Cascade Members, meet your Board of Director candidates!

E-ballots will be delivered to active premium and champion Cascade members December 14, 2018 and must be submitted by December 28, 2018.

 

The Cascade Board of Directors represents the voice of its members and is responsible to the membership. Their role is to ensure that Cascade’s resources are being used to the greatest benefit for all members, as well as the larger community.

For 2019 we have 10 board seats up for election. Over the past months we’ve received great nominations, and after review, the search committee is happy to present a 10-member slate of candidates to the Cascade Board of Directors. 

Five of these candidates are incumbents. If elected, the new or re-elected board members will serve a three-year term beginning in 2019.

The candidates are:

  • Bill Montero, Current Director/President

  • Nick Brown, Current Director

  • Haley Keller, Current Director

  • Tamara Schmautz, Current Director

  • Richard Wolf, Current Director

  • Olga Lucia Hererra, Prospective Director Candidate

  • Brian Knollenberg, Prospective Director Candidate

  • Carrie Umland, Prospective Director Candidate

  • Kermit Williams, Prospective Director Candidate

Bios below

BILL MONTERO, PRESIDENT

These are exciting times to be a member of the Cascade Bicycle Club! From the new Bicycling Center, programs for youth, expanded ride series and support of the Move Seattle levy, Cascade has become a relevant advocate of cycling in the community. As a candidate for the Board of Directors, I would like to participate in executing their vision and strategic plan.

Living in Shoreline and working in Bellevue, I have found that our network of trails and cycling infrastructure still has a long way to go. I’ve participated in local trail subcommittees and the Shoreline planning commission with special emphasis on urban Multimodal Transportation Planning. We live in an area where traditional transportation simply has no room for expansion, yet the population continues to swell. We have an opportunity to make this area a national model by expanding our relationships with the cities and public agencies to promote cycling as not only recreation, but a comfortable and safe method of transportation.

The rabid attitude of car versus bike in our community needs to change. I am excited to add my business experience, communication skills, perspectives and excitement about cycling in the Northwest to the board.

NICK BROWN, DIRECTOR

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I am a life-long cyclist excited to join the board of Cascade Bicycle Club to both participate in and support a club whose mission I believe improves the quality of life in our communities. My own cycling spans racing, touring, and commuting and I realize the benefit of the Club’s hard work every time I saddle up. The Club’s comprehensive approach to serving the community broadly, and cycling specifically, motivates me to join the Board of Directors.

Professionally, I’ve got 20 years’ experience in business consulting, with an extensive background in stakeholder management and operating model design, as well as bringing clarity and order to challenging engagements and a people-focused, empathy-driven approach to problem solving. I have volunteered for the Club in the past, doing maintenance on the fleet of bikes used for kids classes, and I am always excited by the passion of the people that make the Club work.    

Off the bike and outside of work, my interests include teaching Nordic skiing, photography, and the quest to make the perfect loaf of sourdough. 

HALEY KELLER, DIRECTOR

Haley mainly rides as a form of commuting to work and around town. Haley has also enjoyed participating in event rides including the Tour de Kitsap Century, STP, Chilly Hilly and 7 Hills of Kirkland. She looks forward to spending more time this year competing in triathlons and cyclocross races. Haley is also racking up quite a bucket list of future rides, including the Black Hills Centennial Trail in South Dakota.

About Haley: Haley grew up on the Eastside graduating from Lake Washington HS in Kirkland. She received her BS in Mathematics and Master in Teaching from Seattle University. After graduating, she spent the next three years teaching high school math at her Alma Mater. Haley then co-founded and is now co-owner of Peddler Brewing Company in Ballard which opened its doors in 2013. Her work there focuses on accounting and finances, customer service, and front-end operations. Working toward safer streets and a more welcoming community for cyclists is not only important to Haley, it is also part of the mission of Peddler Brewing Company. Specifically, she is a leader in the Connect Ballard neighborhood advocacy team and continually seeks ways for Peddler Brewing Company to support the bicycle community. Haley is pleased to be spending most of her work and "free" time focused on her three favorite hobbies: bikes, beer and math.

Haley looks to the day when the only barrier to bicycling in Seattle is the rain, and even that can be overcome with better gear.

Tamara Schmautz, Director

I am honored to be on the Board of Directors of the Cascade Bicycle Club. After tearing my ACL in 2010, I needed a low impact activity for rehab, started pedaling and found I have a real affinity for cycling. I bought my first road bike in 2011 (and now own three!) and have pedaled thousands of miles in the past five years. I have been on Cascade organized rides including Chilly Hilly, RSVP and Ride Around Washington (RAW) and appreciate the tremendous organization and volunteer spirit within Cascade.

