“Dear OBRA \u2013<\/p>\n

My name is Sa\u00fal Lopez, and I am seeking election for one of the open OBRA Board of Director positions.<\/p>\n

I’ve been an avid rider and racer since 1992, starting out road racing for the University of Illinois Cycling Club and the Central Illinois Bicycle Racing team.\u00a0 I moved to Oregon in August of 2003 and joined OBRA soon thereafter, racing for Team Half Fast Velo.\u00a0 I added cyclocross to my racing calendar in 2007.\u00a0 I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the OBRA community and would like to give back to the sport that has been an integral part of my life.\u00a0 I am passionate about cycling and wish to see it grow – both competitively and recreationally.\u00a0 I believe that my participation as an active racer and my background uniquely qualifies me for the position of board member.<\/p>\n

My interest in joining the OBRA Board is multi-fold:<\/p>\n

1) I would like to employ my background and skills in identifying how best to serve our OBRA community – our consumers – from officials & volunteers to racers, to promoters, to fans, and to sponsors.\u00a0 By better understanding their needs, we can continue to support the growth of our sport.<\/p>\n

2) I believe there is a great opportunity to help the sport grow among women and minorities, with a keen focus on bringing in new racers through junior development.<\/p>\n

3) As an avid racer, I have noticed the decline in road racing (open road, criteriums, etc.) and I would love to bring my expertise and develop a plan on how to grow the racing calendar and ensure our membership has great options to compete throughout the year \u2013 across all cycling disciplines.<\/p>\n

4) I would like to collaborate with our OBRA community toward making the sport more accessible and easier to take up.\u00a0 Cycling can be intimidating if you don’t know where to start, and we can only help it grow by exposing more and more people to how amazing riding and racing can be.<\/p>\n

5) Finally, Oregon is a hotbed for bicycle racing talent!\u00a0 We need to ensure Oregon bike racers are on the map and that we are able to form strong partnerships with racing organizations across the country and provide them the opportunity to continue to pursue their dreams!\u00a0 Ensuring our racers are noticed nationally and internationally can only help grow the sport.<\/p>\n

Here is a bit more of my background.\u00a0 I am currently working at Nike as Marketing Director for Football (Soccer) for our Latin America and Asia Pacific region, based here in Oregon.\u00a0 Prior to this role, I was a Marketing Director managing our Brand marketing efforts for the Rio Olympics.\u00a0 I’ve been at Nike for 15 years, have an engineering degree for the University of Illinois, and an MBA in Finance and Strategic Planning from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.\u00a0 I am originally from Guatemala and grew up in Chicago.\u00a0 I am multi-lingual, speaking fluent Spanish and Portuguese.\u00a0 Finally, I am also on the BOD of Half Fast Velo.<\/p>\n

Thank you for your consideration.<\/p>\n

Sa\u00fal A. Lopez”<\/p>\n

Board Nominee: Steven Beardsley<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Steven Beardsley (incumbent)<\/p>\n

“I have served as a team elected OBRA board member for the last three years and am seeking your vote to serve another three years.<\/p>\n

During my first term, the leadership team at OBRA tasked ourselves to think outside the box and innovate to keep OBRA and bike racing relevant in Oregon. These changes have brought a new mission and vision statement, a detailed five-year plan, updated organizational bylaws, category reciprocity with USA Cycling, the hiring of a new Executive Director, and, in response to OBRA community feedback, implemented a new Code of Conduct and Transgender Athlete Policy. Although these are great steps forward for OBRA, there is still much work to be done to get to where we need to be.<\/p>\n

With your support, I look forward to spending the next three years working to fill out our board and committee structures to secure a more inclusive and diverse group of leaders in positions where they can continue to do good work for our community. I want to see OBRA become proficient at welcoming in and retaining new members and deploy strategies to serve the communities that OBRA is currently under-serving across our state. Additionally, I will work to help OBRA become even more adept at its\u2019 core competency of providing leadership, facilitating competition, and inspiring participation in the sport of bicycle racing.”<\/p>\n

Experience:<\/p>\n

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    Cat 1 racer in Road, Track and Cyclocross, Elite MTB<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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        PDX DEVO Junior Cycling team coach and mentor<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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            OBRA Race Promoter<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

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              OBRA Official<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

              All OBRA registered teams are able to send one member to vote on Rule Changes and Board Positions at the Annual Meeting. You can send as many team members as you like, but only one representative will be able to vote.<\/p>\n\n\n

              Location:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

              Chris King
              2801 NW Nela St.
              Portland, OR 97210<\/p>\n\n\n\n