Active Transportation Advisory Committee

Jeffrey Bender is a Regional Parks Supervisor with Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.  He oversees the development and operations of the Flint Hills Trail, Prairie Spirit Trail, and the Prairie Center. He co-authored the federal RAISE grant which KDWP was awarded in 2022 to improve 40 miles of the Flint Hills Trail.  Jeff has been with KDWP for 35 years.  During college years he was a Park Ranger at three National Parks (Great Sand Dunes NP, Lake Meade NRA and Glacier NP), and worked at state and county parks, wildlife areas and preserves in Ohio.  Jeff graduated from The Ohio State University, School of Natural Resources.

Andy is a transportation planner for WSP in Topeka. Andy works transit, traffic safety, Safe Routes to School and trail development plans. He's proud to ride and walk with his kids daily to school throughout the year. Andy volunteers with the Topeka Community Cycle Project, a non-profit community bicycle shop that has served Topeka and Shawnee County since 2010. He's an active member and advocate of Live Well Shawnee County, Topeka's Complete Streets Advisory Committee, Top City Trail Alliance, Kanza Rail Trails Conservancy, Friends of the Kaw's River Guides, KDOT's Drive to Zero efforts and KDOT's Safe Routes to School Advisory Committee.

Alan Kailer is a volunteer with, and Board member of Bike Walk Wichita, a nonprofit with a mission to transform Wichita into a more livable, accessible, connected city by making biking and walking safe, equitable, and appealing. Among others, he has served on the Wichita Bicycle & Pedestrian Advisory Board, the Active Transportation Committee of Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. He believes that encouraging safe, convenient and accessible active transportation is fundamental to improving neighborhoods and communities in Wichita.

Ann Katt is excited to have a new role as the Safe Routes to Schools Coordinator for the Kansas Department of Transportation Most recently, Ann worked as a SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator for K-State Research and Extension.

Jenny Kramer serves as KDOT’s Active Transportation Manager.  She is responsible for overseeing Transportation Alternatives grant applications and awards. She also manages KATE, the Kansas Active Transportation Enhancement program aimed at the implementation of active transportation infrastructure and programming in Kansas.

Kelli Mark is the Director of Healthy Communities at the Sunflower Foundation. In this role she leads the Sunflower Trails program, which supports organizations and communities working to provide safe, accessible public trails and outdoor spaces where Kansans can reap the many health benefits of being more active and connecting with nature.

Kelli also spearheads the foundation’s work in food and nutrition security, including co-leading the foundation’s Food is Medicine work, which focuses on the critical role nutrition plays in preventing, treating, and managing chronic disease.

Before joining Sunflower, Kelli spent six years in the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s Bureau of Family Health, working to improve maternal and child health across the state.

Kelli obtained a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition from Kansas State University and a Master of Public Administration from Wichita State University. She is a lifelong Kansans and resides in Topeka.

Matt Messina is the Chief of KDOT’s new Bureau of Multimodal Transportation which includes four main modes of transportation: Bicycle/Pedestrian, Freight/Rail, Public Transportation, and Electrification. He is passionate about changing transportation habits and finding ways to encourage people to walk, bike and use public transportation to reduce dependency on personal automobiles.

Kim Negrete graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 2001 and began her 20 year career working in public health policy at the Sedgwick County Health Department. She assisted local jurisdictions, businesses, and schools with the development and implementation of health-focused policies; engaging under-represented voices,  and facilitating coalitions. In 2013, she helped found Bike Walk Wichita, a grassroots nonprofit, working to make biking & walking safe, equitable, and appealing  for people of all ages and abilities. In 2018, she shifted her policy work to part-time and became the Executive Director of Bike Walk Wichita, expanding the organization to represent more than 15,000 residents and successfully leading the organization's capital campaign to purchase and renovate a downtown property. Kim's work through Bike Walk Wichita introduced her to the intricacies of street design and safety improvements while serving on various state and local committees and advisory boards. Her work over the years has led to successful collaborations with government entities, businesses, school systems, and transportation professionals.

In March of 2024, she accepted the Multi-Modal Transportation Safety Planner position with the Wichita Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. She is currently leading a Safe Routes to School project with 53 schools and a Regional Active Transportation Plan to better connect communities in southcentral Kansas. She enjoys bikepacking long distances with her husband and friends, and she has a lot to say about our local and state roadway systems.

Cherie Riffey is the Recreational Trails Coordinator at the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP). A graduate of Kansas State University with a degree in Park Management and Conservation, Cherie has dedicated over 20 years to enhancing Kansas’s outdoor recreational opportunities. In her current role, she administers the Federal Highway Administration’s Recreational Trails Program (RTP), which provides funding for the development, maintenance, and rehabilitation of recreational trails and trail-related facilities for both motorized and non-motorized uses. Cherie collaborates with local communities and partners to expand public access to outdoor recreation and ensure sustainable trail use throughout Kansas.

A lifelong Kansan, Cherie lives on her family farm in Sawyer, Kansas. She is passionate about the outdoors - not only professionally but personally too. In her free time, she can be found gardening, hiking, camping, kayaking or white-water rafting. 

