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National Women's Bicycling Summit

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National Women's Bicycling Summit
September 13, 2012 | Long Beach, CA

Program

The National Women's Bicycling Summit will be held at the Long Beach Convention Center and the Long Beach Promenade.

Thursday, September 13

1:45 p.m.
Registration (at the Long Beach Convention Center)

2:30 - 3:30 p.m.
Welcome and keynote address
See description below

3:45 - 5 p.m.
Break-out sessions A
See descriptions below

5:15 - 6:30 p.m.
Break-out sessions B
See descriptions below

6:30 - 9:30 p.m.
Cycle Chic Fashion Show (Long Beach Promenade)
Picnic dinner options available for purchase

9:30 - 11:30 p.m.
Women's Summit Social
Beachwood Brewing & BBQ Patio (Long Beach Promenade)
Free drinks for Summit registrants!

Friday, September 14

10 a.m. - 12 p.m.
Social ride hosted by Cali Bike Tours
Meet at Bike Station- Rental bikes available for $10.
THIS RIDE IS FULL!

Keynote Address

At World Bicycle Relief, we work to transform the lives of individuals and their communities through the power of bicycles. When addressing global development challenges, a single-speed bicycle can improve the dignity and quality of life for women. Entrepreneurs can get their goods to market; mothers gain access to life-saving medical clinics; girls are able to attend -- and stay in -- school. For young women like Maureen, a bicycle can be life-changing. Living in rural Zambia, Maureen wanted an education so badly she would walk seven miles to school. With a two-hour journey each way, she would often miss Fridays due to sheer exhaustion. With a bicycle, Maureen now goes to school regularly. Come learn about Maureen's transformation and more!

Leah Missbach Day is a documentary photographer, based in Chicago, whose work has been exhibited across the U.S. and internationally. In 2005, Day cofounded World Bicycle Relief, a global non-profit organization, which since 2005 has provided over 100,000 bicycles to families rebuilding livelihoods, caregivers combating disease, and students seeking access to education. Day frequently speaks on behalf of World Bicycle Relief and, as one of the organization’s primary photographers; her images and storytelling often serve as the centerpiece of the organization's international campaigns. She serves on the board of EcoAmerica and received her M.F.A. in Photography from Columbia College Chicago.

Learn more at www.worldbicyclerelief.com.

Break-out sessions

Session A (3:45 - 5 p.m.)

Beyond Spandex, Toward Social Justice: Women Redefining the Movement

Diversity and equity are quickly becoming buzz words in bicycle advocacy, as organizations seek to address the homogeneity of "the movement." There's tremendous leadership, action and innovation occurring both within and beyond the model of traditional bike coalitions. Working with and within disadvantaged and marginalized communities, women from diverse backgrounds are erasing stereotypes about bicyclists and consciously directing efforts to incorporate social justice. This session will provide insight and examples from bicycle programs that are inspiring, empowering and being led by women who are expanding and redefining the future of the movement.

Moderator: Caroline Samponaro
Panelists: Kristin Gavin, Allison Mannos, Ovarian Psycos, Claire Stoscheck

Family Biking and Low Car Living

Cars, climate, clothes and cargo/kids -- these "4Cs" are some of the big concerns we encounter when promoting the low car, high bike lifestyle. The last is often the hardest to address. Skeptics predict: "Just wait until you start a family. Then you'll buy a car." And yet, car-free and car-light living is neither radical nor all that unusual. Many families can't afford to own and operate a car, and instead rely on walking and transit. For them, incorporating cycling can provide enormous health, financial and mobility benefits. In this session, we will tap into the expertise of the presenters and participants to share tips for 1) raising a car free or car light family 2) navigating the ages and stages of biking with kids, and 3) spreading the message about the benefits of a multi-modal lifestyle. Whether a family bikes by choice or by need, it's one of the most powerful acts of advocacy--not just for cycling, but for the health and well-being of our children and communities.

