Staff & Board — Safe Streets Austin

Board Chair
chair@safestreetsaustin.org

Kathy Sokolic

Secretary

Kathy has long been a champion of new urbanism and environmental values, and became more directly involved in street safety after her nephew was incapacitated after being hit by a pickup truck in 2016. She joined other local activists to demand changes in street design and policy to prevent these injuries from happening to other families.
She is a co-founder and current chair of Central Texas Families for Safe Streets, an independent membership organization that works with Vision Zero Texas and others to end traffic deaths in the Austin and San Antonio metroplex.
Kathy holds both a BS and MS in Geology from the University of Oklahoma. For a good portion of her career, she cleaned up after the military, disposing of unexploded ordnance. In 2016, she opted for a change and now helps Austinites buy and sell residential real estate.

Robert Foster

Treasurer

Robert is a third generation Austinite who grew up riding his bike to get around town and fell in love with the freedom biking provides everyone, but especially kids. He volunteers with various groups around Austin including Ghisallo Cycling Initiative, ACC’s Green Team, and Austin Parks Foundation.
Robert works for Austin Community College building online tools and free textbooks to reduce the cost of higher education. When not biking or advocating for safer streets he can be found building funky sculptures for Austin’s 37th Street Lights.

Heyden Black Walker

Heyden Black Walker (CNU-A) is Director of Planning for Black + Vernooy Architecture and Urban Design. Together with Sinclair Black, she co-founded Reconnect Austin, a community-based call to lower the main lanes of I-35 through Austin’s urban core. Reconnect Austin envisions a reconnected city fabric which provides multi-modal access to housing, jobs, medical facilities, and transit.

With the goal of equity in transportation, increased safety, and access for all, Heyden also serves in leadership roles with the Congress for the New Urbanism - Central Texas, the City of Austin Pedestrian Advisory Council, Cap Metro’s Project Connect, Austin Outside, and Walk Austin.
Heyden is a 2016 fellow and mentor for the National Walking College.

Tom Wald

Tom is a long-time advocate for walking, bicycling, ADA mobility, transportation safety, transit, parks, and public space. He currently serves as Executive Director of the Red Line Parkway Initiative supporting the 32+ mile trail and linear park from Downtown Austin to Leander, and on the boards of People United for Mobility Action (PUMA) and Austin Outside.

Tom was the first Executive Director of Bike Austin, served on the board of Walk Austin, co-founded Orange Bike Project at the University of Texas at Austin, and served on the Austin Pedestrian Advisory Council & Austin Bicycle Advisory Council. His other past community service includes serving on the Wheatsville Co-op board, and neighborhood associations including the Cherrywood Neighborhood Association and the Upper Boggy Creek Neighborhood Planning Contact Team.

Debra Kellstedt

Debra Kellstedt is an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist at Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service as well as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Texas A&M School of Public Health and a Faculty Fellow at the Texas A&M Center for Health & Nature. She is also a 2022 Fellow of the America Walks Texas State Walking College Program and a member of the Public Health Sector of the National Physical Activity Plan.
Debra’s research and programming focus on environmental approaches, like creating walkable and bikeable communities, to promote physical activity and initiatives that connect communities to nature. As a physical activity researcher, Debra has a vested interest in community design and how it helps (or hinders) active living and health and wellbeing. As a community member of Austin, she cares deeply about the policies, systems, and environments that shape the city’s streets and public spaces and impact the health and happiness of Austinites.

Isabel Webb Carey

Isabel is a car-free Austinite who works for Austin City Council, building city ecosystems that are safe, inclusive, and accessible.
As a student, she founded the University Tenants’ Union, helping secure wins like a ban on windowless bedrooms and expanded multimodal access in dense neighborhoods. Isabel has served on Austin’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Councils, volunteers with Austin Bicycle Meals, and in her current role champions multimodal funding, people-first mobility, and regional advocacy alongside groups like AURA, Rethink35, and Safe Streets Austin.
In the creative realm, she’s producing a documentary on the unseen work behind multimodal transportation.

Hill Abell

Hill owned and operated the Bicycle Sport Shop in Austin for over 35 years. Sharing his passion for cycling, both on-road and off-road, has been a labor of love since he discovered mountain biking in 1983. After decades of mountain bike advocacy, he’s now most excited about helping to create space and safety for transportation cycling for every member of our community.

Jon Brandt

Jon discovered cycling when he first moved to Austin in 2010 and has since loved using it to connect to new people and places, both in central Texas and beyond.
Passionate about improving the safety and well-being of his neighbors, Jon has also served on the board at Texas Gun Sense, a gun violence prevention nonprofit. He has a Master of Public Affairs from UT Austin and works in Deloitte's public sector consulting practice.

