Board of Directors

Monika Bach (she/her/hers) | Boston

Monika Bach is the Northeast Regional Manager of Local Marketing and Social Impact at REI Co-op. With over a decade of purpose-driven marketing experience, Monika designs strategies that drive brand awareness and consumer loyalty, and meaningful strategic partnerships.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Arts and Digital Media from Gannon University and a Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Harvard Business School, Executive Education. Monika is also a certified PROSCI change management practitioner and leads professional development programs that enhance the employee experience and organizational transformation.

Based in Boston, she enjoys city living and outdoor adventures across New England with her family and their bikes!

Doug Cornelius, Board Chair (He/Him) | Newton

Doug is an avid bike commuter during the week from his home in Newton. On the weekend, he loves long bike rides in search of ice cream and donuts. Doug rides the Pan Mass Challenge on Team Kinetic Karma.

When he’s not on his bike, Doug is working as the Chief Compliance Officer for a real estate private equity firm in Boston. Doug graduated from Brandeis University and Boston University School of Law. He is also an Investment Adviser Certified Compliance Professional® and teaches compliance at Boston University School of Law.

Jack Faer | Wayland

Jack’s adult cycling experience began with the inaugural Boston to NY Aids Ride in 1995 and continued as a rider and fundraiser for the Pan Mass Challenge and Ride to End Alzheimer’s. His love for travel has included cycling in Australia, Europe and South Africa, notably the Cape Town Argus, the largest bike race in the world.  Additionally, he cycles with his wife, Jo Anne, the proud owner of an e-bike.

Professionally, Jack was trained as a CPA and FBI agent before a corporate career with Fidelity, State Street and Iron Mountain. He served on the Board of the Alzheimer’s Association as the audit committee chair and serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the Smith School, University of Maryland. As the founder of Faer Risk Consulting, LLC, he shows individuals and organizations how to reduce risk, with a focus on financial and security challenges.

Jarrod Ford (He/Him) | Leominster

Jarrod cycles for recreation, fitness and local transport. He fell in love with cycling as an adult training for longer rides, realizing how much distance one could cover while still breathing fresh air. The connection he feels with the broader surroundings keeps him coming back for more. 

Witnessing the challenges that many cyclists face on the road, he seeks to lower barriers of entry for many would-be cyclists across the range of all in our communities. This passion touches on many aspects of urban transport, public infrastructure, and social and economic equality. 

Professionally, Jarrod works in banking technology, helping to make the economic system more approachable, understandable, and higher quality within the community financial space. Assisting in making the complicated machine that is our economy run just a bit more effectively for a broader base of society he finds rewarding.

Abhinav Gandhi (He/Him) | Worcester

Abhinav is a weekend rider who enjoys exploring bike paths and rail trails in the area as much as he likes to create his own local routes in central Massachusetts. He has enjoyed sharing his love for riding with friends while leading social rides and bike clinics in and around Worcester. 

Currently, he is working towards a Ph.D. in Robotics Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he has been a passionate voice in the Graduate Worker Union effort as part of the organizing and bargaining committees.

Martin Hayes (He/Him) | Pepperell

Martin is an avid recreational cyclist who discovered a passion for cycling through the Pan-Mass Challenge.  Whether exploring rail trails, commuting to Cambridge, or traversing the hills of western Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire, cycling has been an important part of his life for several years.  

In addition to cycling, Martin is an accomplished scientist in the pharmaceutical industry where he is Chief of Staff for a global neuroscience research team. Martin is also passionate about expanding educational opportunities for economically disadvantaged children in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville through volunteer work.

Eric Kerns | North Adams

Eric grew up in Irvine, CA, a mid-century planned community with over 100 miles of off-street bike trails, and dreams of a day when this is the nationwide norm. He rides a couple of vintage Frankenbikes around his adopted hometown of North Adams, MA and is proud to be representing Berkshire County on the MassBike board.

Eric is a partner at TOURISTS, an award-winning hotel in North Adams, and spends a lot of time advancing and advocating for the North Adams Adventure Trail, the long-awaited path connecting community and cultural resources to other regional bike trails. At TOURISTS, he also produces the signature Sing for Your Slumber live music series.

