Our Team

Staff

Executive Director - 82nd Ave Coalition and Project Manager

Zachary Lauritzen

Before joining Oregon Walks, Zachary had a career as a high school educator: coach, teacher, and administrator. Part of his daily work focused on supporting students of color navigate and succeed within the school system. He worked to reduce inequitable disciplinary practices by eliminating exclusionary discipline and implementing restorative practices. He partnered with Safe Routes to School on walk and roll days and the creation of a bike shop at the school. Zachary believes deeply in engaging community members and his doctoral work at the University of Oregon focused on monitoring and increasing student interest and engagement in the classroom. He believes profoundly in the transformational power of public education in a thriving democratic society. Similarly, Zachary believes that equitable access to safe, environmentally and community friendly transportation is a cornerstone of a thriving neighborhood and society as a whole. He is excited to lead Oregon Walks while continuing to work along side community members as Portland reimagines 82nd Avenue.

Community Events Manager, Multnomah County

Marian Mumin

A dedicated advocate for community empowerment, Marian (She, Her) brings a unique blend of passion and expertise to the public service realm. With a background in International Relations and Global Health from the University of Oregon, Marian has demonstrated a commitment to breaking down barriers and fostering inclusivity throughout her career. Fueled by a passion for health justice, immigrant rights, and community-centered work, Marian strives to reach underserved communities. As a multilingual individual, Marian navigates linguistic diversity seamlessly, ensuring effective communication with a wide range of communities. Beyond the professional realm, Marian is known for her commitment to personal well-being, often embarking on hikes that end in breathtaking views (literally!). A lover of literature, Marian finds solace in reading, creating a harmonious balance between her impactful professional endeavors and the simple joys of life. Marian is thrilled to venture on a new adventure as the Community Events Manager for the Multnomah County area at Oregon Walks, bringing her enthusiasm and experience to contribute to the organization's vital work in pedestrian safety. Marian is excited to join a team dedicated to making a positive impact on community well-being and fostering safer, more accessible public spaces for all.

Walking School Bus Program Manager, Washington County Organizer

Sara Westersund

Prior to joining the Oregon Walks team, Sara had a career in public education as a teacher, district coordinator, and school administrator. After teaching in the classroom and seeing the direct impact that health and wellness has on a students ability to engage with and find success at school, Sara became an advocate for health in education. She worked on the committee to adopt and implement a health curriculum that was comprehensive, affirming, and inclusive of all students. She also coached teachers in health and wellness instruction, and partnered with community organizations such as Safe Routes to School to create safe and healthy experiences for families. As a school leader, Sara took an interest in restorative practices as a way to build social and emotional skills in students while helping them to feel a greater sense of belonging and commitment to their community.

Sara cares deeply about serving and believes wholeheartedly in the power of building strong, supportive communities. She is honored to support the mission at Oregon Walks of helping to create a safe and healthy Oregon.

Board Members

Eric

Claire Vlach - Chair

Claire Vlach grew up in Portland, where she enjoyed taking Tri-Met downtown after school rather than hanging out at the mall. In 2016, after stints in New York, Michigan, and San Francisco, Claire moved back to Portland, joined the Oregon Walks Plans and Projects Committee, and reluctantly bought her first car. Claire is an urban designer who likes to rethink public space by taking auto-dominated places and reallocating them to people-centered uses. She also enjoys dancing, biking, taking walks with friends, and teaching her two kids words like "diverter" and "induced demand."

Danielle Walker - Vice Chair

Danielle Walker has worked at the intersection of health, equity, and active transportation for the past decade, including positions at the local, state and national level. Dani is currently working as a Senior Engineering Technician for the City of Hillsboro, where she oversees the Safe Routes to School Program and works to center equity and health considerations into policy and practice.

Dani is passionate about working with diverse partners and community leaders to facilitate policy, systems and infrastructure changes that increase access to multimodal options for all ages, races, incomes, and abilities.

Dani loves to be outdoors: in the snow, ocean, and on mountain bike trails. When she isn’t advocating for bike and ped improvements you can find her out exploring the mountains and beaches with her husband Max and their pup Harper.

Holly Querin - Secretary

Holly Querin is currently a student in the Master of Urban and Regional Planning program at Portland State University and is specializing in transportation planning because it allows her to combine her passions for equity, accessibility, sustainability, and public health. Her background in sociology informs her intersectional approach to centering racial equality, class equality, and gender equality in her approach to transportation planning. She is currently interning at Metro on the 82nd Avenue Project and is eager to get involved in the community organizing side of imagining a more liveable and equitable 82nd Avenue. In her free time, she enjoys riding her bike, weightlifting, swimming, and reading.

Matthew Hall - Treasurer

Matthew Hall comes to Oregon Walks with a varied background where he dabbled in education, renewable energy and public policy before making the transition into transportation planning. A 2022 graduate of Portland State University’s MURP program, he has previous experience advocating to make Portland more walk-friendly as a member of the city’s Pedestrian Advisory Committee and working to increase economic opportunities for People with Disabilities with Disability Rights Oregon. As a Person with a Disability himself, he’s keenly aware that the path to a better world for everyone comes from making the places we live more inclusive, accessible, and affordable. When he’s not out on a walk or staring dreamily at the FX-2 rolling by, he can be found reading, gardening, cooking, and playing boardgames.

Jamie Snook

Jamie Snook serves as the Director of Major Projects in the Engineering & Construction Division at TriMet. She is dedicated to creating livable communities that prioritize equity and sustainability. In her professional role, Jamie collaborates with local jurisdictions and community partners to enhance transit investment throughout the region. Her experience in transit has given her a deep appreciation for the significance of a robust pedestrian network, recognizing that every transit rider begins as a pedestrian.