Katie Kam

Katie’s experience growing up and raising her two kids in Austin contributed to her sense of urgency for Austin to reach Vision Zero. Indeed, those experiences led her to dedicate her career to improving traffic safety by advocating for thoughtful design and safer mobility options.
Katie cumulatively has 29 years of education and experience in urban planning (master’s) and civil/transportation engineering (master’s and PhD), with a brief time in between as a high school science teacher in Austin ISD, which gave her the opportunity to witness firsthand the limitations and challenges students have with getting to school. She has worked for Capital Metro (short- and long-range planning), City of Austin (planning, development review, capital improvement project delivery), The University of Texas Center for Transportation Research, The University of Texas at Arlington (as a transportation engineering research professor), and the City of Pflugerville (as Assistant Director of Traffic & Transportation). Katie has experience working with staff from TxDOT, CAMPO, Travis County, Williamson County, City of Austin and surrounding cities, and with public officials and Board & Commission members on transportation projects and plans.
She is a prolific transportation researcher and has written numerous reports on a variety of transportation topics and is the co-author of published papers and books, including a textbook on transportation economics. She led one of the largest studies of cycling safety at intersections (observing the behavior of over 1,000 cyclists) and is a leading researcher in the use of low-speed vehicles (LSVs) for intracity travel to create a safer, efficient (and more fun!) transportation system for all.

Kira McCool

Kira McCool is a native Austinite who wants to see Austin get infrastructure right.
An avid cyclist, she campaigns for safer streets from the board of the Violet Crown Sports Association, Austin's oldest cycling club. Past advocacy includes joining the fight against I-35's expansion as an early member of Rethink35.
Kira returned to Austin from working in the northeast committed to living a car-free lifestyle. With the extra space granted by a lack of cars, Kira and her husband use their garage as an exhibition space for local artists called Goodluckhavefun Gallery.

Katie Emory

Katie is committed to advancing people-centered design and policy as a transportation planner for Nelson\Nygaard. While her professional focus is on public transit, she has a personal passion for street safety. She believes that community happens at pedestrian scale, that moving at this scale connects people more deeply to their surroundings, and that we have a fundamental right to move safely at human speed.
She previously served as Chair of streets.mn, a nonprofit community platform focused on transportation and land use. Katie has also volunteered with children, animals, and arts organizations.

Nohemy Aguirre

Born and raised in Dallas, Nohemy relocated to Austin a couple of years ago.
Having lived in New York City for five years across multiple boroughs, Nohemy developed a deep appreciation for urbanism and environmental design as they relate to community wellness, public health, and safety. Seeing the changes in Austin’s urban landscape since graduating from The University of Texas in 2016 is both exciting and concerning, and Nohemy is eager to understand how the built environment—from transportation networks to public spaces and housing—shapes the well-being of Austin communities.
Nohemy holds a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and Exercise Science from The University of Texas at Austin.

Rusty Tolliver

Rusty is a passionate advocate for inclusive, accessible, and sustainable communities. His commitment was shaped by a 2,000-mile run from Boston to Austin in 2010 and by years of guiding blind and visually impaired runners around the world. These experiences drive his focus on improving pedestrian safety and infrastructure for individuals of all abilities.
As an environmentalist, Rusty is particularly focused on advancing sustainable transportation as a means to create a healthier and more equitable environment. He believes safe streets should be a universal access, for all to enjoy.
Rusty is currently completing his B.S. in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies, with a minor in Sustainability, at Texas State University.

Ryan Johnson

Ryan is a lifelong Austinite, avid cyclist, and bike/transit commuter, and is currently pursuing a law degree at The University of Texas. Before returning to school, Ryan worked as an urban planner in public- and private-sector roles, with a focus on land use, zoning, and transportation. A former City of Austin Planning Commissioner, Ryan is passionate about civic service and working to help make Austin the best place it can be.
Ryan holds an MA in Urban Planning from Harvard University, and a BA in Political Science from Tufts University. Outside of planning and community involvement, Ryan can be found cooking, biking with the Austin Coffee Ride and other groups around town, and playing trivia.

Priya Patel

Priya Patel, LEED GA, CNU-A, is a city planner at Black+Motal Architecture and Urban Design. She contributes her expertise toward creating inclusive, resilient, and sustainable spaces.
Priya has previously served on the boards of Austin-based nonprofits, including Reconnect Austin, CNU–Central Texas, the Pedestrian Advisory Council, People United for Mobility Action, and Austin Outside, among others. She is a 2022 National Walking College Fellow and a 2021 NACTO Transportation Justice Fellow.
Originally from India, she holds a bachelor's degree in architecture and dual master's degrees in city planning and urban design from the University of Texas at Austin.
Priya believes streets are vital civic spaces and champions reimagining car-centric corridors to foster connection, safety, and equity.

Adam Greenfield

Interim Executive Director
adam@safestreetsaustin.org

Adam is a transportation advocate with over 15 years of experience. Has has led many successful initiatives, including protected bicycle lanes on Shoal Creek Boulevard and Congress Avenue, the Living Streets program, ending minimum parking requirements, and the $460m Safe Mobility For All bond campaign.