Board and Staff

BOARD of DIRECTORS  |  STAFF

Staff

Walter Hook | Executive Director

Walter Hook has been the executive director of ITDP since 1993. Under his leadership ITDP has grown from a small, volunteer-run group to a leading international organization with over 20 staff members in offices in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Walter received his doctorate in Urban Planning from Columbia University in 1996 and teaches occasionally as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s School of Architecture and Urban Planning. He holds a Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and a B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University.

Bernardo Baranda | Senior Program Director, Mexico

In his more than 10 years of professional experience, Bernardo has been involved in urban sustainable mobility projects working in the private and non-governmental sectors. He is one of the founding members of Bicitekas an urban cycling advocacy group in Mexico City.

Bernardo holds Master's degrees in Transport Engineering from IHE-TU in Delft, The Netherlands, and in Management and Implementation of Development Projects from UMIST in Manchester, United Kingdom. He also holds a Bachelor Degree in Civil Engineering from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). In his spare time, he enjoys sports, reading novels and travelling.

Oscar Edmundo Diaz | Senior Program Director, Colombia

As a senior program director, Oscar Edmundo Diaz has managed projects in Colombia, Mexico, and Brazil, while also working on urban transportation projects in other cities in Latin America, as well as cities in Asia, Africa, and North America. Mr. Diaz works with governments in the implementation of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems, car free days, the promotion of bicycle use as a means of transportation and the improvement of public pedestrian spaces. Mr. Diaz is also the executive director of “Por el Pais que Queremos” Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Enrique Penalosa (Mayor of Bogota 1998-2001).

From 2001 to 2005 he served as ITDP’s Administrative Director, helping the organization manage enormous growth. Mr. Diaz holds a masters of International Affairs from Columbia University.

Mbareck Diop | Country Director, Senegal

Colonel Mbareck Diop joined ITDP in 2003 as the Senegal Country Director, overseeing the establishment of a newly opened office in Dakar, as well as the BRT and NMT work in Dakar. Prior to joining ITDP, the Colonel served as a technical advisor to the President of Senegal from 1994-2002.

Trained as a civil engineer, Colonel Diop is involved in a variety of national and international initiatives to improve infrastructure and foster environmental protection, including serving as Chairman of the Board of the National Company for Sanitation (since 1997); the National Committee on Climate Change (1995-2002), and the National Committee on Carbon Sequestration (since 2001).

Melinda Eisenmann | Financial and Administrative Director

As the Financial and Administrative Director, Melinda Eisenmann is in charge of the administrative and financial management of the organization in the US, as well as overseas. She joined ITDP in 2004. Previous to joining ITDP, she worked at the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College on human rights and political persecution projects and as an office manager for a real estate company. Melinda also spent a semester working in Mexico with Dr. Jorge G. Castañeda, ex-Foreign Minister of Mexico and then President candidate.

Melinda has lived and studied in Europe, Latin America, and Africa. She holds a B.A. in Modern Languages from the University of Puerto Rico and an M.A. in International Affairs from Fordham University with a specialization in international finance.

John Ernst | Senior Program Director, Indonesia

As a Senior Program Director for the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP), John Ernst directs the organization’s activities in Indonesia. John has been with ITDP since 1999, handling activities in Guangzhou, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad before focusing on Indonesia.

Prior to ITDP, he was based in Bangkok and managed Sustainable Transport Programs in Asia for the International Institute for Energy Conservation, with projects in Manila, Xiamen and Bangkok. Previously, John worked in Hong Kong on a World Bank study of transport sustainability in mid-sized cities. He is an ecologist by training, holding B.S. and M.S. degrees from Colorado State University.

In addition to 5-years of world travel and independent research, he brought to the transport field 12-years of experience as an environmental advocate, including serving as Director of Legislative Affairs for the National Wildlife Federation in Washington, DC, and Executive Director of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation.

Karl Fjellstrom | Senior Program Director, China

After completing Honours degrees in Law, Urban Geography and Asian Studies from Macquarie University and the University of Sydney in the mid 1990s, Karl Fjellstrom has since 1999 worked on urban transport planning projects around Asia, focusing on public transportation and Bus Rapid Transit but also working on pedestrian and bicycle facility planning and road safety.

Asian cities that he has worked in for more than two months include Guangzhou, Harbin, Changzhou, Surabaya, Jakarta, Bangkok, Dhaka, and Ahmedabad. He has worked in several other cities for shorter terms. In 2005 and 2006 Karl worked on a near full-time basis on the Guangzhou BRT planning and design. In 2007 he was team leader of a sustainable transport project in Harbin and Changzhou, followed by a project to review and revise Harbin’s new CBD plans. He has been with ITDP since 2003.