Moderator: Gin Kilgore
Panelists: Manal Aboelata, Wanda Pelegrina Caldas, Emily Finch, Kit Hodge

Women in Bicycle Sports

Female athletes -- from track, road, mountain, cross, polo and triathlon -- will address the complex role of women in sports and how competition and advocacy are connected and share parallel missions of getting more women and racing. Women in bicycle sports are driven by a passion and love for the bike and their respective sports, and have a unique opportunity to inspire and influence not only women on bikes, but also the bike industry and media as well. What impact has Title IX had on bike sports? What steps can be taken to ease fear and build confidence for women on bikes? Join in the discussion to define the role of women in bicycle sports and how we can help to progress gender equity in sports and cycling overall.

Moderators: Dorothy Wong & Liz Carlson
Panelists: Dotsie Bausch, Krista Carlson, Jill Gass, Raelynn Milley, Jennifer Tetrick

Session B (5:15 - 6:30 p.m.)

Making Our Communities Work For Us; Women and the Political Process

Twenty-four percent of all bike trips in the U.S. in 2009 were made by women, yet women make up 50 percent of the US population. To increase the number of women riders, we must make sure our communities are designed to work for women. Confirmed time and again at the local, state and federal level, women's interests are best served when women are engaged as civic leaders and lawmakers. However, women continue to be underrepresented in political office and on civic committees. In 2011, only 24 percent of members on California bicycle and/or pedestrian advisory committees were women. In 2012, only 12 percent of governors, 24 percent of U.S. state legislators, and 17 percent of U.S. Congressional members were women. Through engaging presentations, our panelists will share how they became involved in civic committees and elected office. We will discuss the latest research on women's involvement in bicycle and pedestrian committees and explore how to encourage more women who bicycle to become involved in civic committees and elected office.

Moderator: Alexis Lantz
Panelists: Cathy DeLuca, Meghan Sahli-Wells, Felicia Williams

Media and Marketing: Who's Selling Cycling to Women?

In the vernacular of marketing, if women's cycling is a product, then who is selling it? Who should be and how? Words and images hold the power to help transcend known barriers, narrow the gender gap and improve access to cycling. Social media and open-source tools offer exciting new potential to unify women and amplify pro-cycling messages. Through engaging presentations, panelists will explore examples from a variety of media channels, share their own best practices and invite creative thinking from the audience about how to attract more women of all backgrounds to cycling for transportation, fitness and fun.

Moderator: Susi Wunsch
Panelists: Maria Boustead, Elly Blue, Yolanda Davis-Overstreet, Mia Kohout

Young Women Who Ride

Part presentation, part interactive workshop, Young Women Who Ride will explore existing models of youth engagement and share the tools to engage youth, girls, and young women effectively. Led by a dynamic team of adult and youth presenters from Recycle-A-Bicycle, Multnomah County Youth Commission, and Washington Area Bicyclist Association, this session will explore a range of creative, innovative approaches to bike education and advocacy while considering community-specific resources, challenges and best practices. Young Women Who Ride will highlight how bike advocacy is enriched when its young leaders are encouraged and supported to envision safer, healthier, and more livable communities and are taught the tools to help build them.

Moderator: Helen Ho

Panelists: Pasqualina Azzarello, Nelle Pierson, Lisa Rodriguez, Katherine Westmoreland

Speakers

Manal J. Aboelata is Managing Director at Prevention Institute, a national non-profit dedicated to achieving equitable health and safety outcomes through primary prevention. Manal's work emphasizes policy and community-based approaches to improve access to healthy foods, prevent injuries and increase opportunities for safe physical activity. Manal coordinates The Strategic Alliance for Healthy Eating and Activity Environments, a statewide network of advocates working to bring healthy food and physical activity opportunities within reach of all Californians. Manal chairs the Joint Use Statewide Taskforce (JUST) which is working to increase community access to playgrounds through the policy and practice of joint use agreements between school districts and local governments. She serves on the Steering Committee for LA County's Joint Use Moving People to Play Collaborative and is the Chairperson for the Safe Routes to School Action Team on School Siting and Joint Use. She is principle author of The Built Environment and Health: 11 Profiles of Neighborhood Transformation and authored the chapter, Community Engagement in Design and Planning in the text Making Healthy Places.

