President

Alex Hernandez is a staff attorney practicing disability law with a local non-profit. She has lived in San Diego since 2017. Alex received a B.A. in Political Science and Legal Studies from UC Santa Cruz before relocating to San Diego for law school. She holds a J.D. from California Western School of Law.

Alex went car-lite in November of 2021 after purchasing an e-bike. She discovered BikeSD during the summer of 2022 and began advocating for safe bike and micromobility infrastructure in San Diego. Alex joined the board of BikeSD in 2022.

Vice President

Leah Schaperow is a ceramic artist of Milk Oolong Pottery in Liberty Station. She replaced her car with an electric bike when she relocated to San Diego from the Washington DC area. Leah in involved in BikeSD to promote comfort and safety for ebikes/ bikes/ skates/scooters/micromobility devices. Leah joined the board of BikeSD in 2020. Instagram: @milkoolongpottery

Webmaster & Treasurer

Nevo Magnezi is a hardware engineer who has been living in San Diego and in the Hillcrest neighborhood since 2019. He received his bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland, where outside of academics, he re-learned how to bike along the Anacostia River Trail System. He received a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from UC San Diego in 2021. He rides on the 4th and 5th Ave protected bike lanes everyday on his Surly Cross-Check or the Tern GSD e-cargo bike which he shares with his partner. Nevo wants to work towards a region where everyone has safe, affordable, sustainable, healthy, and pleasant methods of getting around, which means more dedicated micromobility infrastructure! Nevo joined the board of BikeSD in 2020. Twitter: @NevoMagnezi

Secretary
Jason Vance is a software engineer that lives in North Park with his fiancee. They are a single car household, and hope to one day go car free.

Jason believes in the power of bikes to solve most of San Diego’s most pressing issues. Not only are bikeable neighborhoods safer for people of all ages, they also mitigate greenhouse gases- essential for creating a sustainable future for our children.

Bikeable neighborhoods better support higher density, since there are less parking lots and garages, making room for more neighbors and businesses. Due to the extreme costs associated with car ownership it should be our goal to give people more options than just driving.

Jason was convinced of the superiority of bikeable cities after being exposed to Dutch street design. Their street design puts pedestrian safety first, and enables the majority of locals and tourists to get around the entire city on bike or train. We should follow their lead, because bikes and trains are the clear solution to getting a grasp on carbon emissions and building safe streets. We will never be able to overcome the never-ending issues of car dependency, such as induced demand traffic, parking shortages, and expensive road building and maintenance costs. After all, bikes are fun to ride, and they are accessible to everyone.

Monica de la Cruz (she/her/hers) is a San Diego county native and current resident of the Golden Hill neighborhood. While she grew up biking for fun with family, her advocacy for safer streets began after she gave up her car in 2017 and began biking throughout the city of San Diego as her primary means of transport. Monica serves as Chair of the Greater Golden Hill Planning Committee and volunteers with Families for Safe Streets San Diego. Monica holds a B.A. in Literature and Cultural Studies from University of California San Diego. She is a communications professional at GRID Alternatives, where she supports the marketing, education and outreach for the state's Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing Program. She joined the board of BikeSD in 2023.

Kyle Heiskala is a political and media strategist who has executed advocacy and political campaigns at both the local level in Southern California and across the globe. He has worked on bicycle advocacy in San Diego for the past 7 years and got his start through improving bicycle infrastructure at the UC San Diego campus and also serving on the City's Bicycle Advisory Committee in 2014. He uses a systems based approach to find solutions to our greatest political and environmental challenges. When Kyle isn’t working, he can be found tending a garden or planning his next bike ride. Twitter: @KyleHeiskala

Kevin Eugene So is a project manager and designer who recently relocated to San Diego from Albany, CA. With experience working in architecture firms, tech startups, and nonprofits, Kevin curiously seeks holistic & creative strategies for improving the built environment. Kevin enjoys commuting & exploring new places via bike and tinkering on his next bike project. He is passionate about alternative mobility and its impact towards wellbeing, safety, and climate. Kevin joined the board of BikeSD in 2024.

Brittany is passionate about working with communities to shape a more resilient, sustainable, and equitable future. Currently, she works for a non-profit, supporting under-represented communities with planning and urban design projects that include active and multi-modal transportation, affordable housing, groundwater resource management and economic development. Brittany moved to San Diego in 2022 and initially worked for the County of San Diego. She still maintains those connections, staying plugged into the projects and politics of infrastructure development in the region. Prior to moving to San Diego, Brittany attended graduate school at University of California, Davis, where her daily vehicle for all her commuting was her bicycle. She worked as a graduate student researcher studying the equity impacts of congestion pricing and other methods to encourage mode shift away from single-occupancy vehicles. After finishing school, Brittany worked as an active transportation planner on projects throughout Northern California, from highly urbanized areas in the Bay Area to rural communities. She has a deep understanding of the ways in which bicycle infrastructure, programs, and policies come together and she is a fierce advocate for communities that are fun, safe, and joyful for people of all ages, abilities, and walks of life. Brittany believes San Diego has so much to offer to residents and visitors, and she envisions a future where the City’s bike network matches the City’s world class amenities and beautiful destinations, so popular that it is the envy of even the most bike friendly cities.

Oliver loves and is passionate about all things transportation, infrastructure, and the built environment. He is an avid cyclist and enjoys riding his bike around San Diego county and surrounding areas. You will find that he will always have a camera with him when he bikes. Oliver works full time for the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) in the Engineering Hydraulics Branch, where he reviews, analyzes, and designs drainage elements and systems for State and local projects in San Diego and Imperial Counties. Oliver studied Structural Engineering at the University of California, San Diego. And additionally he is also an award winning Professional photographer with over 10 years of experience.

Jon is a software engineer, originally from Arizona, who has been living in the Hillcrest neighborhood since 2021. He received his bachelor's degree in Business Economics from University of Arizona and his bachelor’s in Information Technology from Arizona State University. He discovered active transportation and people-centric urban design by way of the YouTube channel ‘NotJustBikes’. Since then has sold his car and purchased two bikes to replace it. Jon is passionate about creating viable alternatives to car-centric living and promoting a culture of safe street design in his advocacy. Jon joined the board of BikeSD in 2024.

Matt holds a Ph.D. from UCSD, and studies auditory perception in humans and dolphins. Raised in the midwest, Matt discovered a bicycle lifestyle in California was a huge relief from suburban car culture. Whether advocating for safe multi-use roads, throwing carbon neutral bicycle music festivals, or hauling insane cargo loads, Matt uses bikes to address environmental and economic disparity in our community - all while showing that sustainability can be fun. Matt joined the board of BikeSD in 2020.