I commute daily from West Seattle to South Lake Union and experience the challenges of what it means to “share the road.” To increase ridership within the community we need to have an environment that is comfortable and safe for everyone, particularly new riders.

I have a special interest in promoting greater diversity within Cascade and the riding community at large. A few years ago I read about the Major Taylor Project, thought it sounded like a great program and started volunteering at Chief Sealth High School. The skills and habits learned by students in ride club are translated to their lives and go much further than cycling. My MTP volunteer experience has been one of the highlights of my association with Cascade and exemplifies the Club’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.

RICHARD WOLF, DIRECTOR

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Richard is a retired tech executive, most recently with Microsoft and earlier with Lotus in Cambridge, MA and Xerox in Palo Alto, CA. He is currently an angel investor helping start-up technology companies develop and grow. He has lived in Seattle for 25 years. Other than cycling, his interests include travel, opera, boating, and he is an avid soccer fan, holding season tickets to the Seattle Sounders.

Richard has been a bike rider his entire life and has been an active club rider in Palo Alto, Boston, and Seattle. Since retiring he has spent 2-3 months each year in France where he rides with French bike clubs. In France he became interested in randonneuring (long distance cycling) and in 2015 he completed the legendary Paris-Brest-Paris, a 1200 km event first run in 1891. He has participated in most of the events offered by Cascade - STP, RSVP, RAW, Flying Wheels, Chilly Hilly, Kitsap Classic - and is a free group ride leader and frequent participant. His favorite recent Cascade experience was volunteering to pre-ride the STP, marking the course for hazards and flagging inaccuracies.

Richard has also done many other types of riding: daily commuting, touring, tandeming, and even tricycling to work when he broke his leg and could not dismount from a bicycle. His fleet includes several folding bikes, a tandem, and a couple of steel classics, but he is most often found these days on a modern carbon fiber bike.

Richard is interested in offering a perspective based on his diversity of club involvement, having seen how a variety of clubs provide different models of a club experience to serve their communities. He is interested in advancing the safety of cyclists on our roads, having witnessed how local culture that respects cycling and legal frameworks such as vulnerable user laws can enhance rider safety. He is also interested in including the growing e-bike community in Cascade. He believes that a strong local bike club that represents all cyclists is essential to helping every cyclist.

blair dillaway, PROSPECTIVE DIRECTOR CANDIDATE

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Blair enjoyed riding to school, and with friends, growing up in southern California. He stopped riding after college, but then started again in the mid-80s and has been a serious recreational cyclist ever since.  He has commuted by bike to both work and volunteer commitments over the years and has ridden with a number of different groups. Currently, he is part of a year-round Saturday riding group and does social/recreational rides several times a week. He has been a regular participant in Cascade’s one day rides such as Chilly Hilly, Flying Wheels, RSVP, HPC, Ride for Major Taylor, and the Red Bell 100. He has also participated in a number of multi-day tours including those offered by Cascade.

Blair spent over 35 years working in the high technology industry designing and building commercial software products and conducting computer science research. His last position was as a software architect at Microsoft. He retired from there in 2011, after 16 years, where he contributed to several major products and research initiatives. Since retiring, he has worked with a number of local charities as both a volunteer and board member. He is currently on the board of Hopelink, serves as the board Secretary, and is on the Finance Committee.

Blair has lived in King County for the past 30 years and has been a member of the Cascade Bicycle Club since the early 1990s. He has been a longtime supporter of Cascade’s educational programs and has volunteered with the Major Taylor Project since 2012. During that time, he has supported the weekly school bike clubs; ridden with the students on longer group rides and cyclocross races; and attended bike maintenance workshops.

He is a strong supporter of Cascade’s role in building a vibrant cycling community and improving access to safe cycling throughout our area. He believes Cascade’s full spectrum of activities including: education programs; advocacy programs; weekly and longer group rides; and community events are all making important contributions in these areas.

Olga Lucia Hererra, PROSPECTIVE DIRECTOR CANDIDATE

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Olga Lucia became passionate about biking after her dad gave her a purple “Monareta” when she was 10 years old. She was slow at learning how to ride, but her mom encouraged her saying: “Biking is an essential skill if you pedal you are free to go, and it does not cost much.”

She enjoys the freedom of biking in cities, mountains, and roads. She has toured the Ciclovia in Bogota, Martha's Vineyard, Maine,  El Valle Sagrado in Peru, Wisconsin, the surrounding areas around Popayan-Cauca (where she grew up in Colombia) and as a tourist in Berlin, Paris, DC, NY, and Seattle. She did not own a car until she was 30 years old which taught her to value and enjoy biking, walking and public transportation. She now lives in Spokane, WA which is becoming a bike-friendly city through the hard work of local organizations.