Outside of work, Jamie is the mother of twin boys and envisions a world where they can safely play outside, visit parks, meet friends, and walk to school. She enjoys biking, hiking, and taking long walks with her dog, Stella.

Je Amaechi

Je Amaechi is a healer, transformative justice activist, and harm reduction advocate. Having received a Masters in Philosophy with concentrations in philosophy of mind and critical race theory, Je is passionate about healing trauma in service of liberation. As a systems thinker, she excelled in the tech world but left to do more impactful work. For the past five years she has been an organizer for Freedom to Thrive, a non-profit focused on divesting from systems of harm (like the police and prison industrial complexes) and increasing community safety by investing in people and the planet. She is also the Reimagining Community Safety Manager for Unite Oregon, a statewide organization fighting for the rights of Black, Indigenous, immigrant and refugee communities. She is currently on Portland's Police Accountability Commission, working to create a community-based oversight system. As a community leader, Je has spent almost a decade studying and teaching various healing modalities, and is working on being certified to be a licensed psilocybin facilitator.

Carrie Robersone

Carrie Robersone works as a Community Health Specialist with the Multnomah County REACH team specializing with the Black and African communities. In this capacity, she helps plan and implement efforts to eliminate chronic diseases through referrals to existing community health resources. She also supports the REACH Healthy Heart Ambassador program, leads classes in the National Diabetes Prevention Program, and other engagement opportunities to promote health and wellness. She is a community health educator and advocate that conducts outreach related to chronic diseases prevention including tobacco cessation, health education in order to increase health literacy, and drive better health outcomes in previously underserved communities.

Devery Sheridan

Devery is a student and advocate working to make public spaces accessible and government friendly and responsive to all. In 2017, two years after moving to Portland, he ran into the social bicycle scene through Pedalpalooza and realized how contagious active transportation can be when it’s paired with a caring community.

Devery is currently in his first year of the Master’s of Urban and Regional Planning program at Portland State University. He is currently interning with the Portland Bureau of Transportation’s Outdoor Dining Program, working on activating the right-of-way and maintaining traffic safety and sidewalk access for pedestrians.

In his free time, other than taking part in Pedalpalooza rides, Devery loves to play billiards games and wander around different cities in Oregon.

Beth Schmidt

Growing up in rural NE Oregon, Beth Schmidt did walk to school in -20 degree weather! For many children around the world, they walk to school and it is commonplace. Beth has a passion in creating safe and fun ways for children to walk to school.

Beth has spent the majority of her adult life in the Willamette Valley, with a short time spent in Northern California. Those opportunities gave her a chance to live and experience life within different populations and infrastructures. After living in different areas that either acknowledge or identify how the benefits of pedestrian safety impact the community, she now advocates for more education and improved accessibility. She is looking forward to working with Oregon Walks as we also include Salem and Keizer to this community. As the Salem-Keizer Safe Routes to School Program Coordinator, Beth values each day she has the chance to walk or roll to school with students. She enjoys hiking at Silver Falls State Park with her children, traveling, and always looking for new ways to explore her world.

Justin Fogarty

Justin has spent his career in communications. Before focusing full-time on Talk A Mile, Justin led the marketing and production teams for a non-profit in elementary math education. Prior to that, he worked for a number of Silicon Valley start-ups and tech companies, including BloomReach, Ariba, and Wipro. The common thread in all of Justin's roles is his natural curiosity and desire to understand people. Justin earned a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a master's from the University College London. Justin has run every day since January 1, 2011 and the cumulative mileage of his run streak recently surpassed 26,200 miles, or a thousand marathons.

Sarah Risser

Sarah is relatively new to Portland, having arrived in 2022 from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Sarah focuses most of her time advocating for safe streets and raising awareness about our preventable local and national road safety crisis. She believes it is vitally important to ensure public and active transportation systems are at potential, so that all people can access a variety of safe and convenient transportation options that allow them, if they choose, to leave their car behind.

Shortly after arriving in Portland, Sarah became active with BikeLoud PDX, the Pedestrian Advisory Committee, and the local chapter of Families for Safe Streets. In 2024 Sarah initiated a collaborative project to memorialize each fatal crash site in Portland to further raise awareness and provide information on how people can get further involved. Sarah lives in the Southwest Hills neighborhood of Portland where she feels concerned about the dearth of sidewalks and safe pedestrian infrastructure but delights in accessing downtown Portland and City Hall via the walking trails at Marquam Nature Park.

When Sarah is not advocating for safe streets, she enjoys hiking in the Columbia Gorge, taking photographs - especially of birds - and competitive rowing with the Willamette Rowing Club. She lives with her husband, Nathan, and Bandit the greyhound.

Jason Nolin

Jason works to make walking, biking, and transit the most comfortable and convenient ways to get around. As a transportation planner at Metro, he focuses specifically on improving transit and access to transit in the greater Portland region.

After growing up in Vermont, Jason moved to Portland in the 2000s because it was so comfortable to live car-free. This experience highlighted the opportunities to address the climate crisis and the severe social disparities in the U.S. by investing in a more equitable and sustainable transportation system. Walking is powerful: a pedestrian network that is safe, comfortable, and convenient improves quality of life for everyone and brings dignity to those who need it most.

Jason loves exploring cities and transit systems, biking and running, rock climbing and yoga, unobstructed sidewalks, transit to trails, car-free vacations, and dried mango.