Speaker Bios

Welcome

Mayor Brown has been serving McPherson as mayor since April 2009. He is a member of South Central Kansas Economic Development District Board, Chairman of the Kansas Eastern Regional Insurance Trust, and former Executive Vice President, Farmer Alliance Mutual Insurance Company.

Keynote Address

Michael serves as the policy director for BikeWalkKC in the Kansas City area. In that role, he advocates for the policies, plans, and projects that make it safer and easier for people to walk, use assistive devices, bike, and access public transit.

Emcee, Funding Panel Host

Elizabeth E. Burger is Vice President of Healthy Communities at Sunflower Foundation, leading the foundation’s work to create a healthier state through the built environment and community development focused on health and well-being. She also serves on the national board for American Trails and a Food is Medicine committee for the Aspen Institute.

Setting the Stage

Jay Aber is a traffic engineer working for WSP with passion for equity and safety in transportation systems. Jay is a strong promoter of Vision Zero and dedicated to data-driven solutions to eliminate deaths and serious injuries on our roads.

Funding Panel

Carla is currently the KDOT State Highway Safety Engineer. Carla has worked in the areas of road design, rail design, temporary traffic control and worked as the State Traffic Engineer at KDOT.

Funding Panel

Jeffrey Bender is a Regional Parks Supervisor with Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.  He co-authored the federal RAISE grant which KDWP was awarded in 2022 to improve 40 miles of the Flint Hills Trail. 

Walk Audit Lead

As a certified engineer at Burns and McDonnell, Aaron has designed a variety of public projects, ranging from interchange reconstructions to shared-use corridors that support the growth, safety and prosperity of local communities. Aaron enjoys designing connections for all modes but even more than that, he enjoys riding his bike on the newly constructed infrastructure.

Mobility Session

Daniel Cecil has been with the City of Dodge City for 10 years and has been the Director of Parks and Recreation for the past 2 years. Daniel received his Bachelor of Agriculture in Park Management and Conservation from Kansas State University in 2009 and Master of Business Administration from Pitt State University in 2022. Daniel has a wife, Lindsey, and three daughters that love cheering on Kansas State during football and basketball season. They also enjoy traveling to the mountains as well as the ocean when they vacation.

AASHTO/Safety

Mariel is a planner and engineer in Toole Design's Columbus Office. She has focused her career on accessible and multimodal solutions for people of all ages and abilities. Mariel has led trainings covering the forthcoming 5th Edition of the AASHTO Bicycle Design Guide, FHWA's Bicycle Facility Selection Guide, and NACTO best practices for multi-disciplinary groups.

Meadowlark Trail Workshop

Michele currently serves as the President of Central Kansas Conservancy. As an organization, the CKC has made great progress on trail building efforts, including rails-to-trails activities. The CKC manages the 12-mile Meadowlark Trail which between McPherson and Lindsborg.

Equity Section

Taylor Cunningham is a Transportation Planner originally from Cherryvale, Kansas. She has worked as a planner in Joplin, MO and currently lives in Kansas City, Kansas and works for the Mid-America Regional Council.

Sarah is a planner in Toole’s Kansas City office with experience in a variety of planning roles, from community development to policy. She worked on the Kansas Active Transportation Plan and is supporting the current expansion of the Kansas Safe Routes to School program.

Walk Audit Lead

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. Mr. Fadale is an expert in both State and Federal Court on ADA issues.

Group Bike Ride Lead

Andy serves as the director of planning for Topeka Metro. He has been involved in bicycle and walking advocacy efforts in different capacities for the last 10-12 years including volunteering at his local community bicycle shop helping individuals find and repair the right bicycle for them.

Group Bike Ride Lead

Karl Fundenberger is a bicycle advocate, artist, and maker based in Topeka. In 2015, he launched the state’s first bikeshare program with Topeka Metro, and within five years, tripled the size of the program. Today, he works as a media specialist.

Catherine is a Principal Planner in Toole Design’s Columbus office. With two decades of experience in active transportation, she enjoys helping community leaders understand how accommodating our most vulnerable travelers also forwards the important health, safety, and economic goals that all communities have.

