Tour de OG
"Trailblazers"
Cycling for Sustainable Business
5 Days, 400 Miles, Infinite Possibilities
Greg McQuaid
I grew up in Ireland but have been living in San Francisco for 15 years. I've been working in radio for most that time; first at alternative Live 105 and for the last 12 years at KFOG. I produce the KFOG Morning Show which means I book the guests and choose topics to be discussed plus I'm a member of the 4 person on-air staff. 5 years ago I decided a great way to get fit and help a good cause would be to pedal my bike from San Francisco to Los Angeles as part of the annual AIDS/Lifecycle charity ride. I loved the experience so much I ended up participating 2 years in a row! After that I seriously caught the cycling bug and now race Cat 2 most weekends throughout the season as member of the San Jose Bike Club. I'm thrilled and excited to be cycling to LA again, this time as part of the Tour de OG, raising awareness and generating social media buzz for green business.
Greg's KFOG Blog | Follow Greg on Twitter | Follow Greg on Facebook
Sue Rigler
Sue Rigler, founder of AdVinylize, repurposes used outdoor vinyl billboards into totes, computer bags and more for corporate promotions. AdVinylize offers companies who advertise on outdoor boards a responsible option for reusing their ads to once again connect with their consumers. It's a winning combination for businesses, consumers and our planet. Sue is a triathlete and spin instructor. She lives in Manhattan Beach, CA with her husband, Collin and 4 children.
AdVinylize.com | Follow Sue on Twitter
Marcus Castain
Marcus is the CEO and Founder of the Infrastructure Academy, a socially entrepreneurial organization designed to build a pipeline of diverse, well-qualified young people for the career opportunities of the green economy. Marcus has experience as a creator, manager, and participant of leadership, education, and youth development programs. His most recent experience was serving as Associate Director of Education, Youth and Families for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa where he worked to raise expectations and support for meaningful education reform in Los Angeles. He also served as the Mayor's liaison to the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.Previously, Marcus was an Associate Director at the Broad Foundation, a national venture philanthropic organization that concentrates on dramatically improving K-12 urban public education. At Broad he managed a $30 million investment portfolio focused on improving the management systems of large urban school districts including New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Long Beach, Oakland, and other cities. He also started The Broad Residency program, a highly competitive, two-year management development program that trains emerging leaders for senior management positions in urban school districts. Marcus has worked in product management for a Cisco Learning Partner and as a management consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He started his career in Washington, D.C., as a research analyst at an international-affairs think tank. Marcus has an MBA from the Anderson School at UCLA and a BA in International Political Economy from University of California, Berkeley. He also teaches a graduate course in Social Entrepreneurship at the UCLA School of Public Affairs.
Marcus loves to ride his bike around town (even on the mean streets of LA) and on longer ventures including a Seattle to Washington, DC trip and a biking vacation in Italy this summer. He would love to see Los Angeles and other urban areas transform themselves into bicycle-friendly communities.
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Esteban Chavez
Esteban is the principal and creative director of Headhigh Creative, a design and branding consultancy that focuses on brand strategy and interface design for creative business ventures. He grew up on two wheels and raced competitively as a junior and at the collegiate and elite levels in his younger days. Esteban is riding the Tour De Og to promote the launch of RidersOne.com, a cycling community that rides to raise awareness for sustainability and philanthropy. Esteban is happily married to Jenifer and together they are raising their soon to be three year old son Enzo.
RIders One | Headhigh Creative | Follow Riders One on Twitter | Follow Esteban on Facebook
Anna Cummins
Anna Cummins has over 10 years of experience in environmental non-profit work, education, writing, and campaign development. She has worked in marine conservation, coastal watershed management, sustainabilty education, and high school ecology instruction. Anna received her undergraduate in History from Stanford University, and her Masters in International Environmental Policy from the Monterey Institute for International Studies.
