Our Team
BikeMN is governed by a statewide Board of Directors
and staffed by tireless advocates for bicycling and walking.
BikeMN Staff
Reach us by email – (first name)@bikemn.org
Michael Wojcik
Executive Director
Michael Wojcik is the newly appointed Executive Director of the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota (BikeMN), having officially joined the organization on August 1, 2023. As the second-ever Executive Director, he follows the successful tenure of founding Executive Director, Dorian Grilley. Michael brings a diverse background in Business, Technology, and Local Government Leadership to his role.
Born and raised in Greater Minnesota, Michael has spent the majority of his life immersed in the state’s communities. Currently residing in Rochester, MN, with his family, he has a deep connection to various regions, including Minnesota’s Iron Range, the Red River Valley, and the scenic area of Duluth and the North Shore. Michael is strongly committed to extending BikeMN’s reach and resources to both Urban and Greater Minnesota, including Native communities, with a focus on ensuring safe and accessible biking, walking, or rolling options for all.
Before joining BikeMN, Michael served 12 years as a City Councilmember in Rochester, MN, where he devoted considerable efforts to promoting safe biking, walking, and rolling as viable transportation alternatives. He played a key role in spearheading the development of noteworthy bike and pedestrian infrastructure projects in Rochester. Moreover, Michael contributed to updating the community’s comprehensive plan, placing a central focus on equity and sustainability. His dedication to environmental stewardship also led to the successful transition of Minnesota’s largest public utility to rely entirely on renewable energy by 2030, earning recognition at the local, state, and national levels.
Michael’s academic achievements include an MBA from the prestigious Carlson School of Management and a Master’s Degree in Electrical Engineering. He has further demonstrated his proficiency by passing Level III of the Chartered Financial Analyst exam sequence.
Beyond his professional accomplishments, Michael finds joy in his personal life. Married to Lisa (Hokenson) Wojcik since 2001, he is a proud father to two daughters, Anastasia and Natalia, and shares his home with a shelter dog named “Bader.”
In his leisure time, Michael delights in exploring nature through walking excursions, attempting to play soccer, and immersing himself in culturally vibrant parts of the world. He has an unwavering commitment to enhancing the lives of individuals through the creation of people-centered spaces and infrastructure.
With Michael Wojcik at the helm, the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota is poised to embrace a new era of leadership, advocacy, and progress in fostering safe and sustainable transportation options for all Minnesotans.
Mel Gonzalez Vazquez
Communications Director
Melissa is originally from Guanajuato, Mexico and relocated to Houston, TX where she grew up learning traditional horticulture, building home gardens, and harvesting produce from them alongside her father. She moved to Northfield in 2018 to pursue a degree in Political Science International Relations and Philosophy at Carleton College. Over the past 7 years, she worked in non-profits and congressional campaigns in California, Texas, and Minnesota. Melissa taught groups of volunteers how to organize during and shortly after a pandemic in both English and Spanish. She has a diverse national background working in supporting voter engagement, human rights
activism, leadership development, and social media management.
Through her current role at BikeMN, Melissa is most passionate about expanding the scope of BikeMN’s audience of who enjoys biking in the Twin Cities through accessible media resources. She is excited to design media campaigns and community building events that make the Twin Cities safer for bikers. When she is not doing communications work, Melissa enjoys cooking fusion dishes, taking candid portrait photography, and reading fantasy books!
Angela Olson she/her
Education Director
Angela has worked in the bike industry as a mechanic, service writer, and in sales, as well as leading rides and workshops for WTF (women, trans, femme) folks. Advocating for cycling and pedestrian safety speaks to her passion for public health and access. Angela views her role at BikeMN as a perfect marriage between her personal interest and professional experience.
Before joining BikeMN, Angela worked in the arts education field for public schools and museums across MN. Most recently, she managed Studio Programs at Mia (the Minneapolis Institute of Art). Cycling has been her main source of transportation since she moved to Minneapolis in 2005 when she was gifted a yellow 1987 Schwinn road bike from her grandpa.
In her spare time, Angela loves to bake, spend time with her family, and play in the backyard with her dog, Princess Leia.