Kathleen Lambert | Haverhill

Kathleen Lambert is the ARPA Project Manager administering the $37.5 million dollars of American Rescue Plan Act funds for the City of Haverhil. She brings years of experience in management of funds, grants and procurement to the Massbike Board. She also works in transportation planning and transit after many years in the Architectural field. In past roles Ms. Lambert has designed facilities for transit, bicycle and pedestrians as well as buildings. Recently she was named Commissioner for the City of Haverhill to the Merrimack Valley Planning Commission. She has a strong passion for community service.

She holds two bachelor’s degrees from the Rhode Island School of Design and a Master’s of Community and Regional Planning from Temple University. Her professional experience includes providing design services and advice on numerous community-based projects and has led design project teams for multiple clients. She served as representative for Rock Region METRO to the Technical Coordinating Committee and Regional Planning Advisory Council for Metroplan MPO. She is a cyclist, hiker and pickle-baller. Plus, she’s an advocate for transit, bicycle and pedestrian issues in her community and the greater Northshore. Kathleen lives in Haverhill, MA.

Liz Johnson | Holden

Liz Johnson fell in love with cycling in 8th grade when she moved to the countryside. Having no one to hang out with during those long summer days, she and her trusty Pekingese pooch (riding shotgun) explored bucolic byways. Rediscovering cycling as an adult, she instantly fell in love with the Norwottuck Rail Trail. She has cycled New England, Vancouver, Santa Monica, West Virginia, England, and Denmark. She is a board member of Norwottuck Network, Treasurer of the Holden Democratic Town Committee, and member of Wachusett Greenways and Friends of the Gibbs Crossing Rail Trail (Ware) and serves as co-host of Golden Spike events.

Liz has recently served as a national consultant for the College Board Advanced Placement program and a schools teacher, administrator, and consultant. A child court advocate, she developed an independent project collecting and shipping over 26,000 books to schools, libraries, and universities in Liberia.

George Lester (He/him) | Medfield

George started riding a bike for his paper route in elementary school, and has been cycling ever since for commuting, transportation, family fun, recreation and fitness. His favorite cycling activities now are mountain biking and long-distance bike-packing. With MassBike, George wants to focus on advocacy at a state and local level for bicycle safety and equitable access to cycling for all.

George also wants to honor the legacy of his brother and parents and the work they did in cycling and pedestrian safety advocacy. His brother Al Lester was killed on his bicycle by a drunk driver in 1992, while participating in a 24 hour endurance challenge. Out of this heartbreak, his parents became tireless advocates for initiatives to combat drunk driving and promote safety on roads for pedestrians and cyclists everywhere.

George is also active on a board or committee level with Hale Education, NEMBA, the Bay Circuit Trail, Friends of Medfield Forests and Trails, and the Town of Medfield Open Space and Recreation Planning Committee, and volunteers with Bikes Not Bombs.

Vance Perry | Marblehead

Eric Poch, Board Treasurer | Sudbury

Eric built his first 10-speed bike from trash-picked parts at the age of 8 and has loved riding on two wheels ever since! He has a lengthy industry association working in bike shops and with race promoters. His racing history began as an elite level Junior racing on the road and in time trials and he still races Masters road and cyclocross and enjoys mountain biking, too. He’s an outdoor enthusiast and active skier with a PSIA certification and taught at ski resorts New England. He also enjoys being active in his community having held various positions over the last 25 years, on local task forces, committees and boards and is current Chair for his town Finance Committee and now joins MassBike as a Board member and Treasurer.

In his professional life, Eric holds an MBA and a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certification with more than 25 years experience in audit & assurance, controllership, and financial operations. He serves as a subject matter expert in Sarbanes Oxley with a deep understanding of COSO, PCAOB auditing standards / SEC and IFRS requirements and Internal Controls. He has made contributions as a leader in domestic and global companies from $1B to $10B+ with a passion for cross-functional and multinational team development with extensive international work experience across North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

Bonnie Roalsen (She/Her) | Wellesley

Bonnie is a recreational cyclist and outdoor enthusiast who thrives on biking adventures with family and friends. She is deeply committed to helping new cyclists learn to ride and develop safe biking practices, as well as fostering collaborative community initiatives like bike trains and walking school buses. Her passion lies in supporting active, sustainable activities and expanding equitable access to information and cultural resources.

Bonnie holds a BA from Dartmouth College and a business degree from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. With over two decades of experience in the public sector, she is widely recognized for her innovative approach to enhancing community engagement and expanding community access to resources and tools.

