Featured Speakers
Thomas Bevan is CEO of the Island Corridor Foundation (ICF), a federally registered charity that owns and stewards the former E&N rail corridor on Vancouver Island. A Registered Professional Planner, Thomas holds a Master’s degree in Planning from UBC and a Bachelor of Commerce in Real Estate from the University of Guelph. His career spans urban planning, affordable housing, and transit-oriented development. At ICF, Thomas works with First Nations, local governments, and communities to unlock the potential of the Island Corridor as a transportation and community asset, including advancing opportunities for rails-with-trails. Thomas is passionate about creating connected, accessible, and sustainable communities and maximizing the potential of transportation corridors to support how people move and live. He has bike toured from Calgary to San Francisco and Victoria to Campbell River, but didn't bike back!
Aman Chandi (M.Urb) is a social planner and creative generalist. A self-described “human swiss army knife” her toolkit spans planning, research, design, engagement and writing. Across a decade of work in government, non-profits, cooperatives, consulting and academia, she has aimed to genuinely advance the work of more just cities. As Director of Programs and Fundraising at Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders, Aman leads with a collaborative, systems-minded approach to grow the organization’s reach and capacity. As a co-founder of Mela, she works to widen the circle of who gets to shape our cities and whose stories define them. Her practice is anchored in a belief that cities should make freedom tangible, where everyone can move safely, express who they are, access opportunities, and trust that civic decisions are made with their dignity and agency in mind.
Dr. Jaimy Fischer is a Michif (Red River Métis) health geographer, educator, and knowledge mobilizer. She holds a PhD in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and is currently SFU Library’s Empowering Indigenous Pathways Visiting Scholar. Her community-engaged research focuses on Indigenous mobility justice, healthy cities, sustainable and active transportation, and the use of GIScience and spatial research to advance equity in planning, policy, and population health. She is passionate about dismantling colonial structures within institutions and brings Indigenous methodologies, implementation science, and creative approaches to knowledge mobilization to research partnerships grounded in Indigenous self-determination, land-based learning, and community priorities.
Since moving to Vancouver in 2000, Rose has been delighted to cycle the ever-growing number of bike routes throughout the region and southwest BC. As HUB Cycling's Executive Director, Rose brings over 15 years of experience in experiential education and non-profit leadership. After overseeing HUB's education programs, she is excited to build on HUB's remarkable progress in creating safer infrastructure, shaping effective policies, delivering creative programs, and fostering strong partnerships.
Venkatesh Gopal leads movmi, a firm focused on the behavioural change approach to sustainable mobility, working with cities and organizations worldwide on shared micromobility, developer TDM policy, and mobility hubs that bring active transportation, transit and shared mobility services together at the places people live, work, play, and learn. He holds a certificate in behavioural economics and lives it out personally! He and his family live car-free, relying entirely on cycling, walking, transit, and shared mobility to get around.
Laura Jane is the Executive Director of BEST Mobility, a non-profit organization dedicated to making healthy and sustainable transportation part of everyday life across BC. Laura has been a champion for active transportation for the past 13 years. She previously worked for seven years with HUB Cycling, including as Executive Director, and launched numerous new cycling initiatives in Metro Vancouver including Bike the Night, Bike to Shop Days and the Bike Awards. Laura also spent four years leading sustainable transportation programs for the City of Vancouver, launching a variety of new initiatives, including the City's first School Streets program. Across the non-profit and public sectors Laura has built partnerships, driven advocacy campaigns, and delivered practical programs to improve walking and cycling. She has two young daughters.
Matteo works at Decisio as Director of the Italian office and senior consultant to public administrations globally on the topics of territorial analysis, policy impact assessments and strategy. Engineer and data analyst, he combines a strong technical and statistical background with a passion for political and decision-making processes. He has a Ph.D. in Engineering and is taking a second M.Sc. in environmental political science. He has worked as a university researcher in Italy and abroad, as an environmental educator and was vice president of a private consulting firm in the energy field. In Decisio he coordinates projects on active mobility, sustainable energy and bikenomics analyses. He has developed the social cost benefit analysis methodology for tens of cycling and mobility projects and is active in developing studies on the impacts of active mobility on society.
Adam Olsen (SȾHENEP) was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for Saanich North and the Islands and member of the B.C. Green Caucus in 2017 and re-elected in 2020.
Adam has a deep love and respect for his home in the W̱SÁNEĆ territory. As an advocate and facilitator, he is committed to good relationships and improving public participation to strengthen all aspects of the community.
His 16-year career in elected public service began when he was elected Councillor in the District of Central Saanich (2008, 2011). Prior to that Adam worked for two decades in the service and communications sectors where he gained valuable experience in building relationships, connecting people, problems, ideas and solutions.