Pasqualina Azzarello is the executive director of Recycle-A-Bicycle, a community-based bike shop and non-profit organization in NYC. Through her work as an educator, community advocate, and public muralist, Pasqualina has engaged local communities in meaningful ways for the past fifteen years. Pasqualina has worked as a freelance artist and educator at Recycle-A-Bicycle since 2001 and became the director in 2009. She has continued to cultivate partnerships and create new opportunities for communities to work together in creative and innovative ways. In the past year, Pasqualina has led workshops and presentations about youth and community engagement at the Safe Routes to School National Partnership conference, the American Planning Association's national conference, and the League of American Bicyclists' National Bike Summit. As director of Recycle-A-Bicycle and co-founder of the Youth Bike Summit, Pasqualina is committed to engaging youth voices and visions in the national bicycle advocacy movement.

Dotsie Bausch won the Olympic silver medal in Team Pursuit at the 2012 London Games, with her teammates, Sarah Hammer and Lauren Tamayo. Last year, Bausch and her Olympic teammates set a world record in the team pursuit. She is a six-time U.S. National Champion and a two-time Pan Am Championships gold medal winner. In 2007, Bausch tried track cycling for the first time and rode on to win two national titles on the track that year. Bausch spent nine years as a member of the U.S. National Team and has competed in the biggest road races around the world for professional teams including Jazz Apple, Colavita-Sutter Home and T-Mobile. While Bausch has scored major victories on the bike, perhaps her greatest victory came from resurrecting her own life from the depths of severe eating disorders, which threatened to take her life over a decade ago. It was during her recovery that she discovered her passion for cycling. Bausch serves as a mentor for young women eyeing the professional ranks for the SC Velo presented by Empower Coaching Systems development team, which she co-founded.

Elly Blue is an influential commentator about bicycling, with an emphasis on economics, culture and gender. She owns and operates publishing and publicity company Taking the Lane Media, and is the co-founder of the Portland Society, a nonprofit professional organization for women who are passionate about bicycling. Twitter: @ellyblue

Maria Boustead is the founder and owner of Po Campo, an outdoor lifestyle company devoted to uniting function and fashion in everything it makes. Under her leadership and vision, what originated as a wild idea for cute bike bags has grown into a broad product range with international distribution that supports a small but growing team in Chicago. Twitter @po_campo

Wanda Pelegrina Caldas is co-founder and board member of Community Cycles, a nonprofit bike shop and advocacy organization in Boulder, Colo. In 2006, Wanda was the City of Boulder's Bicycle Commuter of the Year. Although she has never had a driver's license nor owned a car, Wanda gets around just fine and has even moved her whole household by bike on several occasions. Wanda is passionate about dispelling the myth that bikes are only for men and athletics, but recognizes that going car-free can be a daunting endeavor. Wanda believes that guidance, support, and fun are essential to moving toward a less car-oriented lifestyle. To help women through the transition, Wanda leads a series of "ladies only" workshops on bike commuting, which start with the very basics of biking and work up to hauling everything from kids to cargo.

Liz Carlson started out as a bike commuter and pannier-packing tourist, crossing the United States in 1989 with Bike-Aid, a fundraiser for the Overseas Development Network. She followed her love of two-wheeled travel to Rodale Press, where she began her career in magazine journalism promoting Bicycling, Mountain Bike and Runner's World magazines. Carlson's worked behind the scenes as a producer, publicist, technical artist, researcher and photography editor; as well as writer and photographer for such award-winning titles as Backpacker, Men's Health, Prevention and Organic Gardening magazines. In 1994, Carlson entered her first mountain bike race on a dare and won. New to the sport of cycling and armed with a desire to learn, she raced it all-- off-road single track, criteriums, circuits, stage races, dirt and traditional triathlon -- before discovering her body was made for the track. Carlson left the editing desk in 2007 at age 37 to compete for the United States at the Los Angeles World Cup. She has since amassed eight Elite National Championship titles, four top-ten World Cup finishes, two Pan American podiums and was named to the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympic Long Teams. In 2011, at age 42, Carlson set two American records at the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico. Carlson is a passionate believer in the life-changing power of cycling and advocate for women in sport. She's currently an Ambassador for Liv/giant, a brand of Giant Bicycles dedicated to advancing the sport of cycling for women.