Helena Howard she/they
Education Associate
Helena grew up biking around Bloomington, MN and moved to Minneapolis in 2015, where she worked at Animal Humane Society providing low-cost vet care and snuggling baby animals. During this time, she attempted to bike across the country which sparked her interest in bike repair. In her three years as a professional bike mechanic, she felt most fulfilled when getting someone rolling again who needed their bike for transportation. She facilitates bike repair nights as a volunteer for Grease Rag, a Twin Cities group for FTW riders. When not riding her bike, Helena loves sewing, puppetry, dance, and taking her dog Grazie on long walks.
Ted Duepner he/him
Supporter Relations & Engagement Manager
Ted has been using his bike as a main source of transportation year-round in Minnesota since 2003 including 15 years of commuting 20+ miles per day. While the most rewarding job he had was being a playground/lunchroom supervisor at an elementary school for 10 years, he has always strived to incorporate bicycle advocacy and encourage ridership wherever he has found himself. Legitimizing cycling and walking for transportation has been and remains a central component of his identity. When not on his bike you may find him, canoeing, hiking, fishing, hunting, playing yard games, losing at board games, and foraging for wild foods or pretty rocks.
CJ Lindor
Education Coordinator
Before coming to the Bicycle Alliance in 2014, CJ was teaching outdoor and environmental education for 6 years. His background also includes many years of bike shop retail and repair experience, and he is a founding coach for one of the MN High School Cycling League teams. CJ believes in the transformative power of the bicycle to improve the quality of life for people and communities. His current role at the Bicycle Alliance is a perfect synthesis of his passions for outdoor recreation, sustainable communities, and transportation advocacy. CJ loves all types of cycling but most especially ripping through the forest on a mountain bike.
Natalie Gille
Bike Walk Leadership Network Manager
Natalie Gille grew up in Lauderdale, Minnesota, biking and walking to local parks, community events, church, and the mall. She continued commuting by bike while studying at Bemidji State University. As a League Cycling Instructor (LCI), Natalie teaches bike education, leads bike rides, helps plan Bike Month activities, and works with communities to become more bicycle-friendly. She leads the Minnesota Bike Walk Leadership Network, moderates monthly webinars and manages the Community Bike Walk Leadership Team program statewide. Natalie cycles for both transportation and leisure, frequently choosing travel destinations based on whether they are walk and bicycle-friendly.
Maryellen Saatzer she/they Membership & Accounting Clerk
Maryellen has been walking and biking around Minneapolis since 2019. This is their first role in the transportation industry and she is excited to be aligning passion with work at BikeMN. She mostly rides for fun or to do errands, and enjoys finding new trails in and around Minneapolis. In their free time, they love to knit, read fiction, and hang out with other people’s dogs.
Ilse Griffin they/them
Education Assistant
Ilse is BikeMN’s Education Assistant. They come with over a decade of experience in education, having worked as a youth worker, an adult ESL school coordinator, a tutor, and a teacher for ESL students both in Minnesota and abroad. Ilse is dedicated to education that is practical, accessible, and empowering. They also have spent years organizing and facilitating as a member of various community and justice groups in the Twin Cities. They are very passionate about the impact of popular education on culture change, social movements, and general community well-being. Ilse has been living happily car-free for their entire adult life. Outside of bike adventures, Ilse loves to write, read, create music, and meditate.
Jenna Hawkes she/they
Communications and Advocacy Intern
Jenna is originally from Upland, California where she grew up hiking in the San Antonio mountains and biking through the hilly, sycamore-lined streets. She moved to Saint Paul in 2021 to pursue a degree in Environmental Studies, Food Systems, and Spanish at Macalester College. Over the past 5 years, she has worked on farms and farm camps across California, teaching groups of volunteers and children how to raise farm animals and grow their own food.
Through her role at BikeMN, Jenna is most passionate about expanding the scope of BikeMN’s audience and the demographics of who gets to enjoy biking in the Twin Cities as well as designing legislative campaigns that make the Twin Cities more accessible and safe for bikers. When she is not doing environmental work or biking, Jenna enjoys cooking, rock climbing, and salsa dancing!
Staff & Board Demographics
Interested in Becoming a Board Member?
The BikeMN board has annual openings for people from around Minnesota that are interested in contributing their time, interest, skills, and passion toward accomplishing BikeMN’s mission and vision.
Everyone is invited to apply.