Born in Victoria, BC, Adam has lived, worked and played his entire life on the Saanich Peninsula. He is a member of Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP), where he and his wife, Emily, are raising their two children, Silas and Ella.
Erin O’Melinn is the Senior Manager of Transportation and Land Use Planning at TransLink. Her team collaborates with partners to transform high-level regional strategy into initiatives that build accessibility, resilience and equity, including planning for walking, cycling, bus, and transit oriented communities.
Along with her Master of Urban Studies degree, she brings nearly 20 years of experience advancing sustainable transportation and community mobility, including over a decade as Executive Director of HUB Cycling, where she led region‑wide growth in cycling education, advocacy, and policy. She has also worked in local government and with BC Hydro.
Erin has provided leadership on the boards of the Alliance for Walking and Biking, a North America-wide non-profit improving active transportation across the continent, as well as the Vancouver Public Space Network.
Sandra is CEO of Modo Co-operative and founder of movmi, focused on designing mobility systems that integrate bikeshare, active transportation, carshare, and public transit into one seamless network.
At Modo, she is leading the co-operative’s evolution beyond carsharing into a multimodal platform—connecting shared vehicles with walking, cycling, and transit at the neighbourhood level. Her work centres on how these modes function together in real life, ensuring people can move fluidly between them without defaulting to private car ownership.
Sandra has advised cities and transit agencies globally on integrating bikeshare and shared mobility with public transit systems—from TransLink initiatives like the Shared Mobility Compass Card and RideLink to Transport for London’s regional approach to bikeshare and micromobility integration.
She is also a Director at Large with Connect the Coast, where she advocates for a AAA cycling highway on the Sunshine Coast—advancing safe, connected infrastructure that supports active transportation in smaller and underserved communities.
Her work has been recognized with the Clean50 Award, the BCBusiness Change Maker Award, and the YWCA Woman of Distinction Award.
Margie Sanderson (she/her) is the Director of Organizing at Vision Zero Vancouver, a grassroots advocacy non-profit dedicated to eliminating fatalities and serious injuries on Metro Vancouver roads by holding governments to account, advocating for evidence-based solutions, and building and demonstrating public support for road safety. With a background in children’s rights, she has played an integral role in the development and expansion of several school active travel programs in the province, including Play Streets, School Streets, and the Walking School Bus. Though she lives in one of the 'greenest cities' in North America there is no sidewalk on the street between her home and the local elementary school, no bike facilities on the closest arterial, and a bus stop facing service reductions. Hailing from a lineage of activists and direct action organizers, she is a strong believer in the role of advocacy to force governments to act.
Sarah Thomas is a settler on the traditional, unceded territories of the Musqueam, Tsleil-Waututh, and Skxwú7mesh Nations. A community planner and grassroots organizer, Sarah is the Executive Director at Our Community Bikes where she works with the team to further mobility justice, transportation access, and waste reduction. She has over 10 years experience working on capacity building with small non-profits and loves working with others to build community solutions to the challenges we collectively face.
Dave is a Victoria City Councillor, and Director on the Boards of the Capital Regional District, the Capital Region Housing Corporation, and the Capital Regional Hospital District. Dave uses the full range of Victoria’s transportation hierarchy as a pedestrian, a cyclist, a transit user and a car owner. He owns a small business and specializes in organizational governance and public policy research. Dave has practised law in Ontario and BC, worked for government and non-profits and co-founded a firm that serves Indigenous communities across Canada. Dave is a community volunteer and has served on the boards of directors of several charities and non-profits and a couple of businesses. Prior to his election to City Council, he was Director, Treasurer and Vice President of the Fairfield Gonzales Community Association, a member of its Community Association Land Use Committee (CALUC) and Chair of its Neighbourhood Improvement Committee.
Leanne Buhler is the General Manager of Evolve E-Bike and E-Scooter Share at BCAA, where she leads the strategy, operations, and growth of one of Canada’s largest shared micromobility programs. Since launching Evolve, Leanne has spearheaded the service from a pilot project to a trusted transportation network serving communities across BC. She is passionate about creating practical, sustainable transportation options that make it easier for people to get around their cities. With experience spanning innovation, business development, transportation, and new venture growth, Leanne specializes in building and scaling programs that deliver both community and business value. She works closely with municipalities, transportation agencies, and community partners to advance shared mobility solutions that are safe, accessible, and responsive to local needs. A recognized leader in the micromobility sector, Leanne regularly engages in conversations about active transportation, transportation policy, rider education, and the role of shared mobility in creating healthier, more connected communities.