Krista Carlson began playing hardcourt bike polo in 2008, and fell fast in love with the urban bicycle sport. Carlson is co-founder of the Valley Bikery, the San Fernando Valley's first bike co-op. While Carlson has competed in tournaments in North America and Canada and traveled throughout the U.S. to promote bike polo and support new clubs, she is deeply connected to community cycling advocacy in Los Angeles. She has competed in three of the four Ladies Army tournaments, the only series of tournaments which is a dedicated women's competition. Hardcourt bike polo is unique in being a coed competitive sport, which is a subject of much debate as the sport evolves. As bike polo grows, she continues to work to grow bike polo for Los Angeles, for women, and as a sport overall.

Yolanda Davis-Overstreet has more than 15 years experience in working on diversity marketing and creative communications campaigns serving clients such as Los Angeles World Airports, Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau and Fortune Magazine Special Advertising Editorial Sections. As a marketing and graphic design/communications specialist and consultant, she currently focuses on helping non-profits and businesses to grow and enhance the effectiveness of their local and national outreach programs, as this relates to communicating and bridging gaps between the bike industry and diverse communities. Yolanda also serves a volunteer advocate for getting more people on bikes. Recently, she has turned to the camera to highlight a topic underrepresented in the media. Her documentary film, RIDE: In Living Color, tells the stories of African American cyclists and sheds light on the captivating power of cycling in urban Los Angeles and beyond. Twitter: @RideInLivingCol

Cathy DeLuca fell in love with non-automobile transportation many years ago, and she recently decided to make it the focus of her career. In December 2011, she completed a master’s degree in urban planning from San Jose State University, with a specialization in transportation planning. During school, she worked with bicycle planners in Santa Cruz and San Jose. For her master’s thesis, Cathy studied women’s participation in bicycle advisory committees in California -- a topic that combined her interests in bicycle planning, politics, and gender equality. The Mineta Transportation Institute published her study in the spring of 2012. Most recently, Cathy has worked on the Bicycle and Pedestrian Team at the Alameda County Transportation Commission.

Emily Finch is a car-free mother of six children, ranging from 2 to 11 years old. Two years ago, while pregnant and living in Pennsylvania, she made a decision that changed her life dramatically: She traded in her nine-passenger Suburban for a seven-passenger Bakfiets cargo bike. She lives in Portland, OR. Read more about Finch on BikePortland.org and follow her on Twitter at @1lesssuburban.

Jill Gass is a USAC Certified Expert level coach, founder of B4T9 Women's Cycling Team and owner of Revolution Coaching, LLC. She has over 25 years experience racing and working with athletes ranging from professional to recreational. Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Science Degree in Athletic Training, and a Master of Education Degree with emphasis in Coaching and Sports Medicine from Texas State University. She spent several years serving as Athletic Trainer for the University of Texas and the University of Houston. Jill's four-woman team established a world record at the Race Across America in 2010, crossing the 3,000 mile race in just seven days and some change. She is also a National and State Champion, but enjoys spending time teaching and promoting the sport of cycling to beginner women. With a background as an All-American NAIA collegiate runner and volleyball player, Jill is now an elite level triathlete, focusing on non-draft long course racing, particularly half-Ironman distance.

After guiding bicycle tours in the Southwest and Pacific Northwest for 4 years, Kristin Gavin moved to Philadelphia in 2007 to pursue a Master's in Exercise and Sport Psychology at Temple University with a specific interest in physical activity promotion as an effective tool for combating anxiety and depression among women. While working on her degree, Kristin worked as a research fellow for the Safe Routes to School National Partnership, worked miscellaneous jobs with the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, and started a fitness program for residents at a drug and alcohol recovery home for women in the Mt. Airy neighborhood of Philadelphia. In May 2009, Gavin founded Gearing Up, a nonprofit bicycle program providing women in transition from abuse, addiction and incarceration with the opportunity to safely ride a bicycle for exercise, transportation, and personal growth. Gearing Up partners with residential and outpatient women's recovery and re-entry programs as well as the Philadelphia County Women's Prison to help women in recovery and re-entry use the bicycle as a tool for emotional, social and physical health. She is an elite mountain and cyclocross team member of TeamCycstic Fibrosis.

