BikeWalk NC’s Current Board Members and Staff
BikeWalk NC is a statewide organization with Board representatives from all regions — mountains, piedmont and coast.
Charlotte, NC
Terry comes to BikeWalk NC from Clean Air Carolina where he held several positions, most recently that of Public Policy Manager. His background uniquely qualifies him to lead BikeWalkNC. In addition to his work with Clean Air Carolina, Terry has extensive experience with non-profits, including work with both Trips for Kids and the Safe Routes to School National Partnership. Terry’s work to advance sustainability is well known and was recognized by Sustain Charlotte in 2015 when he received their Outstanding Leader Award. His experience with large-scale event planning as well as grant writing will be invaluable to BikeWalk NC as we continue to grow as an organization. Terry’s background with bicycle advocacy is substantial, and his passion for both sustainable transportation and a cleaner environment made him the ideal person for the job. Terry is also an accomplished distance cyclist who has competed in four solo Race Across America events (RAAM), the Race Across the West on a fixed gear bicycle and holds the UMCA state record for North Carolina.
Trish Farnham is BikeWalk NC's first program manager, joining the staff in 2021. Trish will manage BikeWalk NC’s new Bicycle Friendly Driver Safety program and its other educational programs. Trish is a lifelong pedestrian and self-described, unapologetic “basket bike” cyclist. She first became a fan of BikeWalk NC after attending the 2019 Summit and as a long-time disability rights advocate, was drawn to its inclusive mission. After twelve years of working on healthcare and long-term care policy at the NC Department of Health and Human Services, Trish is excited to bring her program management experience to BikeWalkNC. Throughout her life, Trish has directly witnessed the transformative impact physical activity and accessibility can have on the collective health and well-being of a community. Trish has an MPA from Georgia State University and a BA in Geography and American Studies from Miami University.
Banner Elk, NC
Ted is chair of the Banner Elk Bike/Ped Committee and adjunct professor teaching the country’s only academic bicycling minor degree at Lees-McRae College. A Licensed Certified Instructor (LCI), he doesn’t like to sit on the sidelines – he’s been actively involved in bike advocacy as a member of bike clubs and organizations ranging from the Randannours USA (member number 341) to President of the largest bike club in Miami Florida. He also served as Chairman of the Miami-Dade County Bike/Ped Advisory Committee (advising the Miami-Dade MPO) for almost 10 years before retiring from law and moving from the flat topography of Florida to the mountains of North Carolina; he road rides as often as he can. With his legal background, and cycling knowledge and experience, he hopes to help accomplish the mission and goals of BikeWalk NC for safe and sustainable cycling and walking.
Banner Elk, NC
Deana returned to North Carolina by way of Montgomery, Alabama where she was devoted to the advancement of all facets of bicycling. She has served on several Bicycle and Pedestrian Committees at both city and state levels. Currently an adjunct instructor teaching traffic cycling certifications within the Outdoor Recreation Management department at her alma mater, Lees-McRae College, Deanna also serves as co-chair on the Banner Elk Bicycle/Pedestrian Committee. She has represented both North Carolina and Alabama at the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C.
Deana has ridden a bicycle since the age of 5 while recovering from open-heart surgery, to benefit her own health and gain the confidence to challenge her body. A League Certified Instructor (LCI), she is dedicated to connecting people with the joy of riding a bicycle for one’s personal health, and to empower individuals with the skills necessary to allow them the opportunity to choose the bicycle as an environmentally friendly option for commuting.
Winston-Salem, NC
Dan is an attorney who recently completed 19 years of service on the Winston-Salem City Council. As a city council leader, he focused much attention to improving local transit service and expanding safe walking and cycling opportunities, including expanding greenways, connecting and extending sidewalks, improving intersection safety, and creating bike lanes and routes. He served as chair of the Piedmont Authority for Regional Transportation (PART) and vice chair of the Winston-Salem Urban Area Transportation Advisory Committee. Personally, Dan learned the streets as a lifetime runner, and has recently added cycling to save his aging and aching knees.