Kristin Sundin Brandt (she/her) | Ashland

An adult-onset athlete, Kristin's favorite athletic activities almost always involve riding her bike whether for fun, fitness or competition. Through Steve the Bike Guy, an independent bicycle shop in Sherborn, Massachusetts she co-owns with her husband, Steve Brandt, she fuels her passion for encouraging women and girls to ride by organizing group rides, and volunteering at local events.

Staff

Galen Mook, Executive Director (he/him) | Allston

Galen has been involved in MassBike since his days at Boston University, when he helped kick-start the bicycle advocacy movement by co-founding a student group BU Bikes. Before taking the helm at MassBike, Galen worked at Landry's Bicycles in the advocacy and marketing department, worked for the start-up the Hubway bike share company for the first three years of the program, founded a community bike co-op non-profit in Allston called CommonWheels, and has worked as a pedicabber and bicycle activist in the Boston area for over a decade. He especially enjoys teaching folks some of the basics of biking to break down barriers and get more folks riding more bikes more often.

Galen holds a B.A. and an M.A. in Social Movement Theory and Multimedia Journalism from Boston University.

Alexis Hosea-Abbott, Regional Advocacy Specialist (she/her) | Easthampton

Alexis first discovered rail trails on Seattle's Burke-Gilman trail in 1996 and later discovered, in 2004 when living abroad, that it was not only possible to live without a car, but was delightful. She joined MassBike in 2023 to help everyone to have a chance at that sweet sweet car-free lifestyle. She lives in Easthampton, where she enjoys walking and biking to all of her needs and most of her hobbies.

Alex Salcedo, Worcester Program Manager (she/her) | Worcester

Alex was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador, and relocated to Worcester, MA, in 2010, to pursue her graduate studies. Not being familiar with Massachusetts, biking allowed her to get out of her comfort zone and start building community, by getting familiar with neighbors and neighborhoods. This translated throughout the years into establishing working relationships with organizations and businesses that contribute to the community’s well-being. For her, opting for a bike instead of a car is a win for everyone: cleaner air, less traffic, and a healthier world. 

Alex holds a B.S in Business Administration from Guayaquil State University and an M.S. in Nonprofit Management from Worcester State University.

Emma Walter, Administrative Coordinator (she/her) | Somerville

Growing up in the Boston suburbs, Emma has fond memories of exploring the Boston area on foot and on two wheels. She is thrilled to contribute to the work that MassBike is doing to allow more people to enjoy our beautiful state without a car. She comes to MassBike with diverse experience in program coordination and volunteer management and holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Lawrence University. 

Cycling Instructors

Tina Chan  (Allston)

Tina loves the freedom, joy, and movement that riding her bike brings. She enjoys teaching people of all ages how to ride a bike safely and legally so they are empowered every time they ride a bike.

Aaron Charlwood (Arlington)

Aaron is a League Cycling Instructor who has taught all kinds of cycling skills, including bicycle safety, handling skills, and safe and effective cycling with traffic, to people from ages 2 through 60+. Bicycling has been his primary transportation in metro Boston for over 25 years! He is thrilled to spread the joy and practicality of safe cycling to anyone and everyone. When he's not balancing on rubber legs, you can find him designing and building products, tools and systems for living more sustainably, either at home in his edible permaculture garden or at his makerspace studio in Allston!

SüSi Ecker  (Malden)

Laura J. Gray (Allston)

Laura loves riding her bike because it takes her places she'd never go otherwise, and she want to spread that joy to others. She is a League Certified Instructor (LCI) and has experience in running kids' bike rodeos, teaching bicycle safety to all ages, and mechanics (she built up a wicked cool touring bike!), but her passion is leading rides from three riders to three hundred riders! (You can catch Laura leading the pack at Boston Bike Party!)

Irene Lutts (Quincy)

As year-round, transportation cyclist, Irene spent many years on a family triple before launching her kids on their own bikes. As a League Certified Instructor, she currently leads rides and teaches with the volunteer-run group Quincycles. Irene loves sharing the joy and freedom that bicycling brings to her life by teaching others how to ride and to improve their on-bike skills.

Laura Smeaton (Boston)

Laura loves helping others discover or rediscover the joy, freedom, and independence of bicycling.  Laura grew up in a family of cyclists, and still enjoys pedaling with them. Past adventures include multi-day tours, but these days, she enjoys biking locally for transportation.