Gill Penalosa- Click here for Gil's Bio
Sarah Rotz- Project Manager
Sarah is originally from St. Catharines, Ontario. She is a Graduate of the University of Toronto with a double major in Business Management and Environmental Science. At Walk & Bike for Life, Sarah works to create, develop and manage new projects for the organization, as well as determine the strengths, weaknesses, feasibility and directional capabilities of each new opportunity. Sarah loves nature and the great outdoors, and is strongly focused on community engagement and sustainability.
Juliana Berrio, Administrative Manager
Juliana Berrio is responsible for the administrative operations of Walk & Bike for Life, including accounting, budgets, and similar topics. In addition she is cooperating with all the projects that deal with Latin America. Juliana has an Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from CESA University, Bogota. She has over 5 years of experience working in Strategic Planning and Personal Banking Management. Although her focus is more financial and administrative, Juliana is passionate about walking and bicycling as activities, and parks and trails as public places that can greatly improve our quality of life. Throughout the years, she has developed interactive people-skills, and is thoroughly able to communicate and share ideas.
Amanda O’Rourke, Project Manager
Amanda is a graduate of Queen’s University (Bachelor of Science in Environmental Biology) and the University of Toronto (Master of Science in Planning). Since completing her graduate studies Amanda has worked in the not-for-profit sector on various environmental planning projects in both Halifax and Toronto. Amanda’s work has focused on improving the quality of life and sustainability in communities by advocating for enhanced public green spaces and increased walking and cycling infrastructure. Amanda lives in the GTA and cycles, walks and/or uses public transit to get around everyday.
Associates:
Adriana de Almeida Lobo
Adriana, Executive Director of the Center of Sustainable Transportation of Mexico, is a strategic thinker with more than 13 years of experience in urban and regional transport planning and modeling. She began her career in Brazil, where she had the opportunity to work with world-class professionals in the field of transportation systems at the young age of 20. Since then, Adriana has spent more than 6 years working as a director for prominent Latin American consulting firms. In 2002, Adriana assumed leadership at the Center for Sustainable Transportation of Mexico. Under Adriana’s close guidance and supervision, Mexico City’s last government successfully implemented its first Bus Rapid Transit System, Metrobus Insurgentes, which has since removed 35,000 tons of CO2 from the air annually.
Adriana holds a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from the Escola Politecnica at the University of Sao Paulo and completed part of her Masters in Business Administration at the Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico. A Brazilian by birth, Adriana married in Mexico, is a nationalized Mexican and has three small children between the ages of 5-8.
Lucy Barriga – Associate Ciclovias / CarFree Sundays
Lucy Barriga began her work for the City of Bogota invited by Gil Penalosa, Walk & Bike for Life’s Executive Director, when he was Commissioner of Parks, Sports and Recreation. Together Gil and Lucy took the Ciclovia from 13 K to over 91 K, and the participation from 100,000 to over 1.5 million every Sunday and holiday. Lucy innovated operational systems, hired and trained the staff, developed partnerships. A few years later she moved to Mexico and has led the Via Recreativa in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara, which is a fantastic model for any city. In just four years it is attracting over 250,000 users every week to walk, bike, skate, and just to enjoy the presence of each other. Lucy has greatly implemented educative campaigns to improve habits of physical activity for a healthier lifestyle, and evidently received international recognition for it.
Liliana Ortiz – Associate for Recreation and Events
Liliana Ortiz is a member of the Board of Directors Danish based International Sport and Culture Association (ISCA). She travels extensively promoting sports and cultural life to generate friendship between cities abroad and all people regardless of backgrounds. Liliana was a key participant at Bogota’s transformation of its parks system, when over 1,000 parks were built and major recreational and cultural activities were created such as the Summer Festival, International Kite Festival, Community Games, and many others. Liliana is currently Vice-President of the Rotary Club in Bogota, where she is responsible for the implementation and consecution of national and International resources in the project “Rotary Park, Values in Action”.
Patricia Calderon – Associate Bikeway Design
Patricia Calderon has much experience in design and construction of public space sectors in projects such as sidewalks, bicycle pathways, boulevards and small squares. She has earned a bachelor’s degree in architecture, and has continued her graduate studies through specialized project managing focusing on public sector consultancy at the local and national levels. Patricia has worked mainly with the Ministry of Environment, Housing and Territorial Development in Colombia, and the Institute of Urban Development of Bogota. In addition, she often works with non-governmental organizations, such as the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP Colombia) and the Centre for Sustainable Transportation of Mexico (CTS Mexico).