Hello Members,
Thank you for your support in this crazy year. While we would love to have a members party in person like in the past, this year we are going to go virtual. The party will be online from 7 pm to 8:30 pm on Thursday the 14th of January. We will also be recording the event, so that even if you can’t make it you will be able to learn what Oaks & Spokes has been up to this year and vote for our new board members.
We have so many exciting things to discuss, including:
- Hearing from Raleigh Community Kickstand about the great work they have done this year
- Paul Black the from the City of Raleigh will overview the infrastructure improvements that the city has made this year, as well as a sneak peak for what is yet to come
- We will hear from our new Executive Director Mary Sell!!!
- Overview of Oaks & Spokes year
- Voting on new board members
Event Recording
Board Candidates
Milo Bateman
Running for: Membership
I have spent more than a decade advocating for trails and active transportation initiatives in DC and throughout the country. I’m an avid content creator having my photography and trail descriptions published in multiple guidebooks, as well as being featured as the cover story and center spread of the Rails to Trails Summer 2020 magazine. I was the Manager of Membership Operations at Rails to Trails for 12 years and helped them shape and implement much of their existing platform for membership. Additionally, I have mapped trails all over the country with GIS programs, and helped shaped their trail maps site TrailLink.com.
Raleigh is a great area for trail networks and I would love to be a part of not only making sure we expand those connections, but also help grow the Oaks and Spokes Membership platform by displaying the importance of active transportation infrastructure within the area.
Ann Markley
Running for: Advocacy, At-Large
Having been a board member and key contributor to multiple non-profits back in Seattle, I could help to create innovative and unique ways to promote biking in the local community. I have organized and run events for Maltby Food Bank; including the procurement of donations for their annual fund raiser, and organized several pet food and diaper drives. I was also a key contributor and member for Homeward Pet organization and specifically raised over $50K by creating an annual pet calendar three years in a row. Lastly, I was on the Board of Directors for Medina Children’s Services and worked on a yearlong project to rebrand their organization.
I’d like to contribute to the organization and understand the difficulties of running a volunteer organization. I know my high energy can help to motivate members and help create fun and important activities that promote biking in the community.
Nick Neptune
Running for : External Coordinator
It was a black and blue Batman trike – my original gateway vehicle to friends and freedom, with adventure awaiting us just around a sidewalk corner.
In the early 1990s, stationed in Fort Campbell, Kentucky – while my father served in the First Gulf War – I jumped onto a green and black, Army fatigue ready, kids’ Huffy, and earned a safe-cycling certificate through a course led by the local Military Police.
Fast-forward to early adulthood as I moved to Raleigh in 2010, finding myself newly equipped with a sturdy steel-framed, burnt-orange and black, Jamis Nova commuter, dependably integrating and introducing me into our city through tweed-rides with Oaks & Spokes; overnight bike trips to Falls Lake; and skittering romances with area doctoral candidates over sunset bike rides and Nalgene bottles filled with gin and tonic.
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All this to say, I carry a deep and enduring gratitude for the freedom, community, and opportunity afforded me over my thirty-five years as a cyclist.
To work with the new executive director, current and future board members, and the robust network of volunteers, friends, and champions of Oaks & Spokes, in growing and expanding our membership; building on our history of advocacy around cycling infrastructure and policy; and ultimately reaffirming our roots as a social organization strengthening and celebrating our community and culture – all of this would be a joy to pursue together in the months and years ahead.
It is my hope and belief that my last fifteen years of work through education and finance; music and entertainment; art and design; and food and beverage, coupled with my service and relationships with the East Coast Greenway Alliance; the Wake Tech Foundation Board; and the City of Raleigh’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission may be of benefit to the future work of Oaks & Spokes – if nothing else, it’s a privilege to simply be considered as the next External Coordinator and President for the Oaks & Spokes Board. Thank you.
Seth Palmer
Running for: Advocacy, At-Large
Advocacy has been at the core for as long as I can remember. Politics and policy course through my veins, buoyed by experience working for some of our state’s leaders. I have lived in the Triangle for the past 16 years, first as a student at NC State and now as a father of a two-year old and public affairs professional. I love giving back to my community and currently serve on multiple Boards across the area. I also had the privilege to serve on the City of Raleigh’s great BPAC and loved every minute of it (only left because I moved to the Raleigh ETJ).
I recognize the value that a bike-friendly community has for our citizens today and tomorrow, and know that steps must be taken by government to support it. I want to help Oaks and Spokes take the next step in their advocacy efforts to reach new audiences and have more successes.
Jonathon Powell
Running for: At-Large
I have been volunteering with Oaks & Spokes for three years, and for the last two of them I have been on the board. I still have a passion for making Raleigh a better place for everyone on bikes, and I want to continue working with this amazing organization, community, and city to make that happen. Over the past two years I have seen what we have been able to accomplish with an all volunteer organization, so I am super excited for an opportunity to work with our new Executive Director to achieve even more.
Jennifer Suarez
Running for : Membership, Administrative, At-large
I’ve been a quiet member of Oaks & Spokes for a couple of years, but I’d love to become more involved. I used to host a podcast called Inbound Raleigh about transit and transportation in our city. Part of the reason I stopped was to become more active in that realm in other ways. My work has been around content and marketing, so I’m happy to bring those skills to the table as well as a deep knowledge of downtown Raleigh where I live, work, walk, and bike.