Shreya Gadepalli | Technical Director

Shreya started her working career with ITDP as a non-motorized vehicle designer on the Indian cycle rickshaw modernization project in the late 90's, a hugely successful project with more than 300,000 modern cycle rickshaws plying on streets of nearly a dozen cities in India. She continued NMV design work as the lead design consultant on the Indonesian Becak Modernization Project in Yogyakarta.

She has since expanded her area of professional interest to BRT and NMT planning, working as Technical Director on various projects in India. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering and a Master's Degree in Industrial Design from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. Shreya is passionate about photography and an ardent collector of handicrafts from across the world. She enjoys listening to various genres of classical music, including works of fusion between Eastern and Western forms.

Aimée Gauthier | Senior Program Director, Africa

Aimée has been working at ITDP since 2003, mainly on Sub-Saharan Africa transport projects in Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, and Tanzania. Before joining ITDP, Aimée worked for five years at the Moriah Fund as the grants and office manager. Aimée holds a Master’s in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Jonas Hagen | Country Director, Brazil

Jonas Hagen has a B.A. in International Relations and an M.S. in Urban Affairs from Hunter College in New York City. He has lived throughout Europe and Latin America, and since 2003, has worked on sustainable transport projects in Bogotá, Montevideo, São Paulo and New York City, collaborating with ITDP, GTZ, and the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, among others.

Prior to joining the ITDP staff in 2007, Jonas was working for the United Nations. He enjoys learning new languages, water sports, biking, livable and culturally active human settlements, delicious food and an occasional dose of the great outdoors.

Stacy Mayers | Administrative Assistant

Stacy recently graduated from Sacred Heart University with a B.S. in Economics. While attending, her interests involved holding officer positions for campus organization UMOJA and community service projects, such as volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and interning at the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance. She loves to play billiards.

Luc Nadal | Technical Director

Luc Nadal is an architect and urbanist. Prior to joining ITDP, he contributed to numerous urban planning and design projects, including the La Villette Park and the Charles de Gaulle Airport, in Paris. Luc wrote extensively about the role and functions of urban public space.

He received his Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Columbia University, and his Diploma of Architect (DPLG) from Ecole d’Architecture de Paris-La Villette. Luc was a Mombusho Scholar at Kyoto University and he taught at Columbia U., New School University, and Parsons School of Design in New York.

Engelbert Nyoni | Program Officer, Tanzania

Jesús Sánchez | Technical Director

Jesús studied construction and architecture and has served in different positions in Mexico City government, mainly in the area of city services, infrastructure and economic development. He has also worked on projects related to housing development in the city. Since 2005 he has collaborated in designing projects of bicycle infrastructure and public space.

Jesús likes to play outdoor sports and computer games of simulation and strategy. He also collects Playmobil toys.

Bradley Schroeder | Senior Program Director, California Bike Coalition

Bradley has wide-ranging experience in cross-cultural project management with over 6 years of experience working in multiple African countries. He has worked with a variety of partners including the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, Peace Corps and Marine Max, giving him an understanding of both the private and not-for-profit sectors.

Bradley holds a BA in Environmental Chemistry and an MBA in Global Management. In his spare time, he enjoys the outdoors, reading non-fiction and bonsai.

Djibril Seck | Program Officer, Senegal

Restiti Sekartini | Deputy Country Director, Indonesia

Nalin Sinha | Country Director, ITDP India

Ernest Teye-Topey | Country Director, Ghana

Board of Directors

Michael Replogle, President

Environmental Defense

Matteo Martignoni, Vice President

International Human Powered Vehicle Association

Karen Overton, Secretary

Partnership for Parks, NYC

Bob Hambrecht, Treasurer

WR Hambrecht & Co

Patrick Cunnane

Fuji Bikes

Greg Guenther

Guenther Consulting

Walter Hook

Executive Director, ITDP

Shomik Raj Mehndiratta

World Bank Group

Gerhard Menckhoff

World Bank Group (retired)

V. Setty Pendakur

Pacific Policy and Planning Associates

Enrique Peñalosa

Former Mayor, Bogotá, Colombia

Por El País Que Queremos

Joseph Ryan

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Ariadne Delon Scott

Specialized Bicycles

Felipe Targa

Inter-American Development Bank

Paul White

Transportation Alternatives