Board of Directors
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David Kroop, President
David is one of the founding members of Biking Brookline. He is a retired attorney who has lived and worked in New York, London and Boston. He commuted by bicycle during his working years and continues to bicycle to get around the Boston area. In 2019 he was a member of the Brookline Sustainability Working Group that drafted the Town Meeting warrant article that calls upon the Town to prioritize sustainable forms of transportation. In his 20s, he was a ride and trip leader for American Youth Hostels and, in 1984, he and his wife bicycled across America from New York City to Florence, Oregon.
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Emily Jacobsen, Vice President
Emily lives with her husband near Brookline Village and is the chair of Brookline's Bicycle Advisory Committee and a member of the Brookline Village Parking Benefit District Advisory Board and the Town’s Vision Zero Committee. She began commuting by bike in elementary school. She misses evenings spent volunteering at a community bike clinic in Montreal and would love to talk shop or repair quirks with anyone. She holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in civil engineering and works at LeMessurier Consultants.
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Mitch Heineman, Treasurer
Mitch commutes on his Breezer Uptown 8 to his office in Boston where he is a civil engineer with consulting firm CDM Smith, working to clean waterways and reduce urban flooding across New England and worldwide. He has enjoyed many self-supported bicycle tours in the northeast, Canada and Europe, usually with his partner Loren, and always with his Rivendell Hillborne. He co-founded the Milton Bicycle Advisory Committee in the 1990s, and was a member of the Brookline Bicycle Advisory Committee from 2001-2003, 2006-2013, and again from 2020 to 2024.
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Elissa Yanover, Secretary
Elissa commuted by bicycle for much of her working years and continues to use her bicycle to get around the Boston area. She was a bicycle trip leader for American Youth Hostels and was one of the volunteers involved in New York City’s Five Borough Bike Tour in its early years. In addition, she spearheaded the creation of the Lawton Park Community Garden and is its current coordinator.
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Tracie Burns
Tracie has been a bicycling enthusiast for many years. As a teenager she took two American Youth Hostel tours, one from Boston to Bangor, Maine and one from the George Washington Bridge in NYC to Quebec. These tours sealed her love for cycling. She commutes on bike to work in the warm weather and rides for pleasure on the weekends. As a Town Meeting Member, she advocates for continued improvement in safe biking routes in Brookline.
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Andrew Fischer
Andrew spent forty years as an attorney, mostly representing bicyclists. Now he is trying to be more of a retired attorney but still is writing Amicus Briefs for Massbike and representing climate action protestors. Andrew was president of the Boston Area Bicycle Coalition when it became the state organization that is now MassBike. Andrew also was co-chair of the original Brookline Bicycle Advisory Committee and the bicycle representative to the Beacon Street Redesign Committee in the 1990s. Andrew currently is a Town Meeting Member from Precinct 13 and continues to bicycle for transportation, exercise and pleasure. He has ridden the Arava-Israel ride numerous times and has toured the East Coast Greenway from NYC to Philadelphia.
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John Harris
John is a Town Meeting member representing Precinct 8, an environmental activist, and bicycle advocate. He is co-chair of Climate Action Brookline and is also a musician and leader of a band.
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Jim Perrin
Jim is a long-time Brookline resident and bicyclist who started serious cycling when he and family lived in Nashville. Back when still going into his Beacon Hill office, he typically cycled a lovely route along the river to MGH where he’s a pediatrician, researcher, and advocate for children’s health. Jim is committed to helping Brookline expand its opportunities for all ages to cycle and build increasingly accessible and safe routes throughout the town.
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Jan Prehein
Jan is a bicycle fan. She has been carfree most of her life, so her current bicycle, nicknamed “Trusty Steed'' for its bulky appearance and practical add-ons, is her primary way to get around. She loves that biking is free, provides exercise, and doesn’t add to her carbon footprint. Plus she never has to worry about parking! Besides advocating for bicycle infrastructure, she also promotes practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.