Charlotte, NC
Debra Franklin is a bus driver with the Charlotte Area Transit System. Originally from Chicago Heights, she brings a great perspective to BWNC from her daily work with folks that use alternative transportation – encouraging transit passengers to consider biking to the bus vs. walking when they have long trips or could benefit from a backup plan. Debra is also a bike mechanic at her company, the Bicycle Oven Company, You Go Bike; and her non profit, Bike Routes 4 Fitness Inc. Debra is a League Certified Instructor (LCI) and has helped facilitated the training of others. She took Steve’s Traffic Bicycling Skills class not once but twice! In her spare time, she is a Bicycle Friendly Motorist instructor and AARP Smart Driver instructor. Debra has participated in the NC delegation to DC as part of the National Bike Summit for the past several years.
Raleigh, NC
Mary-Jo Gellenbeck launched her career in Active Transportation when her curiosity was roused by her twin sons’ choice not to earn a Driver’s License. Her curiosity led her to explore the topic among their peers as well as with parents whose children who were no more than ten years older than her twins. And what she discovered is a trend towards a multi-modal transportation user that continues to grow. This exploration led her to research the transportation industry more closely with the goal to increase safety for vulnerable road users. In addition to academic and professional research, Mary-Jo became a multi-modal user by eliminating her personal car. The first-hand experience informs her advocacy work to raise awareness for Active Transportation infrastructure with elected officials and transportation leaders.
In addition to joining the BikeWalkNC Board in 2020, Mary-Jo works with Oaks & Spokes, Raleigh’s non-profit bike advocacy group, and GoTriangle, the Triangle area’s regional transit agency.
Charlotte, NC
Ann Groninger has been a consistent supporter of BikeWalkNC and we are excited to have her join our board. As a North Carolina attorney since 1995 she has been representing cyclists around the state for over 12 years. She speaks to groups to educate cyclists about their legal rights and has been involved in local advocacy groups to promote cycling and improve cycling safety. Ann lives and works near Center City Charlotte. Ann is a competitive cyclist and off-road bicyclist too.
Charlotte, NC
Garet loves to walk and bicycle and believes that making walking and cycling safer, and accessible to more people, will help to strengthen the social, economic, and physical well-being of the community. She has spent most of her professional career working to make the built environment more conducive to bicycling, walking and transit use. She served as the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for Tampa, and most recently Assistant Director for Long Range Planning for the City of Charlotte. She managed a staff of professional planners focused on land use planning, the coordination of regional transportation policy, and providing information and analysis related to growth and development. Being part of BWNC provides Garet the opportunity to continue working to improve conditions for cyclists and pedestrians not only in Charlotte, but throughout North Carolina.
Raleigh, NC
Sarah works as a Communications and Public Involvement Specialist for WSP, with a background in community development and transportation planning. She is an avid walker, runner, and hiker who can be found out on the Capital area greenways or hiking trials every day after work. Sarah has a strong passion in advocating for community access to safe biking and walking facilities for recreation, health benefits, and economic opportunities. She believes that giving people a voice to shape their environment to fit their needs is the most important aspect of our work in the transportation field and hopes to achieve that goal through supporting the BikeWalkNC mission.
Carrboro, NC
A long-time bicycling advocate from Carrboro, Heidi is a founding member of the Carrboro Bicycling Coalition (BikeCarrboro). She has worked on several BWNC statewide BikeWalk Summits, and has participated in the NC delegation that lobbies once a year on Capitol Hill. She is engaged in BWNC’s safety advocacy work (BMUFL, HB232) and participates in our ongoing education program development work with NCDOT. Heidi was the recipient of the 2011 NC American Planning Association’s Marvin Collins Award for her contributions to Carrboro’s Planning program.
Heidi has been a League Certified Instructor (LCI) since 2013, and uses the bike as her main form of transportation. She embraces the idea that a community that walks and bikes is a healthier and more equitable community. Retired from a career in book publishing, well-designed and well-written books still bring her much joy.