Helen Ho is a New York City native, an environmental advocate, and a thought leader in fields ranging from alternative transportation and waste management to environmental education and community empowerment. Before getting her hands dirty in the bicycling movement, Helen worked for the NYC Parks Department and the NYC Health Department organizing on issues related to equity and access in parks, play spaces, and healthy eating. She founded and organized the first Tour de Queens for Transportation Alternatives and co-founded the Youth Bike Summit. Her newest pet project is called POW! People On Wheels which aims to expand local cycling advocacy discussions by reaching out to underrepresented bicyclists around New York City including women, people of color, and delivery cyclists. Helen is currently the Development Director for Recycle-A-Bicycle and has her Masters in Urban Planning from Hunter College.

Kit Hodge is the Deputy Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, leading our team of advocates and program staff. Ms. Hodge joined the staff in April 2009 as Great Streets Project Director and became Deputy Director in April 2011. She has a long and successful history of leading campaigns for more livable streets. She helped launch the much-lauded NYC Streets Renaissance Campaign while working at NYC's Transportation Alternatives, where she also served as Campaigns Director and Events and Membership Director. She then did similar work at the Metropolitan Planning Council in Chicago; this included, among other things, managing a coalition called Business Leaders for Transportation and helping to launch a large-scale placemaking initiative. She served as a member of the Mayor's Pedestrian Advisory Council in Chicago. Before joining our team, she directed a nonprofit focused on grassroots neighborhood improvement. Kit also has a background in strategic marketing. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College.

Gin Kilgore is a Chicago-based transportation advocate who was raised on a diet of walking, biking, transiting and cabbing in a car-free family, and is raising her son the same way. She has been a leader in many grassroots efforts that promote cycling and reduce car usage, such as Bike Winter, which helps keep cyclists in the saddle year round through workshops, events, giveaways and old-fashioned boosterism. She is also involved in Kidical Mass, which is a free, monthly family bike ride that builds community and shows passersby the many ways to ride with children. Her professional fields are education and transportation planning/advocacy, with jobs ranging from being a lead literacy teacher at a Chicago public elementary school, and serving as the first transportation planner focused on bike/ped issues at the Chicago area's MPO. She currently works at the League of Illinois Bicyclists and Alta Planning + Design.

Mia Kohout is the co-owner and co-publisher and editor-in-chief of Momentum Mag, an independent media company that celebrates the growing transportation cycling movement in North America, with an emphasis on women and families. She encourages more women to ride bikes by showcasing cycling as an easy, fun, sexy, smart and efficient way to get around. Mia is also the founder of Bike to Work Week in Metro Vancouver, where in its inaugural year in 2007 more than 1,000 new cyclists participated, of which more than 50% were women.

Alexis Lantz is a policy analyst with the Policies for Livable, Active Communities and Environments (PLACE) Program at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Previously, she was the Planning & Policy Director at the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC). During her tenure at LACBC she conducted the first ever citywide bicycle and pedestrian count for the City of Los Angeles and had a hand in shaping policies in the city and county of Los Angeles to increase infrastructure for bicycling as well as the amount and diversity of people bicycling for everyday transportation. She also worked to expand countywide advocacy capacity for bikeways and complete streets through LACBC's Regional Partnership program. Alexis holds an M.A. in Urban Planning from UCLA. While at UCLA, she initiated a student-led course on bicycle and pedestrian planning that continues today and authored the report “Cycling in Los Angeles” as a Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative fellow. She is on the Board of the California Bicycle Coalition and steering committee of Los Angeles Walks.