Olga Lucia holds a doctorate in Applied Research & Community Psychology from North Carolina State University with experience in design and evaluation of intervention programs for communities. In practice, she was trained to use research methods, backed by psychological and social science theory to analyze and understand social problems. She has over 15 years of experience promoting education, and health through action research, data analysis, and building collaborative processes. She is passionate about understanding the interaction of people in different settings with the purpose of preventing mental health disorders and promoting wellbeing, always paying close attention to groups experiencing disparities.  Currently, Olga Lucia is a Spanish-English Interpreter in Medical and Social Services settings.

Olga Lucia learned about Cascade Bicycle Club at the 2016 Washington Bike Summit. Since then, she has wanted to bring the knowledge and resources that Cascade offers to the east side of the State. She wants to increase ridership among young people so that they grow up using the bike lanes adults are asking cities to build and promoting biking as a personal way to reduce the carbon footprint in the world. Her dreams are to build a community of Latino cyclists in Spokane, convincing them that the American dream can be achieved pedaling not owning a big car, and bring a group of fellow Northwesterners bike touring in Colombia.

brian knollenberg, PROSPECTIVE DIRECTOR CANDIDATE

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Currently at BECU Brian Knollenberg, VP of member insights and strategy is focused on unlocking member value through the use of data and insights. For the last 20 years Knollenberg has helped lead, manage, ideate and optimize digital marketing and analytics campaigns for clients such as Verizon, REI, Microsoft, Nordstrom and HP. His passion is in solving complex business problems, understanding and using data and designing/optimizing full lifecycle marketing programs. Brian lives in the Ballard neighborhood with his wife and 15 year old daughter as well as their 6 year old golden retriever. Brian has lived in Seattle for 21 years and remembers when it felt a lot smaller and more connected.

I am in my 11th year of commuting by bicycle year-round in Seattle. I've enjoyed seeing our cycling infrastructure grow during this time. However, I think there is more we can do to provide safe cycling infrastructure for members of the community. I'm super passionate about the freedom two wheels gives me to have a energizing commute full of fresh air good for my mind and my body. I also enjoy taking part in Chilly Hilly and other organized or weekend rides with my friends and fellow cyclists. I love the camaraderie inherent in bicycling with friends and even strangers, all enjoying the many benefits for ourselves and our environment. I am excited to help improve cycling infrastructure, adoption and benefits for members working with Cascade bike.

carrie umland, PROSPECTIVE DIRECTOR CANDIDATE

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Carrie is a personal injury lawyer who earned her Bachelor of Arts from Central Washington University and received her Juris Doctor degree from University of Puget Sound Law School now known as Seattle University School of Law. She grew up in Washington and has always rode a bike.

Carrie has practiced law for almost 25 years representing plaintiffs, and for a short time, defendants. She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and an Eagle Member of the Washington Association for Justice (WSAJ). She serves on the Client Protection Board and is Special Counsel to the Washington State Bar. She also serves on the Judicial Relations Committee of WSAJ and has served as judge and coordinator for the American Association of Justice Student Trial Advocacy Competition and Seattle University School of Law Appellate Argument Competitions.

Since childhood, Carrie has enjoyed riding bicycles. Riding symbolizes fitness, freedom, and adventure. She participates in triathlons which requires a certain level of fitness. Riding around different areas of Washington represents freedom from work life and stress. Riding around the South of France represents adventure. Being part of Cascade means sharing and promoting cycling to others.

kermit williams, PROSPECTIVE DIRECTOR CANDIDATE

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My favorite ride is the Seattle To Portland. It inspires commitment to riding for a reason and demonstrates the idea of cyclists as a community in motion.  I’ve done it 12 times so far!  I’ve enjoyed RSVP, Flying Wheels, and Chilly Hilly too. I also finished RAMROD, Tour de Blast, and Seattle 2 Spokane, but that’s a different kind of “fun."

I was born here in Seattle and have been riding its streets since I was 9 years old. I have a lifelong passion for cycling that has been cultivated by the opportunities offered by Cascade.  Group rides with Cascade have steered my bikes onto roads I would otherwise have never travelled in Spokane, Walla Walla, Bellingham, Camano Island, Olympia, and Tacoma. I even met the love of my life riding with Cascade. My interest, now that my kids are grown and my career has matured, is to give back to Cascade by offering my wisdom, perspective, and expertise.

Professionally I’m currently working as a Technical Project Manager at BECU. That means I influence people to get things done with no authority. So I’m a facilitator, a process analyst, a lean practitioner, a Scrum Master, and a team builder.

 

To vote 

Electronic voting will be available to all Cascade members on December 14, 2018 via email. Keep your eyes out for an email from Cascade Bicycle Club with your personalized voting link, and review your cascade.org account to keep your email address up to date. Please contact Cascade if your membership is active and you did not receive your personal e-ballot.
 

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