Board of Directors

Carol Flynn, Secretary. Former Minnesota State Senator (retired 2000). As chair of the Minnesota Senate Transportation Committee between 1996 and 2000, Flynn led efforts to provide a dedicated source of funding for transit in Minnesota. Previously, she chaired the Senate Metropolitan and Local Government Tax Division and Judiciary Committees. Flynn is also a former member of the Metropolitan Council and its Metropolitan Waste Control Commission (now the Metropolitan Council of Environmental Services).

Charles Holtman. Attorney, Smith Partners. As an attorney with Smith Partners, Holtman represents watershed districts, municipalities and other public and private clients in water and land use matters. For nine years, Holtman practiced law in state and federal government, including two years as legal counsel to the assistant administrator for hazardous materials transportation at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Michael Lander, Founder and President of Lander Group. Lander incorporated Lander Group in 1984 and has since been active in the planning, design, and development of commercial, residential, and mixed-use real estate projects in California, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa. Michael is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the Congress of the New Urbanism, the Minnesota Multi-Housing Association, and the Minnesota chapter of the AIA, and serves on the public policy committee of the Builders' Association of the Twin Cities.

Jan Lysen, Treasurer. MPA Candidate, University of Minnesota. Jan was previously Vice President for Provider Relations at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, and has over 20 years of experience in health plan management. Now a candidate for a MPA degree from the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota, Jan is planning a concentration related to livable cities, bringing her experience in health care and interest in non-motorized transportation to Transit for Livable Communities' board. She previously served on the boards of Twin Cities Academy, a St. Paul based charter school, and the Minnesota Institute of Public Health.

Jennifer Munt, Communications Director, AFSCME-Council 5. Prior to her work with AFSCME, Munt was the outreach coordinator for the Metropolitan Council, where she was responsible for communications, public relations, and citizen participation during the planning, construction, and opening of the Hiawatha Light Rail Transit line. A former director of development at the Guthrie Theater, Munt currently teaches public involvement at the University of Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs and serves on the board of directors for Kids, Environment, Education and You.

Gregory Pratt, President. Research Scientist, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Pratt conducts research and undertakes regulatory work on air pollution transport and the effects of air pollution on human health. He is an avid bicyclist who rides 4,000 to 5,000 miles a year.

Vic Rosenthal, Executive Director, Jewish Community Action. Rosenthal has been a community organizer for over 20 years and was the Executive Director of the Minnesota Senior Federation for nine years. He is the recipient of a Bush Leadership Fellowship, which he used to study Jewish history and literature and become more involved with Jewish Community Action. Rosenthal also worked with the Quality Transit Coalition at the Minnesota Board on Aging.

Bill Smith, AICP, Founder and Principal, Biko Associates. Smith works on public outreach, traffic impact analysis, transit and bicycle planning, and other areas of transportation planning. Before founding Biko Associates, Smith worked as a community organizer for 10 years. He currently serves on the State of Minnesota Historic Preservation Review Board.

James Sorensen, Retired Airline Pilot, Northwest Airlines. Sorensen joined Transit for Livable Communities' board in July 2008. He is a retired airline pilot who worked for Northwest Airlines for 37 years. He was also the first employee at Penn Cycle, Inc., a family-owned business founded in 1957 and still owned by the Sorensen family. In 2004, James formed Two Wheels To Town, a bicycle advocacy group, to bring the European bicycle mode/culture to the Twin Cities metropolitan area. He currently serves on two family boards and is the current president of Terrace Point Homeowners Association in Grand Marais, MN.

Teresa Wernecke, Director, Minneapolis Transportation Management Organization. Wernecke has 18 years of transportation management and planning experience, including 12 years as Executive Director of the Downtown Minneapolis Transportation Management Organization. She also serves on the City of Minneapolis Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee on Transit and the business advisory board for the Midwest Institute for Telecommuting Education (MITE).