Allison Mannos has worked for LAANE as a communications specialist on the Construction Careers and Grocery Retail projects since Fall 2011. She is interested in finding multidisciplinary, policy-oriented solutions to alleviate urban poverty and environmental problems in communities of color. Allison previously worked for the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition as their urban strategy director on City of Los Angeles-related campaigns, policy and communications. In 2008, she co-founded and was the program manager for the award-winning City of Lights Program, which advocates, organizes, and educates Latina/o, low-income cyclists in Central, South and East Los Angeles She continues to serve on that program's board. Allison also was a co-founding member of CicLAvia.

USAC Level 2 Coach, RaeLynn Milley coaches beginner to intermediate cyclists in southern California. RaeLynn is also the Women's Editor for Road Bike Action magazine where she writes about professional women cyclists, product reviews, training and female specific bikes. She is the founder WomenCyclist.com and a member of B4T9 Women's Cycling Team. RaeLynn lives in San Diego, Calif.

Ovarian Psycos is an all-womyn bicycle brigade, cycling for the purpose of healing communities physically, emotionally, and spiritually by addressing pertinent issues through cycling. Through group rides such as the all-womyn Luna ride, transgressive art/iconography and programming centered around issues of womyn of color, we have begun that process while gaining international attention. Las Ovas will celebrate its two-year anniversary this summer by bringing LA its first ever Clitoral Mass on the blue moon, August 31. We are also working to open a community bike space in Boyle Heights next year.

As Events Coordinator for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association, Nelle Pierson creates a range of events to unite and celebrate residents who bike for transportation throughout the D.C. region. In addition to speaking on the National Women Cycling Forum, Nelle has helped develop WABA's WomenBike Program -- a product of the Local Women's Forum and Women on Bikes Campaign -- and recently banded together with the Capital Spokeswomen, a lively group of gals who get together and get more gals on bikes. Nelle believes in the boundless benefits of the bicycle, and, in order to get more people on bikes and normalize bicycling in the United States, women need to work on making bicycling more normal.

Lisa Rodriguez is a bike mechanic, instructor, and ride leader at Recycle-A-Bicycle in NYC. Introduced to Recycle-A-Bicycle as a junior in high school, Lisa has since repaired thousands of bicycles and has led bike rides for hundreds of kids. Lisa's bike advocacy efforts have led her to lobbying electeds on the steps of Capitol Hill, leading workshops at the Youth Bike Summit, and to numerous community meetings as part of Local Spokes, the bike coalition of the Lower East Side and Chinatown. She is 21 years old and is a student at John Jay College in New York, NY.

Caroline Samponaro is the Director of Bicycle Advocacy at Transportation Alternatives, an 8,000-member pro-bicycling non-profit founded in 1973. Caroline is one of the nation's foremost advocates for cycling and has spearheaded New York City’s rapid transformation into a bicycle-friendly city. She has directed campaigns that address all areas of bicycling, from developing new neighborhood bike lane networks, to educating cyclists about their responsibilities on the road, to leading national roundtables of experts on public bike share systems. Caroline is frequently quoted in the New York Times, Bicycling Magazine and New York Magazine, and she is a sought-out speaker on urban bicycling culture, the growth of cycling among women, and the history of bicycling in America. Caroline holds a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Columbia University.

Meghan Sahli-Wells is a community organizer and Culver City Councilmember. Inspired by her nine years living car-free in Paris, Sahli-Wells helped to craft Culver City's first Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, then co-founded the Culver City Bicycle Coalition. She was elected to the Council in April 2012 and is only the 5th woman to be elected to the Culver City Council in the city’s 95 year history. Meghan is CEO of the non-profit Culver City Downtown Neighborhood Association, whose goal is to enhance community livability by providing education and advocacy for sustainable development, ecology, healthy transportation, and civic engagement. She also organizes for Transition Culver City, part of the international Transition Town movement that seeks to create resilient communities capable of moving beyond fossil-fuel dependency and into a sustainable future. With two sons attending elementary school, Sahli-Wells is an active member of the school's Green Team and Safe Routes to School committee. Recipient of the 2010 Democrat of the Year Award by the Los Angeles County Democratic Party (47th AD), Sahli-Wells is a National Women's Political Caucus L.A. Westside 2012 Remarkable Woman honoree.

