Why are you interested in being a NABSA Board Member?

NABSA is one of the few places where governments, non-profits and the private sector come together to learn from one another. We are increasingly at a place in the industry where we need more partnerships and collaboration, both between operators and governments, and between cities and government agencies, for bikeshare and scootershare to succeed. I want to be a part of helping shape the future of micromobility.

What skills and experience would make you a good NABSA Board Member?

As Bikeshare Coordinator for MTC (the San Francisco Bay Area MPO), I manage the contract for the Bay Wheels system, which operates in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, Berkeley and Emeryville. Recently, MTC announced it is investing $20M into the Bay Wheels system, and as we wrap up contract negotiations, I have a lot of lessons learned from that process that would be valuable for other cities, agencies and non-profits to consider. As many bikeshare systems are looking towards either their own contract negotiations or new RFPs all together, I want to facilitate more opportunities for coordination, collaboration and information sharing so that we can feel more empowered in ensuring that we can create the best bikeshare systems going forward. Given the amount of uncertainty in the bikeshare industry, I believe it is important for governments and non-profits to rely on each other for information so that we can have more insights into the operations of an industry that can sometimes feel like a black box.

In addition, working for a regional governmental agency, I will bring a lens that includes not just the larger cities like San Francisco, but also the smaller cities and counties that are eager to bring micromobility into their jurisdiction but uncertain about how to do so successfully.

Why is being a board member of NABSA important to you?
NABSA is critical to representing and advancing our industry – and I’m excited to roll up my sleeves, bring my 10 years of experience, and do my part.

I’m an optimist. I believe shared micromobility can and will be treated like a critical public service; one that’s highly reliable, accessible for all backgrounds and body types, that connects to public transit, and runs on networks of safe and protected infrastructure. We’re getting there.

I am committed to NABSA’s DEIA programming and accountability. I bring my dedication to vulnerability, listening, and having difficult conversations on social positioning and systemic powers and privileges. I’ve helped lead some of this programming, and continue to learn how much I need to continue to learn. I believe in naming, addressing, and repairing inequities across transportation, our work, organizations, and everyday interactions.

I believe our work is climate work. I’m thrilled by NABSA’s initiative to build a broad and consistent Federal-level coalition. Shared has an incredible (and underutilized) opportunity in storytelling, and I want to help NABSA harness stories to ensure shared bikes and scooters are considered a mainstream climate solution.

What experience or insight do you bring to your position on the board?
I got hooked on bike share back in 2008. As a sophomore in college, I volunteered to help launch B-Cycle in Denver at the DNC. I was studying social movements, climate policy, and economics, and it made so much sense to me to treat bikes as a public good.

After school, I moved to DC and interned with the team rolling out Cabi. Soon after, I got an entry-level role at the Washington Area Bicyclist Association and worked my way up to Deputy Director, where I led six years of campaigns, education, and outreach programming. Because of some of this work, I was named Advocate Of The Year for North America.

In 2017, I joined Social Bicycles, turned JUMP, then JUMP by Uber. Bringing electric bike share around the world, leading a 14-person local marketing team, was a dream come true. It ended pretty abruptly, without much care. But, I learned a lot and we surely left our mark.

Now I’m Head of Strategy at Ride Report. I get to work on Ride Report’s next phase of products that make Shared data more sophisticated, representative, and available to the public to help accelerate our industry. We just launched the Global Micromobility Dashboard and have some other big ideas in the works.

I bring the following skills:

• Campaign work. This is my jam. From neighborhood to global campaigns, this is the stuff that makes me tick.
• Coalition-building. I’m a connector, recruiter, rapport-builder, and tactful coordinator.
• Fundraising. I led a major donor program, ran sponsorships and brand partnerships, and directed fundraising strategy at a 20-person non-profit.
• Follow-through.

Why are you interested in being a NABSA Board Member?

I want to bring my experience running bikeshare in New Orleans — from Social Bicycles through JUMP / Uber and now nonprofit Blue Krewe — to the broader bikeshare conversation and simultaneously learn from the experiences of others.

