José Antonio Zayas Cabán, Executive Director
Pronouns: he/him
[email protected]

José Antonio Zayas Cabán is the Executive Director for Our Streets Minneapolis, where he has worked on developing reparative justice campaigns across the Twin Cities. He is also a 2023 board member at Streets.mn and finished serving as co-convener and Advisory Board member in a climate and mobility justice campaign that aims to increase multimodal transportation and reduce vehicle miles traveled and improve equitable access to transportation infrastructure across the state of Minnesota. In addition, as a 2022—2023 Mapping Prejudice Project Community Fellow, José will also be conducting research into the intersections between racial covenants, transportation, housing and land use, and developing a workbook on how to address these issues through an integrated approach to advocacy. José is also a resident at the University of Minnesota Liberal Arts Engagement Hub, where he will be working on an essay for the upcoming book Human Tolls: Public Histories and Community Responses to Twin Cities’ Freeways in collaboration with Associate Professor Greg Donofrio and Dr. Ernest Lloyd from the Heritage Studies and Public History program.

As a performing artist, José was awarded the McKnight Artist Fellowship for his work on producing albums with music focused on present-day social issues and the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States Empire. The albums include Centennial, Mind and Machine, Grammy Nominated El País Invisible and the upcoming Romance al Campesino Porteño.

Ember Rasmussen, Community Development and Events Senior Manager
Pronouns: they/them
[email protected]

Ember is passionate about co-creating welcoming spaces with community members that expand imaginations and create meaningful dialogue while integrating art, storytelling, and fun. They have previous experience in non-profit development and community events, restaurant management, and theatre direction and performance. They have organized three seasons of Open Streets Minneapolis events, and lead Our Streets' Imagine programming, which includes the mobile museum projects created in collaboration with the University of Minnesota's HSPH program.

When not at work, you can find them biking, gardening, gaming, playing music and spending time with their chosen family and their dog, Juniper.

Alex Burns, Advocacy and Policy Manager
Pronouns: he/him
[email protected]

Alex joins the team bringing his experience as a climate and environmental justice organizer and activist. He’s worked as a national park ranger, on local and state campaigns, and as an outreach specialist at a sustainable transportation nonprofit. In his free time, Alex enjoys hiking, biking, and feeding earthworms to his pet salamander, Smoky.

Carly Ellefsen, Communications Manager
Pronouns: she/her
[email protected]

Carly is a communications professional with previous experience in the energy and wellness industries. She is a longtime Minneapolis resident, cyclist, and visual artist. Unsurprisingly, Carly is passionate about sustainable, joyful commuting!

When not at work, you can find her at an art museum, reading an Ali Smith novel, or walking her dog, Bumi.

Raquel Sidie-Wagner, Legislative and Community Engagement Specialist
Pronouns: she/her
[email protected]

Raquel is a disability services regional manager, political and community organizer, and musician based in Minneapolis. She has spent thousands of hours doing field work for various political campaigns in multiple states, and has used those organizing skills to build networks of mutual aid and support for her community. She is passionate about work that betters the lives of her neighbors in real and meaningful ways.

Yasmin Hirsi, Advocacy Coordinator
Pronouns: she/her
[email protected]

Yasmin is passionate about community organizing that centers community empowerment and radical imagination of a world where everyone has the chance to thrive. She is committed to finding ways to fight against dominant cultural ideas that inform systems of oppression and practices that have continued to hurt marginalized communities.

Alexa Bobyak, Operations, HR, and Individual Giving Coordinator
Pronouns: she/her
[email protected]

Alexa has a unique medley of experience in office administration, education, and volunteer coordination. In her free time, Alexa spends as much time as possible outdoors with her dog, Murphie, even though Murphie might prefer to be sleeping on the couch some days.

Fermín de Cermon, Events and Volunteer Specialist
Pronouns: she/they

Fermín is the 2023 Open Streets Minneapolis Program Assistant! They bring years of experience doing community outreach, research, problem-solving, and content creation. With a focus on empathy and equity, they love doing meaningful work. Fermín is also a ceramist who enjoys living in Minneapolis with her handsome cat, Pelo.

Ali Sawler, Data Analyst
Pronouns: she/her

Ali is a longtime Minneapolis resident who loves data! She is thrilled at the opportunity to use her skill set built in her 20-year career in data and retail management to advocate for and implement projects that improve the community around her. She can typically be found in her home on the Northside with more cats than seems feasible.

Jessie is a masters student in the Heritage Studies and Public History program at the University of Minnesota working on the history of neighborhoods impacted by highways and urban renewal efforts. She has mostly worked with art, as a printmaker and instructor at Fireweed Community Woodshop, and with food— in food service, cultivation, and research. After three winters conducting wild food harvest surveys in rural Alaskan communities, she learned how powerful the sharing of stories, craft, and food, can be in preserving collective history and powerful land stewardship practices. Jessie is interested in using community archives, oral history, and story-telling with maps to empower communities and use public history to affect policy and encourage more sustainable ecological relationships.

In her free time she enjoys cooking with friends, bike adventures, learning about bogs, and drawing rabbits.

Joe is an undergraduate student at Macalester College and is working with Our Streets doing GIS and Data advocacy. He is a Geography and Environmental Studies Major and has interests in Urban Planning, Policy, and Transportation. In his free time, Joe loves cooking and exploring Twin Cities restaurants, finding good places to swim, traveling, and visiting with friends and family.