Mike Scanlon has spent more than 35 years helping communities grow stronger, healthier, and more connected. As Principal of Our City Planning LLC, Mike draws on a rich career that has taken him from town-and-gown Columbia, Missouri, to the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, to the vibrant suburbs of Johnson County, Kansas, and even to the mountain trails of Basalt, Colorado. Most recently, he retired as City Manager of Osawatomie, Kansas, and turned his focus to consulting in community planning and affordable housing. He also serves as the Interim Executive Director for Kansas Trails Inc.

Throughout his career, one thing has remained constant: Mike has always had a trail project underway. His trail-building journey began in Columbia, Missouri, where he helped launch the MKT Trail in 1985, designed to connect to the future Katy Trail. In Merriam, Kansas, he executed the purchase of 40 acres to extend the JoCo Streamway Trail, linking Overland Park to Kansas City. In Colorado, he worked to create pedestrian underpasses and trail connections from Basalt to the Rio Grande Trail. And most recently, in Osawatomie, he completed the Mile Zero Trailhead and the final two-mile connection to the Flint Hills Trail State Park.

Mike’s work doesn’t stop at the local level. He has served on the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) Sustainability Committee and the Conference Planning Committee, hosted international city managers from across the globe, and participated in U.S. State Department exchanges with Townsville, Queensland, Australia. His insights are regularly shared through contributions to the Kansas Government Journal, ICMA Magazine, and speaking engagements with local foundations and government associations, where he focuses on collaboration, storytelling, and goal setting.

Mike is a graduate of the University of Missouri and has attended the John F. Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in Local Government Program at Harvard and the Senior Executive Institute at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business.

Fueling all his work is a deep belief, inspired by the closing words of the Athenian Oath:

“We will transmit this city not only not less, but greater, better, and more beautiful than it was transmitted to us.”

For Mike, trails are a vital part of that legacy—creating spaces that connect people, promote health, and make every community more beautiful than it was before.

After nearly a decade of teaching middle school, Will made a pivot to planning in 2022. He has land use and transportation planning experience at the local and federal level, and loves to talk about what languages our words come from.

Jared Tremblay is the Planning Manager for the Flint Hills MPO where he has overseen the development and implementation of a program that utilizes demonstration projects as a public outreach tool for the past several years. He has a background in GIS and education and enjoys traveling and riding bikes.

Max Wilcox has worked as a Transportation Safety Planner for KDOT since 2022 and has contributed toward the Vulnerable Road User Safety Assessment, Highway Safety Improvement Program, and Drive To Zero Plan. They received a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Kansas. They live in East Lawrence with their partner, dog "Fuzzy," and four cats.

Anthony Fadale became State ADA Coordinator in 1997. In this capacity he ensures that the State of Kansas is compliant with the ADA and State accessibility requirements. Prior to his current job Anthony worked for Senate Republican Leader Bob Dole of Kansas on issues involving disability, Mental Health and Aging. He graduated from Washburn University with a B.A. in 1992 and J.D. From Washburn School of Law in 1995.

Mr. Fadale is an expert in both State and Federal Court on ADA issues. He has also made ADA presentations at many State Conferences.  Mr. Fadale has participated and worked with our Federal Partners among them the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.  He was considered for nomination by the President in 2008 to the U.S. Access Board in 2008. In 2010, he attended the 20th Anniversary celebration at the White House. 

His proudest accomplishment is being an Uncle to his niece and nephew.

Jeff is the owner of Ottawa Bike and Trail, an independent bike shop located at the intersection of the Prairie Spirit and Flint Hills Trails. He founded the shop with his wife, Leigh Ann, in 2018 to pursue his passion for cycling and to cultivate a community of cyclists while promoting Ottawa as a cycling hub in Kansas. Since its opening, Jeff has expanded Ottawa Bike and Trail to offer services beyond traditional retail, including trail transportation, twice-weekly group rides, and bike rental services. He recently opened a second location in Ottawa that focuses exclusively on e-bikes. Additionally, the shop hosts the annual Moonrise Bike Ride, a bikepacking, music, and food festival that has become the largest bikepacking event in Kansas. Prior to opening the bike shop Jeff spend 28 years as a software development and product manager in the Financial Services industry.

Courtney Koenig received a Master of Public Health from Concordia University, Nebraska with a Community Health Education concentration.  Growing up on a cattle ranch in Wyoming and living and working in Southeastern Kansas farming communities has led her to have a passion for the health and vitality of rural communities.  Courtney works for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment as Physical Activity and Nutrition Program Manager.  She provides technical assistance to local communities as well as working on statewide efforts to reduce the burden of chronic disease on Kansans.  Additionally, Courtney administers the Kansas Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program.  In her spare time, she raises a husband, three boys, sheep, chickens, a garden, and several dogs and cats.

Cherie Sage is the State Coordinator for Safe Kids Kansas, a non-profit childhood injury prevention coalition. The coalition works to address the leading child injury risk areas which includes active transportation, such as walking and biking in our Kansas communities.

For over 15 years, Lisa Frey Blume has worked with communities in the public health and prevention fields. At the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, she leads efforts to reduce tobacco use and promote active transportation. Originally from Calgary, Canada, Lisa holds degrees in both Arts and Education, which she first used as a high school teacher. Her passion for education and community well-being ultimately led her to policy work to help build healthier futures.

Eric’s bio is coming soon!