THE BOARD
David Dennis has enjoyed a wide range of bicycling experiences that began at age nine delivering papers in a small northern Michigan town, and included numerous bicycle commutes, tours, and races over the years. In 2015, after 10 years as a mechanic and manager in the motorcycle industry and 27 years of teaching and coaching high school students in Taft, California, all of those experiences coalesced when he was introduced to SBBIKE in Santa Maria by Ken Dahmen. He began to volunteer at Bici Centro, assisted in the youth education program, and, at the encouragement of Christine Bourgeois, became a League Certified Instructor which led to instructing classes for adults in north county. David joined the Board in 2019 and served through the merger of SBBIKE+COAST. He is currently serving as President and believes that MOVE Santa Barbara County is ready to advance our mission to promote walking, bicycling and public transit county-wide to create healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities.
Dawn Mitcham is the personal CPA and CFO for a local family office. She was raised in Tehachapi, CA; came to Santa Barbara in 2000 to attend UCSB (and never left); and has a degree in Business Economics with an emphasis in accounting. Dawn has been active in the community as a co-producer of TEDxAmericanRiviera; helped launch the Kiva Workspace (formally the ImpactHub); served on event committees for the Dream Foundation; chaired the Partnership Council for the Community Environmental Council and is a Katherine Harvey Fellow through Leading from Within. She currently sits on the board for three local non-profits: Unite to Light, MOVE Santa Barbara County and the Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation.
Greg is a computer/information science researcher at UCSB. Growing up on the Santa Barbara Mesa in the 1970s, he walked to school (as did most kids at the time) and biked everywhere else. Greg learned about COAST when he walked his children to Mountain View Elementary every day, an activity he loved but which also opened his eyes to the need for pedestrian safety and advocacy. He served as Mountain View's and later Goleta Valley Junior High's Safe Routes to School (SR2S) champion, served on the COAST board for over 10 years, helped oversee the growth of the SR2S program from infancy to the robust county-wide program it is today, and helped facilitate the merger of COAST and SBBIKE. He lives in the Goleta Valley area with his wife Pilar, where they are adjusting to being empty nesters.
Kristen dedicates her days to environmental conservation as Senior Director of the Environmental Defense Center's Marine Program. She grew up in Northern California exploring the Sierra Nevada and moved to Santa Barbara to attend UCSB where she studied exercise science and geography, joined the triathlon team, worked as a bike mechanic is Hazard's Cyclesports and recevied her Masters in Environmental Science and Management. As a passionate environmentalist, Kristen looks forward to the day when our community will be free of oil and gas development, have more bikes than cars, and boast a sustainable and efficient public transit system. Kristen also serves as the Chair and Conservation Member of the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council.
Blake is an environmentalist at heart with a deep belief the bicycle offers a simple, yet elegant solution to many of the most pressing problems facing society. Influenced by his Dutch family heritage and experiences visiting places which prioritize the safety of all road users, particularly those most vulnerable, he sees no reason why parts of SB County couldn't be the next Copenhagen or Amsterdam. To prove the point, you might see him riding around Santa Barbara on his Urban Arrow cargo bike with his wife and young children. He is the director of sustainability for Thai Union North America, one of the world's largest seafood companies, and holds a masters degree in sustainability management from American University in Washington D.C.
John works at Flir as a Sr. Reliability Project Engineer while on the side addressing Floating Offshore Wind Energy needs. John's personal love of bicycles began when he and his sister saved up enough allowance at age 9 to buy their first 10-speed from the local variety drug store. During his paperboy days, he earned enough to get a top-of-the-line BMX racing bike and race. While attending UCSB, he was on the team that designed, built and competed on a recumbent aerodynamic fast human powered vehicle. Today, he bikes to work and around town, bikes with his family, and belongs to a mountain biking group. John began as an education volunteer with MOVE in 2012 and is excited to join in on the fun and challenge of helping MOVE continue to move forward.