Greg Hindy, Organizer
Pronouns: he/him

In college, Greg studied cognitive science, art and creative writing, and he continues to pretend to be a college student in his free time. When not studying or making amateur art, he has worked jobs that allow him to get outside and learn something new about his community. You might see Greg, his partner Nicole and their two dogs Pablo and Parka exploring Minneapolis on Mocha Dick, their yellow and orange tandem bike and vehicle of choice for reimagining the possibilities of the urban landscape.

Nick Hutchinson, Organizer
Pronouns: he/him

Nick has been a cycling and transit advocate for 20+ years. He is a member of the Whittier Alliance board of directors and organizes a monthly free sale in Whittier Park. He is also an amateur musician, artist, and trivia whiz (and occasional host!).

Laura Groenjes Mitchell, Board President
Pronouns: she/they

Laura is a Lyndale resident passionate about transportation equity and environmental sustainability. Her whole family (wife and two young kids) loves biking and walking, both as transportation and recreation. Walking and biking with her kids has super-charged Laura's belief that we need to put more work into ensuring our infrastructure supports the needs of people traveling outside vehicles. 

Professionally, Laura works for an education non-profit, designing and facilitating learning experiences and communities of practice. Laura also serves on the Hennepin County Active Transportation Committee.

Calla Blaney Martin
Pronouns: she/they

Calla has been making access to bikes and mechanical knowledge easier in the Minneapolis bicycle community since 2009. They have worked for many years wrenching and managing socially-driven nonprofit bike shops. In addition to this work, they previously were a board member for The Cycling Museum of Minnesota. Their formal education includes a graduate degree exploring the intersections of health, culture, and policy decisions in Minneapolis.

As a stay-at-home parent who walks, bikes, and pushes a stroller with young children, Calla has a redoubled belief that our neighborhoods can and should be organized for people of all abilities, ages, genders, races, and classes to walk, bike, and roll.

Carter Breunig, Treasurer
Pronouns: he/him

Nat Turner, Vice President
Pronouns: he/him/they

Born and raised in the Rondo community, Turner has more than two decades of experience teaching students through innovative, experiential learning models in Atlanta, New York City, and New Orleans. Turner is especially interested in uplifting and including student and youth voices in the decision-making processes that will ultimately impact the urban areas where they will live out their lives.

Alexander Furneaux, Secretary
Pronouns: he/him

Alex loves seeing cities at the pace of a person walking or riding their bike. He believes it helps us connect with our communities and allows us to notice qualities that make them unique. As an urban planner specializing in community engagement and collaboration, he works closely with communities to plan safe, practical, and joyful opportunities to move about.

Alex is a newcomer to Minneapolis, originally from Toronto, Canada. Since moving to Minneapolis, he has enjoyed exploring the Twin Cities by bike, public transit, and on foot. In Toronto, he was an organizer with the Bike Brigade, a mutual aid organization connecting people to fresh food and other essentials through a network of bike riders. Alex also loves baking, gardening, print-making, and his little black cat, Linus.

Soren Stevenson
Pronouns: he/him

Soren is passionate about walking, biking, and transit because some of the best years of his life were when those were his primary modes of transportation. His education and work experience are in housing policy and affordable housing. It is these twin loves that brought him to Our Streets and pushed him into housing and transit advocacy. He believes that the two are inseparable and that the Twin Cities need to grapple with their history of race and class segregation/discrimination if we are to have housing and streets that are safe, dignified, and solid foundations for everyone to thrive.

Ted Duepner
Pronouns: he/him

Ted has been using his bike as a main source of transportation year-round in the Minneapolis metro since 2003, including 15 years of commuting 20+ miles per day. Previously in his career, he spent a decade as the Youth Activities Director for the Depot Coffee House in Hopkins, six years with the Dero Bike Rack Company, and most recently in his current role as the Supporter Relations and Engagement Manager with the Bicycle Alliance of Minnesota whose home office is in the Minneapolis Longfellow neighborhood. In each of these roles and in his personal life, he has always strived to incorporate bicycle and pedestrian advocacy as a way to build community and strengthen relationships. Ted serves as an admin on the popular Twin Cities Bicycle Trading Post and Twin Cities Stolen Bikes groups on Facebook and as a weekly ride leader with the popular Sunday rides at Utepils Brewing. Legitimizing cycling and walking for transportation has been and remains a central component of Ted's identity. When not on his bike, you may find him unnecessarily fixing his bikes, showering his insecure dog with affirming compliments, canoeing, camping, hiking, fishing, hunting, gardening, or playing yard games.

Michelle Van Engen
Pronouns: she/her

Michelle is an enthusiastic advocate for livable cities where streets are for people and transportation is safe, no matter the mode. In addition to exploring the Twin Cities on her bike and by foot, Michelle enjoys visiting the library, volunteering, and playing volleyball. She lives in Saint Paul with her husband, dog and cat. She has a Master's in Nonprofit Management and is director of digital strategy at the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation.

Sylvie Hyman
Pronouns: she/her

Originally from South Florida, Sylvie relocated to the Twin Cities in 2017 for her first job as a mechanical engineer. She embraced the change and quickly found a home in the vibrant cycling community. As her love of bikes and the cycling community grew, it opened her eyes to the possibilities for a future where cities are built to accommodate communities of people instead of cars.

Now a Saint Louis Park resident, Sylvie works as a substitute teacher and an outdoor experiences guide. As someone who believes the climate crisis is the biggest threat facing all peoples, human and non-human, Sylvie is determined to bring people together so that we can get to know one another and take care of each other and the planet.