In 2006, Portland's bike-fun organizers found themselves dealing with more and more bureaucracy and paperwork. Events like Carfree Day, the Multnomah County Bike Fair, and the World Naked Bike Ride were requiring insurance, alcohol permits, tax ID numbers, mailing addresses, and bookkeeping.
For years, the City Repair Project had generously provided these things for us. As events got bigger and involved more nudity and tall-bike jousting, we decided it was best for both groups to part ways. Those of us who found ourselves putting our contact info on noise variances, balancing budgets, and just generally trying to keep things legal got together and formed Umbrella in late 2006.
Ever since, we've been popping up to provide protection when needed and disappearing when not -- just like an umbrella.
BOARD (consider joining)
Adam Zucker, president
Sue Tsoi, treasurer
Ben Chaney, secretary
Matt Chmielewski
Matt Cleinman
Kirk Paulsen
Meghan Sinnott
Early Umbrella Board Members, 2007 Photo by Dat Nguyen
(Left-to-Right: Carl Larson, Steph Routh, Matt Picio, Heather Williams, Steven Kung, Micah Waldstein)
BOARD MEMBER BIOS
Adam Zucker (he/him) | adam.zucker@umbrellapdx.org | President | Joined 2017
Project Liaison for Brentwood Incubators, Friends of 7th Ave People's Plaza, The Ladd's 500, Portland Bicycle Support Fund, and Why Isn't Anyone Talking About This?
Adam is an east coast transplant who has been living in Portland for over 20 years. Mt. St. Helens, the bottle bill, big trees, and yellow bikes inspired Adam to move and lay down roots in the Pacific Northwest. Ever since Bike Summer, he has been enamored with Portland’s bike culture and has sought out more ways to support and participate in this scene. Professionally, Adam is a water resources engineer and a wannabee transportation activist. Adam uses his knowledge of the mundane to support Umbrella and their projects.
Sue Tsoi (she/her) | sue.tsoi@umbrellapdx.org | Treasurer | Joined 2020
Sue is a transplant from New York City and has lived in Oregon for the past 25 years. She loves the variety of landscapes Oregon has to offer and how fun it is to live and work in Portland. By day, she is a professional land surveyor working at a private A&E consultant firm. The majority of her work has been focused on transportation/multimodal and infrastructure projects in Oregon. She has volunteered at the Oregon Food Bank and the Sunshine Division. She is a certified beer judge and has completed Levels 1-3 of the Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).
Ben Chaney (he/him) | ben.chaney@umbrellapdx.org | Secretary | Joined 2017
Project Liaison for Better Block PDX
Ben moved to Portland in 2012 to attend Portland State University where he studied Transportation Planning and Engineering. He co-founded Better Block PDX together with other folks interested in using tactical urbanism for active transportation advocacy and equitable placemaking. He can be found exploring Portland by ebike with his partner from a home base in the Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhood.
Matt Chmielewski (he/him) | matthew.chmielewski@umbrellapdx.org | Joined 2023
Project Liaison for Multnomah County Bike Fair and Shift
Matt moved to Portland in 2011 in order to pursue a Ph.D. at Portland State University. Daily bike commuting grew into a love of bicycling as a way to experience the city, which only grew once he discovered the bike scene. After participating in numerous Pedalpalooza rides over the years, he began the annual Dungeons & Dragons & Derailleurs ride(s) in 2021. He currently splits his time between Portland and fieldwork in Panama as a research ecologist. He has started considering the Ladd’s 500 as the event that truly ushers in the Spring.
Matt Cleinman (he/him) | matt.cleinman@umbrellapdx.org | Joined 2023
Project Liaison for Breakfast on the Bridges
Matt Cleinman happily sold his car and hopped on a bike shortly after moving to Portland in 2007. Since then, he has co-founded a nerdy all-volunteer bar event and was part of the team behind Portland's first escape room. With a varied job history including non-profits, food carts, and politics, Matt currently works on digital privacy tools. He loves the simple joy of biking his dog to the park on a sunny day.
Kirk Paulsen (he/him) | kirk.paulsen@umbrellapdx.org | Joined 2016
Project Liaison for Disaster Relief Trials and Northwest Skate Coalition
Kirk moved to Portland in 2010 and soon after fell in love with riding his bike around town for errands of all sorts, and realized just how valuable of a tool the bicycle, and other forms of human powered transportation, can be for a community. This, plus the social bike rides, resulted in memories that will live on forever for him, and he hopes to replicate similar experiences for others through his assistance with Umbrella. He chose to build upon his BS in civil engineering with an MS in civil engineering at Portland State University, and has used this education to transform his career into one that now has him designing transportation facilities for people that bike, walk, roll, and scoot throughout our urban landscapes. He enjoys living car-free in NE Portland with his wife, wonderful Corgi-mix of a pup Cordelia, and sun-loving bearded dragon Gimli.
Meghan Sinnott (she/her) | meghan.sinnott@umbrellapdx.org | Joined 2018
Project Liaison for PDXWNBR, Bike Summer, and Kidical Mass
Meghan moved to Portland in 2001 to attend Lewis & Clark College where she wrote her thesis about bicycle subcultures of Portland. She's been involved in the active transportation and bike fun worlds since, acting as Filmed by Bike's Cultural Liaison on their Marketing Advisory Board, organizing and promoting bicycle events (including Oregon Manifest, Pedalpalooza, the Midnight Mystery Ride, the Tweed Ride, and more), teaching the Share the Road Safety Class, and working for Nutcase Helmets as Global Marketing Director. She lives car-free in NE Portland, OR with her husband, two step-kids, and bicycle-loving co-pilot, Aster (a beautiful black lab/collie/heeler mutt).
FORMER BOARD MEMBERS
Robin Cordo
LeeAnne Fergason
Ben Foote
Charley Gee
Steven Kung
Carl Larson
Matt Picio
Steph Routh
Lale Santelices
Lori Sills
Micah Waldstein
Heather Williams