Board of Directors
This group of skilled professionals, active transportation advocates, and passionate bicyclists and pedestrians has built up BikeMN from an ad-hoc committee to an organization with statewide influence and a $1 million budget. Directors have hailed from communities across Minnesota.
Andy Lambert, Board Chair, Minneapolis
Rachael Weiker, Vice-Chair, Minneapolis
Charles Townsend, Treasurer, Minneapolis
Kim Struk, Secretary, Roseville
Kim Struk is great and will add a bio soon.
Tom Steen, Rochester
Mario Hernandez he/him, Saint Paul
Mario believes nonprofits and their leaders can build and sustain a more just society. He’s been in the sector for nearly 25 years in numerous executive leadership and board roles. In his current role as Strategic Services Director at Propel Nonprofits, he’s privileged and excited to share what he’s learned leading nonprofit organizations with other current and emerging nonprofit leaders. He enjoys talking strategy with anyone who will listen; creating operational plans that bridge strategy into practice; furthering inclusive leadership development; and, paying for it all through sustainable business models. St. Paul is his home. He (pre-pandemic) crosses the river daily. He enjoys riding his bicycle on Minnesota’s vast number of trails. Family and connection to the community matter to him.
Rachel Callanan, Saint Paul
Luke Ewald, Jackson
Luke grew up in Monticello, MN bicycling the scenic-wooded trails of Mississippi Regional Park and
blazing goat trails of his own from bicycling to and from school year-round. He attended college at Saint
Cloud State University and received a degree in Community Health. He interned at CentraCare Health’s
St. Benedict’s Senior Center in St. Cloud where he worked in the Alzheimer’s/Dementia Unit.
He moved to Jackson, MN in 2014 to start a career in public health at Des Moines Valley Health and
Human Services in 2014. Luke works under the Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) grant program, with a particular interest in Community Active Living and Healthy Eating, Community Tobacco Prevention/Control, School Wellness, and Clinical-Community Linkages. Of these specialties, he really enjoys Community Active Living, helping communities, counties, and schools create and implement Active Living Plans, Land Use/Zoning Plans, and Safe Routes to School Plans.
In his free time, Luke enjoys being active as often as possible with a special interest in running and
biking; of course, you will see him bicycling around downtown Jackson during the dog days of
summer. In his downtime, you will find Luke watching college sports, watching Netflix or Amazon Prime
series, and surfing the internet listening to music.
Dina Khaled, Minneapolis
Cindy Winters, Mankato
Cindy Winters spent the past 20 years working in public health, helping communities improve access to physical activity by increasing safety for walking and bicycling through education and infrastructure changes at the state and local levels. She was the program manager for the Heart of New Ulm Project, a 10-year research project to reduce heart attacks in New Ulm, MN. She recently retired from the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation but continues to provide consulting services on population health strategies to improve health and community vitality. Cindy lives in Mankato with her husband and two rescue dogs. They enjoy hiking, biking, kayaking, and camping. Basically anything outdoors, and enjoying all that nature has to offer.
Reyna Lopez, Saint Paul
Reyna Lopez grew up in Monterrey, NL, Mexico. 10+ years of experience as a teacher and school counselor. Reyna is a cyclist passionate about education she believes that education is the first tool to be a safe and responsible Cyclist.
She has developed programs and fundraising with different nonprofits just for mention one BICIS Y BECAS a fundraising for The Latino Scholarship Fund. Lopez firmly believes that we all have a different story to share and we can learn from others, learn from others and allow her to grow empathy. Her vision is to see more people from the Latino community practicing an outdoor sport and to be part of the community. She believes that cycling provides happiness and freedom, but it also allows you to experience new places and make you feel part of the place where you call home.
Bob Bierschied, Roseville
Bob retired as the Director of Parks and Recreation with the City of St. Paul and was the previous Director for the City of Roseville, and the City of Marshall. He also served with the MN Parks and Trails Legacy Funding Committee from 2012-13 and on the MN Parks and Trails Legacy Advisory Committee (202010-2019 including Chair 2017-2019) and the Greater Minnesota Parks and Trails E-Team as an Evaluation Consultant. He recently retired as the Chair of the Minnesota Parks and Trails Council. He is a walker and an avid cyclist.