Philipe
Alvarenga

I love biking for fun, commuting, and exercise. Although I've enjoyed riding bikes since I was a kid in Brazil, it wasn't until about 5 years ago, when I moved to São Paulo—a very car-centric city—that I truly embraced cycling as a fun and breezy commute, to help overcome the stress and long hours spent in traffic. This realization inspired me to use my background in management consultancy, entrepreneurship, economics, and communication towards improving urban mobility.

For over five years, I’ve been dedicated to the urban transportation industry. In 2021, I joined Tembici, the largest bike-sharing company in South America, using my experience to enhance and align operational processes across their 14 bike-sharing systems. 

Since moving to Vancouver, I have been working at Vancouver Bike Share (DBA Mobi by Rogers) as Shop and Projects Manager, where I have been involved in their RFP bid to provide a shared e-scooter program to the City of Vancouver and led initiatives to improve operational efficiency. Now, a year after arriving, I feel it’s time to start giving back to this amazing place that I fortunately call home. I'm eager to contribute my skills and passion to HUB as a member of the Board.

Amir
Hassanpour

Amir Hassanpour is a Ph.D. candidate in Transportation Engineering at UBC, working as a researcher and analyst at Research on Active Transportation Laboratory. His research focuses on cycling and the emerging personal transportation technologies, such as e-bikes and e-scooters. Amir has collaborated on projects with several municipalities, TransLink, and the Province, most recently evaluating the GHG impacts of BC’s e-bike incentive program, and the implications of emerging micromobility devices for the region. He also serves as a sessional lecturer at UBC, teaching transportation engineering fundamentals to 4th-year civil engineering students, and is a scholar at UBC’s Climate Solutions Research Collective, where he investigates the role of micromobility devices in climate mitigation.

Amir is motivated to join HUB Cycling’s board to leverage his expertise in sustainable transportation and his passion for cycling to help shape a more inclusive and climate-resilient transportation system in the region. In his spare time, he loves spending time with his cat, riding his folding bike, and solving chess puzzles.

Leanna
Grimes

Leanna believes that any day is a good day when a bike ride is involved – especially with friends! She is a certified Cycling BC Ride Leader and currently volunteers as an Associate Ride Leader for the Meraloma Bike Club. She brings a deep knowledge of the Metro Vancouver cycling network and a commitment to enhancing network safety for cyclists across the region. She is also passionate about the community-building power of cycling and believes in breaking down barriers to ensure the accessibility of cycling to everyone. 

When she’s not riding a bike, Leanna is a professional urban planner (RPP/MCIP) who has spent the bulk of her career leading community and land use planning initiatives in Indigenous communities across BC. She brings a wealth of experience designing and facilitating community-led policy development initiatives, and empowering marginalized voices to shape the future of their communities. She looks forward to the prospect of contributing her skills in urban planning, policy development/advocacy, community engagement, and organizational governance to HUB’s initiatives. 

Leanna is currently the Director of Planning for Sacred Waters Developments, an economic development company jointly owned by Katzie, Kwantlen and Semiahmoo First Nation. 

Alexandra Flynn

Alexandra Flynn is a law professor at UBC and a mom of two teenagers. 

Alexandra's work focuses on municipal law and governance, including Indigenous-municipal legal relationships. She is an avid cyclist for transportation, sport, and pleasure, including taking a 6-month cycling trip in Europe and Southeast Asia with her family. 

Alexandra has a long history of volunteer and board experience and hopes to contribute to making cycling safe and possible for all.

Luke Gillies

Riding doesn’t have to require special clothing or the best bike, but for most people (including me), it requires safety and convenience. I believe that cycling should be accessible to people of all ages,  backgrounds, and abilities, providing a transportation option that is cheap, fun, and safe for everyone. I’m Luke Gillies and I believe in creating accessible and inclusive active transportation. 

I’m a professional municipal civil engineer with over a decade of managerial experience both here and abroad. I have four years of community board experience and volunteer as an adaptive ski instructor, helping people with disabilities access winter sports on Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains.  Professionally, I’ve delivered a wide range of municipal projects, many with bikes in mind, and have overseen the maintenance and operations of bicycle infrastructure. I’ve advocated for the benefits of bike infrastructure projects and maintenance to a wide range of stakeholders, including City Councilors. For my Masters of Engineering Management thesis, I researched the user experience of cycling infrastructure on the North Shore. 

