Meet the Team
Walk SF’s work is powered by our passionate staff, Board of Directors, Advisory Council, volunteers, and members.
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Become a member, explore volunteer opportunities, or check out job and internship opportunities.
Staff & Interns
Lian Chikako Chang, Senior Project Manager
pronouns: she/her
Lian works on Vision Zero policy, strategy, and campaigns to make San Francisco’s streets safer. Prior to joining staff, she served on Walk San Francisco’s board. She’s also worked in tech startups as a data storyteller and spent many years in architecture school, where she practiced balancing order and chaos.
As an independent advocate, Lian has organized to support a bus lane and pedestrian safety improvements along Geary Boulevard, and rolled up her sleeves in the fight for public transportation funding. Still working on getting her driver’s license, she mostly gets around by walking, biking, riding transit, and racing her son on kick scooters.
Blair Czarecki, Families for Safe Streets Manager
pronouns: she/her
Blair Czarecki supports and oversees San Francisco Bay Area Families for Safe Streets, drawing on her experience in public-facing, community-centered roles. Having worked extensively in the Tenderloin for over a decade, Blair is deeply committed to fostering safer, more vibrant neighborhoods where people can thrive.
Blair’s passion for supporting streets that prioritize pedestrians extended to her earning a Master’s degree in Urban Planning from USC with a concentration in community engagement and active transportation.
As a long-time San Francisco resident, Blair loves the city’s walkability and enjoys strolling the streets they advocate for.
Josie Dominguez-Chand, Community Engagement Manager
pronouns: she/her/ella/她
Josie loves to connect with community members and organizations that want to join us in making San Francisco the most walkable city in the world (she dreams big)! She also enjoys discovering all that is new in our city and will always greet you with a big smile along with asking for suggestions about places she should check out next.
Josie started at Walk San Francisco in August 2023, as our School Community Coordinator, supporting students and their families to use sustainable active transportation modes for their school commutes. Prior to joining our organization, she has spent her career in environmental education and school outreach while living in the city and abroad. Her ultimate goal is to create a legacy that engages, excites, and inspires climate action to leave a better planet for future generations.
Emily Huston, Communications Assistant
pronouns: she/her
Emily is responsible for making anything published by Walk SF look its very best. Her days involve creating and polishing content on the website, newsletter, social media, and any print media. She got involved in safe streets advocacy in 2018 documenting the movement to make JFK Drive car-free. Prior to Walk SF, she was co-owner and CFO of the worker-owned grocery Other Avenues.
Emily is most proud of her ongoing journalism, graphic design, and legal studies education from City College of San Francisco. Apart from walking, she considers learning to be the cheapest and most rewarding form of travel.
Guy Joaquin, Development & Events Manager
pronouns: he/him
Guy manages Walk San Francisco’s membership and donors, as well as walking events. Prior to joining Walk San Francisco, Guy served as a project manager for a career transition and relocation assistance company.
Guy feels most at home when outside walking. He began his walking “career” 10 years ago by completing the 500-mile Camino de Santiago pilgrimage across northern Spain, but nowadays you’ll most likely find him on a local route accessible by public transportation. In fact, Guy is the author of BARTable Walks, a series of BART station-to-station walking tours that highlight fun and interesting spots along the way.
Contact Guy via email or call at 415.431.9255.
Loren LaNoue Valliant, Operations & Finance Manager
pronouns: he/him
Loren manages the financial and operational systems of Walk San Francisco. Before joining Walk SF he ran a consulting firm where he worked with small businesses and nonprofits to streamline and upgrade their operations.
Loren is a native of the Bay Area and has been car-free his entire life. As such, he deeply understands the potential and risks of traveling the area without a car and was delighted to join Walk SF to help support their work to ensure safe streets for all. In his free time, he volunteers as Treasurer of a local housing nonprofit, cycles, and solves puzzles.
Marta Lindsey, Communications Director
pronouns: she/her
Marta oversees Walk San Francisco’s communications and is deeply involved in the organization’s policy work. Prior to joining Walk SF, Marta served as the communications director at TransForm, as well as the interim communications director at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. As a communications consultant, Marta worked with a range of nonprofits focused on transportation, land use, social justice, and sustainability.