I believe my experiences in both the nonprofit sector — my first ED position was in 1999 and I co-founded a nonprofit, The Urban Conservancy (https://www.urbanconservancy.org/) in 2001 — and in the for-profit sector — from local startups to Uber — provide me with unique perspectives that I can bring to the organization.

I began my bikeshare journey in 2017 after selling my previous business. I joined the Social Bicycles team to launch bikeshare in New Orleans as the General Manager for the New Orleans market.

I lead the New Orleans market through the acquisition by Uber and scaled the market from 700 pedal bikes to a fleet of 1,350 e-bikes before Uber paused the market due to COVID and then exited the market soon after.

I then worked with the City of New Orleans, our title sponsor Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana, and the Greater New Orleans Foundation to re-imagine bikeshare in New Orleans using a nonprofit model. We established a new nonprofit — Blue Krewe — which manages and operates the Blue Bikes system.

We relaunched in August of 2021 with a fleet of 500 e-assist bikes and have seen over 200,000 trips in our first year.

I look forward to contributing to the expansion of micromobility on a broader scale and hope that my experiences and my skills can help NABSA continue to be a leading voice moving forward.

What skills and experience would make you a good NABSA Board Member?

The skills and experiences that I bring to NABSA include:

• An entrepreneurial mindset: As someone who has launched and scaled both for-profit and nonprofit organizations in the past, I bring an entrepreneurial eye to each entity I work with.
• Process development and Implementation: If asked, I can assist the NABSA team in documenting processes and improving implementation to ensure the organization is meeting its internal goals.
• Experience building and scaling micromobility in the same market twice – using for-profit and nonprofit models. This unique experience provides me with insights that I believe could be valuable to NABSA which has both types of systems as stakeholders.
• Experience inside Uber / JUMP. Related to the above: Having seen the positive and negative aspects of the market-driven approach while now running as a nonprofit I can speak with nuance about both approaches.
• Brand Strategy: Prior to coming to micromobility, I was CEO of a Brand Strategy consultancy. I can bring my understanding of branding to NABSA if helpful.
• Bikeshare System Operations: Hands-on experience running daily operations for both pedal and e-bike systems and managing a team of 20+

Why are you interested in being a NABSA Board Member?

I am the Co-founder of Drop Mobility. We founded the company in 2017 with a simple mission of seeing more people using shared bikes as a preferred form of commute. We soon realized this mission wasn’t as simple, due to so much noise in the space with multiple vehicle types, an ever changing regulatory environment and some shared vehicle providers wanting to succeed at all costs by pushing sub optimal operating models at scale.

We decided to focus on the fundamentals of not only building reliable small electric vehicles but also working directly with municipalities, non profit bike share operators, transit organizations and bike advocates within the communities, to provide locally branded, sustainable and organized bike share systems. We today power thousands of electric vehicles across North American cities in this collaborative model.

In these challenging times of global economic turmoil and creaking supply chains, I intend to bring the same sustainable mission driven sensibilities to the NABSA board if elected.

I have personally been associated with NABSA for 5 + years now and have seen the organization do some great work in keeping the biking community together and also being nimble in adapting to changing times for micromobility at large. I feel being a NABSA board member would give me the right platform to contribute both at a strategic policy level but also bring about positive change for every person who rides on 2 or 3 wheels on North American streets.

What skills and experience would make you a good NABSA Board Member?

I have worked for large global corporates and hyper growth startups in leadership positions for close to two decades now. I am a person who believes in creating a real impact to the lives of people on the streets and solving complex health, transportation and climate change problems faced by our generation.

I have successfully built a micromobility company from scratch over 5+ years, including leading sales, strategy and operations in 20+ American cities impacting millions of lives.

I have an extensive network in the micromobility and transportation space including bureaucrats, non profit boards, field operators, transit leaders, bike/scooter share CEO’s, bike advocacy groups, mobility consultants, city planners, manufacturers etc across North America, Europe and Asia.

I have had an ongoing association with NABSA for 5+ years and have attended every conference since 2017 in-person/virtual, including being a panelist last couple of times.

I am/have been on the board of multiple “for profit” and “non profit” organizations and understand what it takes to work with a group in a board setting to get the job done.