Claire Stoscheck is an organizer, cyclist, and activist who is the Director of the Community Partners Bike Library -- one of the three co-Directors of Cycles for Change -- a non-profit in the Twin Cities, MN. Claire has worked extensively in bike advocacy and social justice in the United States and in Quito, Ecuador, with a particular focus on bike feminism and transportation justice. She also organizes in immigrant rights movements, local food justice movements, and anti-resource extraction movements. She holds a B.A. in Community Organizing for Sustainable Living from Macalester College.

Jennifer Tetrick's journey in the sport of triathlon began with a bike. A ranch girl at heart, Jennifer rode horses long before ever riding a bike, but after buying her first road bike and winning her age group in her first triathlon in 2009, she was hooked. In 2010, Jennifer won the Triathlon at Treasure Island as an amateur, and moved into professional field of racing. Career highlights thus far include 2nd place at Ironman 70.3 Florida 2012, 3rd place at the Philadelphia Triathlon 2012, 2nd at Ironman 70.3 Muskoka 2011, 3rd at Ironman 70.3 Pocono Mountains, in addition to being included on USA's team for ITU long course worlds. Jennifer has participated at the elite level in cycling as well as triathlon and is an advocate for increasing opportunities in sport for people of all abilities and levels. Jennifer has worked as a communications director for a Member of Congress and later as a communications lead supporting the Department of Energy's Solar Energy Program. Currently, when not training or racing, Jennifer consults for a renewable energy company based in Santa Monica, CA, and volunteers for an organization dedicated to helping athletes with intellectual disability reach the highest level in sport, including the Paralympics.

Katherine Westmoreland is a 2011 David Douglas High School graduate and 4-year member of the Multnomah Youth Commission. The volunteer-based Youth Commission serves as the official youth advisory board for the City of Portland and Multnomah County. During her time on the commission, Katherine was heavily involved in the organization of the YouthPass program, which now provides free public transportation to over 13,000 high school students in the Portland area. Katherine served as co-chair of the YouthPass Committee from its creation in 2008 until 2010. She is currently a sophomore at Brigham Young University, studying Political Science with an emphasis on local government and youth engagement.

Felicia Williams commutes by bike 50-75 miles per week and is on the Board of the Los Angeles non-profit C.I.C.L.E. that promotes the bicycle as a healthy and sustainable mode of transportation. Ms. Williams is also an appointed official in the City of Pasadena on the Board of the Pasadena Center Operating Company that operates the civic auditorium, convention center, and Convention and Visitors Bureau. Her previous appointments include the Environmental and Transportation Advisory Commissions. Her professional background is in finance with experience in the energy, investment banking, and real estate industries. Ms. Williams has a B.A. from Stanford University in Urban Studies, an M.A. from UCLA in Urban Planning, and an M.B.A. in finance from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Dorothy Wong is a multi-time cyclocross champion with titles in mountain bike and road racing, as well. She has 17 years experience in bicycle racing, and has been organizing cyclocross races in Southern California since 2005. Wong started cycling in 1995 while holding down a high-pressure career in television. Nine weeks after buying her bike, she entered her first mountain bike race and discovered her passion. In her mission to grow cycling, she created a cycling non-profit organization called The TEAM, an all-inclusive group that supports youth and women to build confidence in riding and life. Dorothy is also a founder the Women's Cycling Challenge -- a grassroots competitive racing series for women that incorporates mentoring and clinics as well a member of the LUNA Chix LA cycling team encouraging women to get out and ride a bike.

Susi Wunsch is founder of the New York City-based website Velojoy.com, a growing online source of news, events, how to's and stylish gear for city cyclists and "bike curious" New Yorkers. The site is dedicated to attracting more women to NYC's bike lanes by demystifying and celebrating the joys of two-wheeled transportation. Susi is a member of the board of directors of the advocacy organization Transportation Alternatives and supports a variety of pro-biking causes in New York City.