Our team
Board of Directors
CycleWR is registered as a Not-for-profit corporation since 2021, and is governed by a Board of Directors.
Directors are elected by CycleWR members at the Annual General Meeting, and are responsible for handling the day-to day operations of the organization, managing funds and communications to members, and conducting monthly meetings to discuss initiatives.
Zac Young – President
Zac is a lifelong cyclist, preferring to take two wheels year-round for his daily commute, exploring the world, and more recently, taking his two children around the Waterloo Region where he has lived since 2010. Zac studied Nanotechnology Engineering at the University of Waterloo, where he was a Junior Fellow with Engineers Without Borders Canada and started the WUSA Bike Rental Program. Today, he is a resident of Kitchener and active advocate for improving sustainability in transport, housing and energy, while leading an water treatment technology start-up, H2nanO.
Janice Jim – Vice President
Janice has been cycling in Waterloo since her undergrad days. She is passionate about active transportation, transit, the environment, social justice and community building. Janice is the Chair of the City of Waterloo Active Transportation Committee. She’s active with Red Raccoon Bike Rescue and KW Famous. Janice is inspired by the work of the Dutch Cycling Embassy who aim to make cycling accessible to all ages and abilities through education, infrastructure and planning.
Tom Strickland
Tom took up cycling again in 2016 after a 40-year hiatus. He is very much an “Interested but Concerned” cyclist and is a passionate advocate for cycling facilities that are fully separated from car traffic. He is a retired actuary, and a member of the Transportation Subcommittee of ClimateActionWR. He was awarded the Wheels of Change award in 2022 from the Share the Road coalition for his work on a ClimateActionWR team that evaluated the Cambridge cycling network plan with an equity lens, and developed a priority ranking model for potential new cycling facilities.
Gemma Ricker-Rampersad
Gemma is a year-round cycling commuter. She grew up in rural Ontario with no access to safe cycling infrastructure or public transit, and moved to Waterloo for school in 2017. Now a proud resident of downtown Kitchener, she is able to forgo car ownership thanks to the bike lanes, public transit, and walkability of the city. She cares deeply about making the Region a place where everyone can feel safe cycling. She is passionate about municipal politics, 15 minutes cities, and all forms of active transportation. She currently works in student life at the University of Waterloo
Caleb deGroot-Maggetti (they/them)
Caleb was born and raised in Kitchener. They’re a piano teacher and studied Community Music at Laurier University in Waterloo. Caleb loves community and looks for opportunities to connect with as many great local organizations as they can, supporting projects from climate protests and community bike rides to food distribution programs and community concerts. Deep in their heart, Caleb believes that we’re all working on something good, and our diversity is what makes our region great!
Priya Soundararajan
Priya grew up in India and moved to Waterloo for school in 2016. Now a resident of downtown Kitchener, she works as a software developer for Google. Biking has brought Priya immense joy, and she is passionate about ensuring that anyone else who wants to ride feels completely safe doing so. While she recognizes that the Region is progressive and has accomplished quite a bit, she is focused on addressing the remaining network gaps and engaging the community to help bridge them.
When she isn’t volunteering with CycleWR, Priya loves exploring the streets of KW to discover new local food spots and can often be found climbing at Grand River Rocks.
Patrick Bergsma
Patrick moved to the Region of Waterloo in 2014 for school. You will find him mostly wearing his Dutch flat cap and running errands or enjoying a ride with his family on a genuine pre-loved bike from the Netherlands, which he bought from Go Dutch Bikes in Toronto.
Patrick grew up mostly on a farm and in a rural village in southern Ontario, so living in two different cities, Kitchener, ON and Langley, BC was a big shift for him. Patrick’s experiences have led him to a deep desire to live in a tightknit community. He realized that himself and others also thought living in a tightknit community with their local friends, religious community, and in their neighbourhood should be easy, but that isn’t always the case.
Eventually, Patrick travelled to the Netherlands and Germany a few times, became a part-time content creator under the brand True Communities, and took some online courses in urban planning and creating livable spaces. He desires to listen and equip people with the knowledge and experience he has gained.