In my past life I have managed large complex projects in areas like food, apparel, outdoor recreation and last mile delivery, at times managing 500 + member teams.

I have very strong P&L management, process development, communication, analytical and problem solving skills that would be very useful for this role.

I am both a leader and a team player who is always focussed on the goals and willing to go beyond the ordinary to deliver on commitments I make.

I genuinely believe in and deeply care about the potential of micromobility to create a long lasting and positive impact on our world.

Why is being a board member of NABSA important to you?
To support the growth and success of the bike share industry, I am honored to serve another term as a NABSA Board member. During my last term, I concentrated on supporting policy and advocacy efforts, as well as increasing NABSA memberships. By leveraging my network of stakeholders, I have also brought industry colleagues to share their experiences and perspectives during Policy Working Group discussions and as panelists during NABSA conferences and webinars. As a board member, I have also directly contributed to advocating for/or against policies at the state or federal levels that ultimately will benefit the micromobility industry and its users. In looking toward the future, a lot of work is still needed to expand bike share and micromobility access in our communities, and having the opportunity to advocate for bike infrastructure, advocate for funding opportunities, and influence national and local policy, is both personally and professionally meaningful to me. I believe NABSA can play a role in addressing climate change through the advocacy of transportation programs that are green, accessible, and inclusive — and again, I am honored to continue to be a force to the movement.

What experience or insight do you bring to your position on the board?
I bring over ten years of experience in the electric vehicle and bicycle industry, in addition to 20 years of project management and leadership experience. I have led businesses, worked in IT, finance, and logistic departments within companies from various sectors in France, Spain, Argentina, and in the United States which has provided me with a diverse and broad professional background. In addition to my international experience in the micromobility industry, I have also done a great deal of work in partnership with government which is critical as we build and grow the industry.

I am entrepreneurial at heart, a strategic partner in all that I do, and I am dedicated to supporting community needs in an environmentally-conscious way. I started my own eBike business in Paris in 2005 (one of the very first!). I was also very close to the Velib project that launched a couple of years later. I moved to Los Angeles in 2010 and worked for an electric car startup before joining Bike Transit as General Manager of Metro Bike Share in 2016. I am also a lifelong bike commuter and currently serve as a board member of a local chapter of Safe Routes to Schools

In all, I believe in education and advocacy for alternative transportation modes to cars. Being on the NABSA board gives me the opportunity to share my global perspective, my enthusiasm and energy for bike advocacy, and my experience as a leader of a bike share program in one of the biggest and most challenging US cities for transportation access.

Why is being a board member of NABSA important to you?
As a founding board member and Past President of NABSA, I am interested in continuing to work with the organization to advance shared micromobility across North America. I look forward to collaborating with partners across the industry to provide options and opportunities to the public that allow them to get around without needing to own a car.

What experience or insight do you bring to your position on the board?
As a founding board member of NABSA, I have deep experience with the organization including leading the search for and hiring of our first (and current) Executive Director. I launched the City of Chicago’s shared micromobility programs with Divvy bikeshare in 2013 and developed Chicago’s dockless bikeshare and e-scooter pilot programs along with our permanent shared scooter program.

Why is being a board member of NABSA important to you?
I believe in the power of shared micromobility to transform communities and want to help make it a safe, affordable, and easy way for anyone and everyone to get around. I rely on NABSA’s reporting, webinars, and resources to inform my work and want to leverage my experience working on shared micromobility across North America by giving back to the organization.

As a Board Member I would focus on:

• Growing the organization and its influence.
• Advancing NABSA’s advocacy efforts. Federal funds are flowing and we’re at a pivotal time to position shared micromobility as the vanguard of electrification and sustainable transportation.
• Contributing to the data/research committee and knowledge share efforts.
• Learning from members!

What skills and experience would make you a good NABSA Board Member?