Asheville, NC
Ritchie gets twitchy when he goes longer than a day without riding a bike. It's his exercise, therapy, and entertainment. As a dad, riding his son to school or on errands, on his cargo bike, is a favorite part of parenting. As a part-owner of The Flying Bike, an ebike tour company in Asheville, bikes are also his livelihood. When Ritchie was a kid and through college, he saw bikes primarily as a toy that extended his range of play. It wasn't until moving to Washington DC and committing to commuting by bike everyday for 4 years that he saw bikes as needed transportation. When he moved to Asheville in 2012, he continued functional cycling despite the impediments of hills and lack of bike lanes. The hills can't be changed, but the bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure can, and he committed to improving road safety through work with BikeWalk NC, Asheville on Bikes, serving as Blue Ridge Bicycle Club's Board Vice President, and as Asheville's Greenway Committee Secretary.
Wilmington, NC
Carol is a passionate cyclist with a strong desire to improve cycling facilities and cyclist safety in North Carolina. She is a member of the Cape Fear Cyclists and serves as Pender County’s Representative on the Wilmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (WMPO) Bike and Pedestrian Committee as well as the Chairwomen. Carol retired in 2017 from General Electric Corporation’s Commercial Aircraft Division with extensive management and technical expertise in supply chain planning. Carol has been a competitive track & field athlete since high school with world rankings in several sprinting events. During her employ at GE, she managed their very successful running program for 25 years. Her retirement plans continue to include road bike trips with other area cyclists in North Carolina. She looks forward to working with fellow board members to advance the mission of BWNC.
Davidson, NC
Nicole works as Human Resources Director for Ingersoll Rand / Trane Technologies. She also serves a NC Bike Law Ambassador and the Community Liaison Officer for the SAFE (“Street Access For Everyone”) non-profit in the Lake Norman area. She is passionate about safety and outdoor activities such as cycling, running, hiking and walking and wants to engage people to enjoy the outdoor life as much as she does in a safe way. She is committed to create a better environment so we can keep on riding outside and we can get more people to ride outside in the future. Thru BikeWalkNC she hopes to reach more people to create a more inclusive outdoors environment.
Raleigh, NC
Kenneth, a transportation planner for the North Carolina Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), has been involved in all phases of transportation planning, programming, and funding. He is AICP certified, a member of the NC Chapter of the American Planning Association, and is a National Center for Safe Routes To School (SRTS) trained course instructor. He hopes to grow BWNC’s involvement in advocating for SRTS infrastructure and non-infrastructure projects, recognizing their essential role in improving our overall bicycling and pedestrian network. In addition to bicycling, Kenneth enjoys jogging, playing acoustic guitar, bass guitar, cello, as well as many other civic activities.
Joining our Advisory Board:
- Steve Goodridge – Cary, NC
- Ed Harrison, Chapel Hill, NC
- Roger Henderson, Raleigh, NC
- Thomas Henson, Raleigh NC
- Dale Tiska, Raleigh, NC
- Lisa Vulinec, Cary, NC
- Martin Zimmerman, Charlotte, NC
BikeWalk NC would like to thank recent Board members for their contributions to the organization:
- Julie White, Black Mountain, NC
- Simon Walker, Morrisville, NC
- Bill Hulbert, Cary, NC
- Roger Henderson, Raleigh, NC
- Ed Harrison, Chapel Hill, NC
- Martin Zimmerman, Charlotte, NC
- Dianna Ward, Charlotte, NC
- Constance Davis, Wake Forest, NC
- Dale Diska, Raleigh, NC
- Jennifer Baldwin, Durham, NC
- Al Schroetel – Wilmington,
- Evan Brigham – Raleigh
- Don Kostelec – Asheville, NC
- Dick Winters – Charlotte, NC
- Bill Bussey – Pittsboro, NC
- Dylan Horne – Raleigh, NC
- Esther Lumsdon – Cary, NC
- Steven Hardy-Braz – Farmville, NC
- Mark Ortiz – Kannapolis
- Alison Carpenter, Durham
- Kathryn Cross, Kernersville
- Blake Lambert, Greensboro
- George Perkins, Wilmington
Board Makeup
Based on the BikeWalk NC Bylaws, the Board consists of
- up to 19 board-elected members
Seven of the Board Members will be elected according to DOT division districts according to the following formula:
- at least 2 Board Members from the area encompassing districts 11-14 (the mountains);
- at least 2 Board Members from the area encompassing districts 1-3 (the coast); and
- at least 3 Board Members from the area encompassing districts 4-10 (the piedmont).