New board members bring a mix of skills and backgrounds

Active Trans welcomes five new members to its board of directors.

Jaime de Leon
Justyna Frank
Ben Helphand
Bob Hoel
Cessy Roth
 

Jaime de Leon

Several years ago, Jaime de Leon got to know Active Trans by serving a key role in the campaign to bring Open Streets to Chicago. He attended two international conferences on ciclovia events and brought back insights to help guide the efforts in Chicago. Plus, de Leon’s close ties with Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood helped with organizing the Open Streets events. Little Village is the community where he grew up and where he now lives. It’s also the place where he’s worked for nearly 10 years as a community organizer for Enlace Chicago, which partnered with Active Trans on Open Streets.

“The work that Active Trans’ does fits with my own work in Little Village,” said de Leon, whose term on the Active Trans board runs to 2013. “The way we move about in society has a lot to do with quality of life.”

In addition serving on the Active Trans board, de Leon is a board member of the Mikva Challenge, the Chicago Public Art Group and the Firehouse Arts Center. He was an adjunct professor at North Park University and a Chicago Community Trust Fellow, a role that allowed him to help create a documentary about ciclovia events in South America.

De Leon is a graduate of Northern Illinois University and the father of a 6-year-old daughter.

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Justyna Frank

Justyna Frank has a strong interest in remaking streets so they are welcoming to all users—whether they are on foot or on a bike, young or old. She wants to see more places in the region where kids like her 9 and her 13 year-olds are not hemmed in by fast and heavy traffic.

“People want livable neighborhoods,” she said. “Better public spaces help create more of a sense of community.”

Frank holds a Bachelor's and a Masters degree from University of Chicago. Since she and her husband, Chris Stodder, opened the doors of the Bucktown location of Rapid Transit Cycleshop in 1994, the shop has gained a reputation for catering to the needs of commuters as well as its emphasis on alternative types of bikes such as folding bikes, recumbents and trikes. The couple recently opened a second shop on South Halsted Street near UIC.

Frank is returning to the board after briefly serving on it in the mid-1990s when the organization was called the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. Frank’s current term on the Active Trans Board of Directors runs to 2011.

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Ben Helphand

In his new role as a member of the Active Trans Board of Directors, Ben Helphand is looking forward to drawing upon his expertise as a pedestrian advocate. “Active Trans is still making the transition to become an organization that represents a multi-modal vision, and I think I can play a role,” Helphand said. “The city that works should be the city that walks.”

Before he became the executive director of NeighborSpace, a nonprofit dedicated to preserving and sustaining community gardens in Chicago, Helphand worked as the pedestrian program manager and director of the civic footprint at the Center for Neighborhood Technology. He is a founding board member of the Friends of the Bloomingdale Trail, he serves on the Sidewalk Snow Removal Taskforce for the City of Chicago, and he serves on the Wicker Park Bucktown Special Service Area Pedestrians and Passengers Committee.

After undergraduate studies at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Helphand received a Masters degree in the history of religion from University of Chicago, and then studied journalism at Northwestern University.

Helphand’s term on the Active Trans Board of Directors runs to 2013.

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Bob Hoel

Bob Hoel has set an example for cycling advocates throughout the region. He is leading advocacy efforts for the Elmhurst Cycling Club and also developed a bike task force for the City of Elmhurst. Last year, Hoel’s advocacy efforts were given special recognition when he was inducted into the Active Trans Hall of Fame.

While serving on the Active Trans Board for a term that runs to 2011, Hoel said he hopes to see the RTA integrate cycling more fully into its operations. One needed change, he said, is expanding the opportunities for taking bikes on Metra.

He also wants to see the creation of a good biking corridor that connects the City of Chicago and the Western Suburbs.

Hoel attended the last two National Bike Summits and he recently joined the board of directors for the League of Illinois Bicyclists.

He received an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and an undergraduate degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Hoel retired six years ago after working 34 years at R.R. Donnelley.

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Cessy Roth

Cessy Roth wants to see more people walking for transportation in the Chicago region. Too often, she said, barriers get in the way and people hang up their walking shoes because of safety issues and a lack of infrastructure.

“Too much planning goes into helping automobiles move around the city, and not enough planning goes into helping pedestrians move around the city,” she said.

Roth, an employee benefits lawyer at the Mayer Brown law firm, walks two miles each day between her house in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, the Metra station and her Loop office. “I grew up walking and it always seemed like the best way to get around,” she said. “I feel more mobile.”

Roth attended University of Chicago before receiving her law degree from University of Michigan. She and her husband raised three children, all of whom walked to school from pre-K through high school. While her preferred way of getting around is walking, Roth said she regularly rides her bicycle for recreation and transportation.

Roth’s term on the Active Trans Board of Director runs to 2012.

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