Marta has lived in San Francisco for 17 years. She considers the fact that she and her family can walk almost everywhere she needs to go a key piece of her happiness. She’s obsessed with Golden Gate Park and is on JFK Promenade almost every day. She’s also the author of the children’s book Golden Gate Park, An A to Z Adventure.
Contact Marta via email or call at 415.234.0347.
Malena Mackey Cabada, Campaign Associate
pronouns: she/her
Malena assists the Safe Routes to School initiative and supports any form of car-free transportation. Prior to joining Walk San Francisco, she worked as an apprentice for an environmental non-profit that does restoration and community programming in Bayview-Hunters Point.
Malena has a B.S. in Environmental Studies with a concentration in natural resource management and conservation from SF State. She also holds a seal of biliteracy in Spanish and is pursuing a certificate in geographical information studies. Being outdoors and traveling are her main passions. She also loves to bake, camp, and take walks.
Jodie Medeiros, Executive Director
pronouns: she/her
Jodie is responsible for leading Walk San Francisco’s strategic work. She has a long and successful history leading communications, fundraising, and advocacy at urban livability, active transportation, and poverty alleviation nonprofits.
Prior to joining Walk SF, Jodie was Deputy Director at the SF Housing Action Coalition, where her work was critical in passing Home SF, a policy to incentivize building more affordable and family-friendly housing in San Francisco. During her eight-year tenure as Development Director at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, she helped grow the organization from four to seventeen staff and collaborated on the Great Streets Project, which led to Sunday Streets and the now-thriving parklet program. Jodie earned a Bachelor of Arts in History from Clark University.
Fiona Yim, Communications & Marketing Manager
pronouns: she/they/她
Fiona’s work is all about reaching more people in more ways to grow the safe streets movement. Before joining Walk SF, she was a San Francisco Fellow in SFMTA’s Accessible Services team. Fiona holds a B.A. in Urban Studies from UC Berkeley, where she served as a board member for Telegraph for People, a student-led advocacy group focused on safe streets and active transportation.
Growing up in the Excelsior and Parkside neighborhoods, Fiona spent much of her time walking and riding transit around San Francisco. Her favorite destinations include Chinatown, Clement Street, and Dolores Park. She believes walkable neighborhoods are essential to building resilient and sustainable cities. Outside of work, Fiona enjoys embroidery, board games, and rock concerts. She is also a member of BART’s Link21 Equity Advisory Committee.
Janelle Phung, Chinese-Language Outreach Coordinator
pronouns: she/her
As part of Walk SF’s work with the San Francisco Safe Routes to School Partnership, Janelle works with schools and families especially in the Chinatown and Richmond neighborhood.
Janelle previously worked for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and SF Department of the Environment. Janelle speaks multiple languages including Cantonese, Mandarin, Fu Kien, Chao Zhou, and Vietnamese.
Contact Janelle via email or call at 415.234.0559.
Board of Directors
Holly Allen
Engineering Leadership Consultant
Chris Bergeron
Brightmark
VP, Structured Finance
Jina Bartholomew
Google LLC
Commercial Counsel
Patty Esposito
Institute of International Education
Program Finance Director
James Falino
CEA Consulting
Senior Associate
Claire Fram
Diagonal
Co-Founder
Ebon Glenn
San Francisco Arts Commission
Deputy Director of Programs
Leslie Rae Harlson
University of California, Berkeley
Executive Director, Berkeley Discovery Initiative
Karen Rhodes
President of Walk SF’s Board of Directors
University of California
Communications & Fundraising Executive (retired)
Paul Rivera
Discovery Counsel
Rebecca Rudolph
Community Development Consultant
Avery Spiel
Virta Health
Engineering Manager
Kaveh Waddell
Journalism Technology Consultant
Advisory Council
Sophie Maxwell Former San Francisco District 10 Supervisor, 2000-2011
Margie O’Driscoll Former Executive Director, American Institute of Architects, San Francisco
Bonnie Nelson Founding Principal, Nelson\Nygaard Consulting