NCBW News | Leadership Changes at National Center for Bicycling & Walking
New Executive Director Says “It’s Time for a New ‘New Deal’”
July 14, 2008 (Washington, D.C.) -- The National Center for Bicycling & Walking (NCBW) today announced significant changes in its leadership, both in the top operational post and its board of directors.
The new executive director of NCBW is Sharon Z. Roerty, a certified planner with more than 25 years of experience in environmental planning, policy analysis and transportation finance. She succeeds Bill Wilkinson, who has been in the position for over 20 years and will continue to serve the organization as a consultant.
NCBW, an advocacy organization supporting bicycle friendly and walkable communities across North America, is the major program of the Bicycle Federation of America. It was founded 31 years ago by Tedson Meyers, a well-known Washington communications attorney, who has been chairman of its board ever since. Meyers has announced his retirement from the position as of January 1, 2009, when he will be replaced by Vice Chairman Peter Harkness, the editor and publisher of Governing, a magazine and website for leaders of state and local government.
The leadership changes come at an opportune moment for the organization and its cause. “Over the next 50 years, infrastructure renewal is certain to be a headline issue,” Roerty said, “and NCBW is well positioned to be among the thought leaders and problems solvers.” In fact,” she said, what’s needed now “is a New Deal. Infrastructure has languished over the last half of the 20th century and we now have the opportunity for a ‘do-over’ to achieve ‘complete streets’ that accommodate people and all forms of transportation.”
Recognized as a leading authority on Safe Routes to School, Roerty joined NCBW as Director of Community Programs in 2004 and was named Deputy Executive Director in 2007. She has also served as director of the Active Living Resource Center, a program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Roerty brings significant experience in the transportation field to her new role having served as advisor to the New Jersey Department of Transportation and National Transit Institute during her tenure with the Voorhees Transportation Center at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning & Public Policy at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Roerty also directed the multi-billion dollar capital Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) for the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority (NJTPA), the fourth largest Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), in the US.
A resident of New Jersey, Roerty holds a BS in Environmental Science from Richard Stockton State College and a Master of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners, a Leadership New Jersey Fellow, and has been appointed by four governors to the New Jersey Council of Physical Fitness & Sports.
NCBW founder Tedson Meyer will continue as a director of the organization he established in 1977. A former Assistant to the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Meyers is the Chair of the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation and an Adjunct Professor of Communication at San Diego State University. A holder of the US Secretary of the Army’s Public Service Medal, Meyers leads the American Bar Association’s effort to expand the services of the Law Library of Congress and is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
Commenting on his appointment as Chairman of NCBW’s Board of Directors, Harkness said, “I am thrilled to carry on Tedson’s vision and know that I speak for the entire Board in thanking Bill Wilkinson for his years of dedicated service and role in establishing NCBW as the foremost resource in the field.” He continued, “I’m looking forward to working with Sharon Roerty to ensure that NCBW remains the ‘go-to’ resource for people who care deeply about confronting the problems associated with the transportation system in this country.”
Harkness has been watching government at all levels, from Washington to the states, cities, and counties, for 35 years. Before founding Governing magazine in 1987, Harkness served as editor and deputy publisher of the Congressional Quarterly, regarded as the unofficial and independent “bible” covering the US Congress. Under his leadership, Governing’s circulation has grown to reach more than 85,000 state, city, and county leaders across the country.
As Executive Director, Roerty will preside over the 15th biennial Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference, the preeminent international gathering of bicycle and pedestrian advocates and professionals taking place in Seattle from September 2-5, 2008. More than 600 participants are expected to attend the 2008 conference with its theme, “Transforming Communities: Beyond Sustainability,” featuring nearly 250 presenters and first-hand opportunities to experience the programs that have established the communities in the Puget Sound region as 21st century models for active living. Conference schedule and registration information is available at the NCBW website at www.bikewalk.org
About the National Center for Bicycling & Walking (NCBW)
The mission of the National Center for Bicycling and Walking (NCBW) is to change the way communities are planned, designed, and managed to ensure that people of all ages and abilities can walk and bike easily, safely, and regularly. NCBW achieves these goals through development and implementation of information and tools for use by bicycle and pedestrian advocates and professionals, transportation engineers and planners, public health specialists, and others as well as policy advocacy at the national and regional level.
Established in 1977, NCBW is the major program of the Bicycle Federation of America Inc. (BFA). NCBW operates from its headquarters in the Washington, DC area and offices in Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, and Oregon. The organization provides Safe Routes to School, Walkable Community, and other community-based workshops, consulting, training programs, conferences, including the international Pro Walk/Pro Bike Conference, and publishes the biweekly CenterLines e-newsletter, delivered to nearly 3,000 professionals and advocates around the world. Funding for NCBW programs is provided by grants from private foundations, universities, and others, and under contracts from federal, state, and local government agencies. For more information about the NCBW, visit www.bikewalk.org.
