager
Susan joined the staff in May 2016. She was first hooked on biking when she needed a safe way to get home after working late nights in the hotel industry. Her past work includes managing a wide variety of events including fundraisers, weddings, conferences, a lavish ball for a prince and everything in between for Fairmont Hotels and most recently for the Presidio Trust. She earned her B.S. in Hospitality and Tourism Management from Purdue University. Susan enjoys running, hiking, picnics and most any activity that takes place outdoors. Email Susan.
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Kelsey Roeder
Membership Manager
Originally from Auburn, California, Kelsey has been a San Francisco resident since 2008. She became a member of the SF Bicycle Coalition in 2015, joined our staff in 2016 as Membership Assistant and has been Membership Manager since April 2018. Prior to this role, she was an environmental educator at the San Francisco Department of the Environment, where she taught young students how to create more sustainable schools. Kelsey holds a B.A. in Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice from San Francisco State University. Email Kelsey.
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Janelle Phung
Family and Schools Coordinator
Janelle joined the staff in July 2014 as Family and School coordinator with the Safe Routes to School Program. She had two and a half years prior experience working with San Francisco Department of the Environment. Among her achievements were success in neighborhood and business community outreach for the San Francisco landfill initiatives, recycle and zero waste programs. She has volunteered for nonprofit community program of the Chinese New Comers Service assistance for their tax returns with the low-income residences programs for seven years. Email Janelle.
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Charles Deffarges
Senior Community Organizer
Charles joins the staff as a San Francisco native and bike enthusiast. Before moving back to San Francisco, he studied at Occidental College in Los Angeles where he advocated for increased bike infrastructure and developed a bike-sharing program on campus. Previously, Charles made San Francisco a better place to ride one rack at a time as our Bicycle Parking Coordinator. Email Charles.
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Kristen Leckie
Community Organizer
Kristen joined as Community Organizer in January 2018, previously managing Streets of San Francisco Bike Tours. Their involvement with bikes started as a means of transportation to work in Southern California and eventually led to their advocacy work. Kristen first got involved with bike advocacy serving on the board for Bike Walk Alameda. In their spare time they run community workshops on zine making and stamp carving. They hold a B.A. from UC Berkeley where they studied Anthropology, as well as Gender and Women’s Studies. Email Kristen.
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Veronica Newell
Communications Designer
Veronica joined the team as Communications Designer in March 2018. Veronica’s involvement with bikes started when she needed a quick way to get to her downtown Manhattan college campus from Brooklyn. In her spare time, Veronica enjoys scouting out tasty vegan restaurants, cozy bookstores and unique art/activism spaces across the Bay Area. Veronica holds a B.A. in Political Science and Peace and Justice Studies from Pace University and a User Experience Design Certification. She strongly believes design can be utilized as a vehicle for social change and is excited to engage with communities through the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. Email Veronica.
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Nesrine Majzoub
Marketing Communications Associate
Nesrine Majzoub joined as Marketing Communications Associate in January 2019. She previously worked in the media publishing world as a Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of The Lens in San Luis Obispo where she enjoyed biking in the crisp air. Nesrine is passionate about storytelling and working to create a more empathetic and just society. Nesrine studied Sociology and Religious Studies at Cal Poly, and she enjoys big windows, evening chats, rock climbing, camping and playing guitar. Email Nesrine.
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Chris Bannister
Volunteer and Membership Coordinator
Chris joined the team in July 2018 as Volunteer and Membership Coordinator. Originally from a small suburb located outside of Los Angeles, Chris has been living in the Bay Area since 2008. Prior to his involvement with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Chris worked in the nonprofit public health sector, developing and maintaining outreach programs for youth and young adults. He initially started biking as a way to recover from a long-standing surgery procedure and eventually began biking every day. Chris holds a B.A. in Psychology and an M.A. in Human Sexuality Studies from San Francisco State University. Email Chris.
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Jo-Anne Burgess
Program Coordinator
Jo-Anne Burgess is the new program coordinator who manages our Community Bike Builds and Bicycle Valet Parking. She is deeply passionate about transportation justice and believes the bicycle can be a tool to elevate oneself out of poverty. Being a part of the Community Bike Build program is very exciting for Jo-Anne as she helps to provide low-income and underrepresented community members with free bicycles. Jo-Anne previously worked in the outdoor recreation industry and loves spending time outside and taking her dog on spontaneous adventures. Email Jo-Anne.
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Eliana Marcus-Tyler
Program Coordinator
Eliana, who joined the team in March 2019, manages our Bicycle Education programs. She is passionate about making biking more accessible, safe and joyful for our communities. After receiving her BA in Sociology from Vassar College, Eliana worked as the assistant director of a sleepaway camp. She fell in love with biking while living in Copenhagen and has been at it ever since. When not biking, Eliana enjoys cooking with friends and anything that involves being outside. Email Eliana.
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David Gajer
Youth and Families Program Coordinator
Working from an anti-oppressive and strengths-based lens, David’s career has focused on supporting youth and families to recognize the critical role they can play in their own communities. He values the power of play and creativity as a critical part of learning and problem solving for all ages to engage people in meaningful inquiry about issues that are important to them. David’s work seeks to create community driven spaces that connect students, parents, and educators to develop and implement culturally-appropriate campaigns that develop a school-wide culture of walking and biking. David holds a MA in Peace and Human Rights Education from Columbia University and a BA from the University of Maryland. Email David.
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Whitney Libunao
Development Associate
Whitney started at SF Bicycle Coalition as the Event Planning Intern and later joined the team as the Development Associate. In her role, she helps plan and execute contributed revenue strategy in key areas to ensure organizational stability. She received her BS in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco and recently returned to pursue her master’s in Environmental Management. With her deep passion for environmental sustainability, she is excited to help promote the bicycle for everyday transportation. When Whitney isn’t studying she loves going to the gym, hiking, TED talks, and anything related to astronomy and the outdoors. Email Whitney.
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Darren Newell
Campaign Coordinator
Darren was brought on board August 7, 2019 to provide laser-focus on the city’s Better Market Street project, which is going to completely transform the main corridor of San Francisco. Darren’s background is in community organizing, specifically advocating with low-income families for systemic changes to utility and labor policies that disproportionately affected them. His goal at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is to make sure our membership gets to weigh in on every stage of the design and approval processes for Better Market Street. Darren is currently a student at SF State, and rides his bicycle in the city nearly every day. In his free time he enjoys cuddles with his two cats, cooking, reading, and all forms of relaxation. Email Darren.
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