In 2001, Anna received a fellowship from the Sustainable Communities Leadership Program, to work with Santa Cruz based non-profit Save Our Shores, coordinating bilingual outreach education and community relations. At Save Our Shores, Anna came across The Algalita Marine Research Foundation's work on plastic marine debris. She later joined the Algalita's 2004 research voyage to Guadalupe Island, to collect evidence of plastic ingestion by Laysan Albatross. In 2005, Anna returned to Los Angeles, to teach ecology and organic cooking at New Roads School, coordinate Green Living Workshops for Sustainable Works, and found the Bring Your Own campaign. In 2007 she joined the Algalita Marine Research Foundation as education adviser, conducting school outreach and giving public presentations on the plastics issue. With Algalita, Anna completed a month long, 4,000 mile research expedition studying plastic debris in the North Pacific Gyre.
Anna has published a number of articles and chapters on environmental themes, including a regular columns for the Santa Monica Mirror and Worldchanging Los Angeles, 2 chapters in "Proceed With Passion: Engaging Students in Meaningful Education" (Red Hen Press), a feature article in WEND magazine on plastic marine debris, and numerous sustainability-themed blogs. She is currently continuing her work on plastics education with Algalita and Bring Your Own, and preparing for a 2,000 mile cycling journey from Vancouver to Mexico (www.junkraft.com) , to give dozens of presentations on plastic pollution in the marine environment.
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Joshua Hickman
Joshua is a Sustainability Manager for Farnsworth Group Inc. a full service architectural and engineering firm with 17 offices located throughout the United States. The Los Angeles office is focused on sustainability and building commissioning services. Joshua received a BA degree in Construction Management from Wentworth Institute of Technology located in Boston, MA where he grew up. His career began by managing over 30 tenant construction projects at Logan Airport in Boston. To advance his career in sustainability he became Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited. Just over a year ago he relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career at the forefront of sustainable development and construction.
Los Angeles has also offered the opportunity, and the weather, to become more physically active. He recently competed in the Los Angeles Triathlon and continues to seek out events that pair sustainability and physical activity. Joshua is an active member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) LA chapter. He is on the Emerging Green Builders (EGB) and the Events Committees. Sara, Joshua’s fiancé, is also dedicated to sustainability through architecture and green design. The two of them have a rescue puppy named Jackson.
In his spare time Joshua enjoys hiking, biking, camping, rock climbing and just about anything outdoors. He is dedicated to eating right and highly promotes local organic food.
Nick Aster
Nick Aster is the founder of TriplePundit.com. He is a New Media Architect specializing in using online technology to advance conversations on sustainability. He recently worked for Mother Jones magazine to help reinvent the magazine via technology. He has also worked with companies like Nike, SAP, Citibank, Gawker Media, Offermatica, and many others on internal and external strategies for communication. With a great deal of interest in environmental matters he worked for many years on TreeHugger.com, the most popular environmental website in the world. Nick holds an MBA in sustainable management from the Presidio School of Management and graduated with a BA in History from Washington University in St. Louis.
Follow nick on Twitter | Follow Triple Pundit on Twitter
Jason Kibbey
Jason Kibbey, is the CEO and Founder of PACT. Until recently, I served as co-founder and interim executive director of Freedom to Roam, a non-profit initiative that brings together people, organizations and businesses to enhance and protect wildlife corridors and landscape connectivity in North America. While at business school, I worked at Patagonia developing Freedom to Roam. Before business school, I founded the land conservation organization, Defense of Place. I started my career as an Associate Consultant at Bain & Company, where I worked on turnaround and product strategies for high-tech companies. I graduated from UC Berkeley with degrees in Environmental Economics and Policy and Religious Studies and received my MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business in May 2008.
Wearpact.com | Follow Jason on Twitter
Sandra Kwak
Sandra is the founder of an energy efficiency startup, Powerzoa: a smart plug that stops electricity waste. Powerzoa has been selected as a contestant in Opportunity Green's OG25 Startup competition and was named an Energy Efficiency Runner Up in the Clean Tech Open 2009.
Recently graduated from Presidio Graduate School with an MBA in Sustainable Business, Sandra consults in marketing, sustainability and strategy. She has over 10 years experience in sales / marketing and freelances in graphic design and photography.
Powerzoa
Juergen Dold