I lead Alta Planning + Design’s shared micromobility services. After helping to plan Portland’s BIKETOWN system in 2015, I caught the shared micromobility bug and have focused my career on it. Since then I have helped dozens of cities and regions plan, implement, and evaluate shared micromobility systems. I have worked on micromobility programs in every context (from urban systems in New York City and LA to smaller communities like Billings, MT and Cedar Rapids, IA) and at every stage of the process, from funding and launch, to redesigning and expanding. I’m prepared to contribute what I have learned working with these communities to support NABSA’s growth and advance the values of the organization.

Recent topics I’m working on or have worked on are:

• Guidance on Regulating Shared Micromobility: I drafted the guidance that will inform NACTO’s next iteration of national guidelines.
• Aligning Bike Share with Transit: I led a system redesign to better align Detroit’s MoGo system with transit.
• Maximizing the Utility of Micromobility Data Data: Working with the City of Sacramento and Ride Report to use GBFS and MDS data to understand parking patterns and determine the optimal number of bikes and scooters in the Shared Rideables program.
• Equity Focused Bike Share: Planning and securing funding (through California’s Clean Mobility Options program) for an equity focused system in Rialto, CA, (launching this Fall!)
• Next Gen Bike Share: I’m working on the RFP for the next generation of bike share in LA.

Why are you interested in being a NABSA Board Member?

I believe that forums such as NABSA can provide its member associations with great value in terms of bringing thought leadership from industry experts together, sharing of best practices across its member cities, in addition to taking a proactive advocacy role for the industry. I’m interested in being a Board Member because I want to help bring these priority areas intro greater focus.

What skills and experience would make you a good NABSA Board Member?

I have over 7 years+ experience in the Transportation industry with a particular focus on delivering customer facing programs. I’ve also previously served as a Board Member for Airports Council International, and therefore could bring valuable insights from my previous experience. This experience includes helping develop the Airport Service Quality Index, which was used by over 200+ airports worldwide to measure customer experience and infrastructure across a set of standardized metrics.

I’ve also engaged with and presented to various political and business institutions, and I’m well versed in stakeholder management, and public facing advocacy roles.

As the Director of Bike Share Toronto, one my primary responsibilities is to grow bike share as an integral part of the city’s transportation network, serving as its public spokesperson.

Why is being a board member of NABSA important to you?
I am convinced that bike sharing systems transform our cities, and when consider as part of the public transportation allow to achieve a more inclusive and socially just mobility.

I hope to help NABSA promote an agenda with associations, academia and actors in Mexico to achieve sharing systems, create data culture or legislative proposals. Also, to impulse events that include the different visions and experiences that our country can bring to NABSA members.

Mexico is part of North America and part of NABSA, and sometimes we tend to forget that. Hosting NABSA 22, and allowing me to be on this year’s Conference Committee, has made me aware of the importance of true representation of Mexico’s industry for the association.

What experience or insight do you bring to your position on the board?
I have been working in the industry for 3 years, although micromobility has been a passion of mine for over 10 years.

As a sociologist, I am interested in research, especially the effects in public space and gender. An issue that has gained visibility, as it helps to achieve mobility with intersectionality and inclusion

On the other hand, it is very important to diversify the board. Something that I can bring as a first board member from Mexico and Latin America.

What does your role on the NABSA team include?
My focus areas are membership, education, communications, and events including our annual conference. I manage our members, help connect members and stakeholders with our resources and information, oversee our communications, plan our virtual events, and lead the conference planning. If you are a member and have a question or are interested in being a member, I am here to help!

What do you love most about working for NABSA? 
Our members! It’s a pleasure to work with so many wonderful organizations and people. I enjoy bringing people together to collaborate as we grow shared micromobility together to create a more equitable and sustainable transportation ecosystem. I love the cross section that shared micromobility represents; community, sustainability, and transportation. I am also a strong believer in NABSA’s mission and core values. 

What experience or insight do you bring to your position with NABSA?
I joined the NABSA team in 2021 and brought with me experience in community organizing, marketing and communications, project management, and event planning. Before joining the NABSA team I launched a dynamic young adult community in Madison, Wisconsin. Prior to that, I worked in the cycling industry then transitioned to shared micromobility in 2013. I am passionate about bringing people together, creating educational opportunities, and facilitating collaboration. 

Connect with Laura:
Laura@nabsa.net