Staff

Clarrissa Cabansagan, Executive Director

Clarrissa has deep roots on the Peninsula spanning four generations in Daly City and San Francisco. She comes to the Bike Coalition with two decades of policy experience in transportation justice and immigrant rights.

Most recently, Clarrissa was the policy director at TransForm, a Bay Area-wide mobility justice organization, where she advanced transportation policies and pilot projects that center the needs of Black and Brown residents, as well as the building of affordable housing near transit. She is passionate about working with government and private partners to implement community-driven ideas. Her equity efforts alongside bike coalitions and grassroots groups were instrumental in defining low-income access standards for the tech-enabled mobility sector.

Clarrissa has high hopes to elevate the power of the bike in undoing the impacts of climate pollution, emboldened by her mom’s decade-long fight against lung cancer, and her own chronic respiratory condition.

Clarrissa got her start in mobility justice work pushing back on bus service cuts with the Bus Riders Union in Los Angeles and Urban Habitat in Oakland and fighting for innovative solutions like Free Muni for Youth and AC Transit’s bus rapid transit service.

Outside of work, Clarrissa enjoys bike packing, rock climbing, and coffee. Most days Clarrissa can be found at the beach with her one-eyed pup, Poppy. She holds a Masters in Urban Planning with concentration in Transportation Policy and Planning from UCLA, and a BA in Ethnic Studies with a minor in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley.

Matt Jones, Director of Advocacy

Matt grew up in San Bruno, in a more auto-dependent neighborhood where the ability to drive was often a necessity to meet ones needs. It wasn't until he spent time in undergrad at UCSB and at Lund University in Sweden when he realized how much the built environment can dictate transportation choices and health outcomes.

Matt has an undergrad degree in political science with concentration in comparative environmental politics along with grad classes in urban planning. Matt has worked with cities in four different Bay Area counties on housing and transportation planning, with several regionally-focused environmental nonprofits, and on campaigns for local and statewide offices. He has been a longtime member of SVBC and has both served on and staffed BPACs. As a planner for his hometown, he helped adopt its first Walk and Bike Plan and secured $1.4 million in bicycle and pedestrian grants for the City. In his free time, Matt enjoys spending time going to local music shows and museums, he loves karaoke, and he has visited 17 countries.

Mayra Pelagio, Community Organizer

Prior to joining SVBC, Mayra was the Executive Director of Latinos United for a New America where she worked to accomplish the organization’s mission to help Latino immigrants take positive action to address the poverty-related challenges that have hit the Latino immigrant community. At SVBC Mayra advocates for safer streets and communities where everyone can feel safe walking and biking in their neighborhoods. Mayra taps into her own experience of facing poverty, language barriers, and housing instability as she works to promote advocacy with East San Jose neighbors. Mayra holds a B.S in Environmental Science and Management from UC Davis and has completed a master’s degree in environmental studies from San Jose State University.

Felicia Ward, Development Director

With over a decade of experience partnering with corporate and non-profit organizations in New York and California, Felicia has worked on cross-functional teams to design and drive high-profile events, community-based programs, and advanced capital fundraising campaigns. As the new Development Director, Felicia will spearhead SVBC’s Development team, driving innovative fundraising strategies and fostering key partnerships to advance our mission.

Deanna Chevas, Deputy Director

Deanna Chevas spent her early career in small business and nonprofit bookkeeping, HR, and administration before pivoting to helping build a nonprofit organization doing outreach and advocacy. Deanna has a fine art degree with an emphasis on fiberart. She moved from Arizona in 2014 with her cat and teenage daughter. She loves the transit options and bikeability of the Bay Area. Outside of work, you’ll find her knitting at the beach, going to comedy shows, glamping, and enjoying her dogs and cat.

Eleni Jacobson, Program Manager

Eleni grew up in San Mateo County riding bikes for fun and transportation. After completing 3 years at College of San Mateo, bike culture drew Eleni to Davis, CA, where she studied Environmental Policy. She was still living in Davis when she first got involved with SVBC as a part-time bike parking supervisor. She has done professional and personal work in the field of Transportation Demand Management since 2015.

Bike culture and the lovely bike people of Santa Clara County made it a natural choice to move to San José in 2019. SVBC rides and programming, San José Bike Party, and bike mechanics classes are some of her favorite parts of what San José has to offer to those on two wheels. She is excited to join the Bike Coalition full-time and work hard to introduce others to the timeless joy and health that biking has always brought to her. 

Collin Lim, Volunteer & Events Coordinator

Collin Lim came to SVBC with over 20 years of experience serving on the planning committee of the American Diabetes Association's walk-a-thons and bicycle tours. His volunteer roles with the ADA include Route Chair, Safety Chair, Logistics Chair, Radio Communications Chair and City/County Liaison. He also ran the planning committee for a few years. Prior to joining SVBC, Collin worked in various high-tech fields: semiconductor, electronics, web design and web development. The companies he worked for range from large corporations to small startups. Collin discovered SVBC from volunteering in the Eastside Connect program delivering farm boxes on bikes to low-income East San Jose residents.

Outside of work, Collin enjoys hiking and cycling. His favorite hiking and mountain biking spots are along the ridge of Santa Cruz Mountains. He also enjoys cycling along Bay Trail and the many creek trails in Silicon Valley.