I understand what it takes to design, fund, build, and use good bike infrastructure. Vote for me to give everyone the chance to ride safely.

Caitlyn Hydelund

Hello! A few words about me - I am a Canadian-Danish citizen who has spent the last 30 years living in Denmark and Russia, where I worked and raised my children – and taught them how to cycle responsibly in and around our cities. 

As a Dane, I see cycling - whether city cycling, sport cycling, or as an alternative to car ownership - all of these I perceive as normal, organic, and sustainable. I have yet to see this framework in Vancouver and believe that there is work yet to be done to create safe and logical bike pathways, to cultivate mutual respect inside the road framework for bikes, cars, and bus transportation - including the responsibility of cyclists to be co-participants in traffic. 

The "bike wheel" of safe and integrated cycle transportation is already invented and can also work here. 

The HUB Board is particularly looking for applicants with leadership insights. I have worked in leadership roles for the past decade, where I have led supply chain projects and business development initiatives,  including tough international scenarios with limited funding and complex frameworks. I am collaborative and goal-oriented and believe that my Danish experience can help HUB achieve its goals. Thank you!

Esther Holobuwich

I have been a biking enthusiast for 35 years. While living in Kelowna, I would commute on my Walmart bike to and from my accounting job, during winter and summer. In winter, I would get home some days and say, whew, I made it. There was no safe cycling infrastructure, just painted lines. But even with that, I was grateful that my employers supplied a safe bike lockup area, showers, and lockers. It was rare (and still is). When teaching my two daughters to ride, I was nervous. I had seen a lot. It was about constant vigilance, not freedom and fun, which it should be. 

I bring to this board years of accounting and bookkeeping experience, experience on two boards, strong communication skills, and a desire to work with an organization that I support and appreciate.  Advocating for safe mobility routes for all is important and necessary.

Anne Murray

I’m excited at the prospect of bringing my 30 years of strategic leadership to HUB's Board. I love to bike for fun, commuting, and travel, and want to ensure these opportunities are available and comfortable for all. As a seasoned executive and board director, I’m passionate about driving success through sustainability. My Vice President responsibilities at Vancouver Airport Authority (YVR) spanned diverse areas including marketing, community, environment, government advocacy, and first nation relations over 20 years. While at YVR, I built respectful, deep, and personal relations with Musqueam leading to a  historic 30-year Sustainability and Friendship Agreement. I have served as board director on YVR Art  Foundation (an indigenous-focused not-for-profit), Georgia Strait Alliance, and Richmond Hospital  Foundation and recently attained my Institute of Corporate Directors ICD.D designation, Canada’s highest board governance credential. Since retiring from YVR in 2020, I volunteer as a business advisor to indigenous organizations and provide strategic consulting services in tourism, aviation, and sustainability.  I’ve been an active HUB member for decades and recently mentored a refugee family and a new immigrant through HUB’s newcomer program. I would be honored to bring my optimistic, ethical leadership; sound judgment; and personal commitment to the HUB Board.

Mairin Shields-Brown

Mairin is a passionate changemaker and avid road cyclist based in Vancouver. From her upbringing on northern Vancouver Island to her studies in Resource Management at Simon Fraser University, she carries with her a deep sense of respect for our home planet and all that is necessary for us to steward a  regenerative, just, and equitable economy. Mairin is an Impact Strategy Consultant at Decade Impact, a boutique, women-owned impact consulting firm in Vancouver. She finds joy and excitement in her work helping purpose-driven organizations define, measure, manage, and communicate their social and environmental impact on the world. With several years of experience in the sustainability consulting space, Mairin is skilled in policy development and advocacy, as well as team management, leadership,  and facilitation. As a daily bike commuter and keen cyclist for the last 6 years, Mairin’s familiarity and lived experience with Metro Vancouver’s cycling infrastructure have inspired her to join HUB as a Board Director. 

She believes that cycling plays an invaluable role in fostering thriving and accessible communities. Mairin hopes to help advance HUB’s policy advocacy work in service of removing barriers to cycling and support HUB’s collaboration with government bodies and other values-aligned organizations.