Community Health and Vibrancy

Michelle Griffin is the Mobility Manager for North Central Kansas and works closely with public transportation providers across eight counties. She has worked in Public Transit since 2016 and has helped to establish the 81 Connection fixed route, the Kansas Rides website, KANcycle regional bike sharing, the Moving Kansas Network and more.

Community Health and Vibrancy

Trell Grinter leads OCCK, Inc.’s fleet of vehicles, with 80+ employees directly impacting General Public Transportation in North Central Kansas. Trell’s vision for her team is to ensure the independence of their passengers with commitment and respect.

Walk Audit Lead

Pam Jiner formally serves as the National Field Director for Walkability for GirlTrek. She is also a community organizer/advocate working to improve the health and wellness of residents in her community by pursuing initiatives that promote physical activity while advocating for a safe, walkable community.

SRTS Coordinator

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.

ATP Overview

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.

Funding Panel

David is a Safety/Traffic Engineer for the Federal Highway Administration and is responsible for coordinating the Transportation Alternatives and Recreational Trails programs in the Kansas Division.

Operations and Maintenance,
Walk Audit Lead

Shaun Murphy-Lopez is a Senior Planner with Toole Design. With 16 years of experience in the non-motorized field, he has led the development of bicycle and pedestrian plans for Midwest communities ranging in size from 5,000 to 140,000 people, including Topeka, Cedar Rapids (IA), Brookings (SD), Winona (MN), Holland (WI), and Viroqua (WI). He is also the former Minneapolis Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator.

ATP Overview

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.

Culture Shift & Education

Kim Neufeld serves as the Executive Director of Bike Walk Wichita. Her 25-year career has focused primarily on developing health policies with government entities, grassroots engagement, leadership development, and coalition building.

Fernando is a transportation planner in Toole’s Kansas City office with experience in bicycle and pedestrian projects and strong GIS skills. His work focuses on improving the quality of life in communities of all sizes.

Meadowlark Trail Workshop

Ronn has served in several positions on the Central Kansas Conservancy board including vice president and president. In the past twenty-three years Ronn has also been involved in organizing several local bicycle rides as well as riding in the Biking Across Kansas many times.

Culture Shift & Education

Denise partnered with several active residents living in the NorthEnd of Wichita to create a nonprofit organization, Salud + Bienestar. The organization partners with NorthEnd residents as Community Connectors to help engage families, provides culturally appropriate wellness classes/events, and hosts regular walks and bike rides.

Funding Panel

Mike previously served as the city manager for Osawatomie, KS. During the last year that Mike served as city manager of Osawatomie, the city received more than $4.5 million in grants, ranging from downtown planning, to commercial building rehabilitation, KDOT Street Cost-Share, to the development of two trail loops that connect to the Flint Hills Trail (the eighth longest rails-to-trail in the U.S.) He now runs Our City Planning LLC.

Mobility Session

Ray Slattery has been with the City of Dodge City for 29 plus years and for the past 12 years he has been the Director of Engineering Services. Ray attended Dodge City Community College and graduated from Kansas State University in 1993. Ray and his wife Brandi have two grown daughters and a son who is attending Kansas State University. They also have a grandson & granddaughter. Ray and his brother manage the family farm that has been in the family since 1898.

Community Health & Vibrancy

Dan is the City Engineer in Salina, KS where he was born and raised. He is a registered engineer in the state of Kansas and a Kansas University Certified Public Manager. He’s actively involved in KSPE and APWA currently serving as chapter treasurer.

Tammy is the Director of Toole Design’s Kansas City Office. For more than two decades, she has worked closely with communities to develop plans and policies that promote safe and reliable transportation choices for people of all backgrounds.

Demo Project, SRTS Panel

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.

Julie Walcoff is a senior planner with Toole Design’s Columbus office. She has nearly three decades of experience in the transportation sector. Prior to joining Toole Design, Julie managed Ohio’s Safe Routes to School and Bicycle and Pedestrian Programs for the Ohio Department of Transportation.

Funding Panel

Danielle Young is the City Administrator of Cheney, KS. Over the past 13 years, she has secured dozens of grants to meet the continued growth of Cheney and the vision of the governing body. Danielle supports planning and implementing amenities to keep members of the community active.