Officers & Executive Committee
Caroline Cooley, Chairperson - Knoxville
Dr. Caroline Cooley helped form Bike Walk Knoxville (BWK) in 2012. She has served as President since 2014 while also serving as board chair for Bike Walk Tennessee. Caroline worked as a private practice physician of internal medicine and nephrology for over 30 years in Knoxville until she retired in 2015. She is active in the Knoxville community having founded the Knoxville Regional TPO Bicycle Advisory Committee and representing BWK on the Knox County Safe Routes to School Partnership. She served as the chair of Active Knox, a team focused on making Knoxville and Knox County a healthier place to live by promoting a healthier built environment that encourages active living and transportation choices. Caroline has attended the National Bike Summit in Washington, D.C. yearly since 2001 to advocate for bike and pedestrian inclusion in federal transportation funding. She is a League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructor and a lifelong bicyclist for recreation, competitive racing and transportation.
Gina Simpson, Secretary - Cleveland
Gina started Bike Walk Cleveland in 2017 to promote walking and biking as modes of transportation. She is a League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructor, and is passionate about providing Smart Cycling and other bike education programs to her community, as well as teaching and leading group fitness classes. Through the Bikes to Schools program she launched in 2018, Gina has educated over 400 students on bicycle riding and safety. In conjunction with the Museum Center at Five Points, she hosts a youth cycling camp every summer, and works alongside Family Promise of Bradley County to plan and host the Cleveland Circuit Ride each fall. She has presented about the positive impact of biking and walking in small communities at the local, state, and national levels, and encourages local advocacy organizations to mobilize community change in active transportation. Gina serves as Secretary on the Bike Walk Tennessee Board.
Lindsey Kimble, Ex Officio - Knoxville
Born and raised in Indiana, Lindsey graduated from Depauw University (in Greencastle, IN) with a B.A. in Health and Physical Performance. She then received her M.S. in Sports Management from the University of Tennessee where she was a Graduate Assistant with the Rec Sports Department. Upon graduating from UT, Lindsey was the Club Manager of a Health Club in Lafayette, IN and then spent 7 years in Winston-Salem, NC in several director positions with the YMCA including Associate Executive Director of a 13,000+ member location. Lindsey currently works part-time for Bike Walk Knoxville managing all aspects of the organization including Open Streets events. When not working, you will find Lindsey spending time with her husband, Chris and 2 girls, Hannah and Reese and enjoying the outdoors. Lindsey and Chris also started Knox Bike Racing in 2017, a mountain bike race series in Knoxville. Lindsey is a League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructor.
Regional & At-Large Directors
Bert Kuyrkendall - Chattanooga
Bert is a consultant with over 20 years of experience in the field of transportation planning and design and is a certified planner, a licensed engineer, and is LEED (AP ND) and CNU accredited. His work centers on fostering walkable and bikeable communities. He served as City Transportation Engineer for Chattanooga, Tennessee and City Engineer for Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and for multiple years as a consultant to neighborhoods, towns/cities and counties. In addition to the Bike Walk Tennessee Board, he serves on the Bike Walk Chattanooga Board, and is a member of APBP and Adventure Cycling. He enjoys mountain biking, bike commuting, and bike touring.
Jeff Schenkel - Middle Tennessee
Jeff is a retired executive of the footwear and apparel industry with experience in both retail and wholesale. He developed expertise in budgeting, merchandising, planning, sourcing, product development, and operations over a career spanning Baltimore, New York City, and Nashville. Jeff graduated from SUNY Fredonia, and is passionate about opportunities for people to safely enjoy the outdoors. He is an avid biker, golfer, and skier and a Nashville resident for almost 30 years. Jeff enjoys spending time with his wife and two adult children, and proudly represents Middle Tennessee on the Bike Walk Tennessee Board.
Kat Volzer - Ooltewah
Kat Volzer has been involved in bicycle advocacy both formally and informally over the past decade. While living in Atlanta, GA, she was an active volunteer with both Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and Sopo Bicycle Cooperative, serving as a board member and volunteer mechanic of the Coop. Kat has been a League of American Bicyclists Certified Instructor since 2017 and has hosted over 500 safety education programs for children since May 2018. She is the Director of Programming for White Oak Bicycle Co-op, a 501c3 nonprofit that refurbishes donated bikes and redistributes them into the Greater Chattanooga community. When she’s not advocating for bicycles, she’s usually riding them both on road and off, and enjoys bikepacking and touring with her family and friends.
Committee Leadership
Ned Dannenberg - Franklin
Ned Dannenberg has been a bike commuter since middle school and believes in the power of walking and biking to build stronger communities. He spent a decade working in local television in both Nashville and Memphis, and currently works for a media company supporting Tennessee radio stations. Ned serves as an advocate for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure investment in Franklin, and collaborates with a variety of city boards and non-profits. In his time leading Bike Walk Franklin, the group has expanded programming to include Bike, Walk, and Roll to School Days, bicycle parking at city events, and holiday light rides. In his free time, Ned and his wife Jennifer enjoy hiking and camping with their two dogs.
Would you, or someone you know, be a great addition to our Board?
Bike Walk Tennessee is currently recruiting board members to join our efforts across the state of Tennessee. We have several open positions on the Bike Walk Tennessee Board of Directors and ask you to consider becoming part of a statewide effort working to create power through a unified voice for bicycling and walking, working to get more people in Tennessee walking and biking. Serving on the Bike Walk Tennessee Board is an exciting, fulfilling opportunity.