- We are a mainly volunteer-run organization -
Thank you to the passionate lovers of nature and biking, the volunteers and idealists, the constructors and visionists... for making the trails we ride on today a possibility. Go out and Volunteer.
The Board and Directors
Glenn Schneider Jr.
Co-Founder | Executive Director | Board Treasurer & Committee Chair
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side neighborhood Mt. Greenwood, his first love was literature, studying for a BA, then MA at UIC. He finished a nearly 3 year travel adventure including commercial fishing in Alaska, biking/hiking/hitching California’s Highway 1, and a year teaching/wandering Colombia and Mexico. He returned to his roots in 2015 with an amplified excitement to explore and further recognize the beauty of his home and its surrounding area. He has been on multiple long bike rides; including a 1,000 mile ride through the Canadian and American Pacific Northwest as well as numerous rides up to Indiana and Michigan. Chat him up on a ride about other worldly travels, his favorite local beer, and his hero Walt Whitman.
Started as Co-Founder, Vice President of the Board, and YoutH Program Director in 2015. Started as the first paid employee at OOFD with 10 hours a week in 2022 and 20 hours a week in 2023.
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side neighborhood Mt. Greenwood, his first love was literature, studying for a BA, then MA at UIC. He finished a nearly 3 year travel adventure including commercial fishing in Alaska, biking/hiking/hitching California’s Highway 1, and a year teaching/wandering Colombia and Mexico. He returned to his roots in 2015 with an amplified excitement to explore and further recognize the beauty of his home and its surrounding area. He has been on multiple long bike rides; including a 1,000 mile ride through the Canadian and American Pacific Northwest as well as numerous rides up to Indiana and Michigan. Chat him up on a ride about other worldly travels, his favorite local beer, and his hero Walt Whitman.
Started as Co-Founder, Vice President of the Board, and YoutH Program Director in 2015. Started as the first paid employee at OOFD with 10 hours a week in 2022 and 20 hours a week in 2023.
Breanna Bertacchi
|
Adult Program Director | Board President | Guide
Originally from California, but raised in the cornfields of Ohio, Breanna now resides on the South Side of Chicago. When they’re not bike-camping, they’re managing clinical trials, volunteering with their neighborhood Chicago Parks & environmental groups, reading or (most likely) swimming. They’ve ventured all over the US for backpacking trips, rock climbing, kayaking and recently rediscovered fossil hunting. If there's an awesome bug or plant on your ride, Breanna will probably be the one googling it with you to find out what it is. Currently they’re focusing on incorporating greener living into their life, including hen-keeping, beekeeping, foraging and seed saving. Ask about their two pet bunnies! Started as a participant in the famous Passage to the Rock overnight bike camping festival weekend in 2018. They became a volunteer, guide, first non-founder director of a program as well as President of the Board of Directors. |
|
Lauren Fihe
|
Board Vice President & Committee Chair | Guide
Lauren determinedly moved away from the Midwest after growing up in the cornfields of Indiana and attending college in Chicago. As life goes, she did a full circle loop and found herself living in the city again after ten years away. Eager to find ways to be outdoors, active, and around fellow nature lovers in an urban environment, she discovered Out Our Front Door. After learning how accessible bike camping was, Lauren fell in love with weekend bike trips, learning about (and at every chance swimming in) Lake Michigan, and exploring Chicago, from south to north, on bike. Started as a participant in 2019. She became a volunteer, guide, and eventually the Board Vice President in 2021. |
Bradley Fisher
|
Adaptive Program Director | Board Member | Guide
Bradley is a lifelong Chicagoan, teacher, husband, and father of two amazing daughters. He's determined to live a life infused with adventure, nature and discovery. Passionate about inclusive bicycle travel, he's never happier than riding with is special needs daughter, whether on a quick errand, a day ride, or a week long tour through the mountains of Idaho on their adaptive tandem, aptly named "Lilia's Wings". |
|
Joseph Brignon
|
Family Program Director | Board Member | Guide
My name is Joseph & I live in the beautiful Chicago neighborhood of Hermosa. I was introduced to OOFD through my friends and fellow cyclists Bradley & Lilia Fisher. I prefer to ride a bike rather than drive a car and fortunately live about 6 miles from work. I am a fan of steel frames and 650Bx2.1-2.6 sized tires. Preferred terrain is dirt but I’ll take anything with minimal traffic. It’s my personal opinion that every bike needs a bell for dings & rings. Started as a board member in 2021. He became a volunteer, guide, and eventually the Family Program Director. |
Anson Moran
|
Board Member & Committee Chair | Guide
Adventure has always been in my blood. Before I moved to Chicago from Huntington Beach California, I grew up obsessively surfing and exploring the west coast searching for waves and wonderful marine creatures. More recently, I found freedom from the coast on a bicycle. During the Summer of 2020, I joined Out Our Front Door’s Water Ways to the West event, and I was captivated by the potential for adventure by bicycle. Since that first experience I have served as a guide on many rides and recently joined the Board of Directors with the task to share adventure with as many folks as possible. I hope to see you on the trail! Started as a participant in 2019, and became a guide, a big ride guide, and eventually a board member in 2022. |
|
Thomas Kehrer
|
Board Member | Guide
Coming to you from Savannah, GA, I’m an avid adventurer, cyclist, birder, and lover of history. I’ve been riding bikes and fixing them for over a decade. I discovered OOFD after returning from a yearlong, cross-country bike tour with my partner Lauren. I was hooked from the first time I spoke with them and have since been a volunteer for 5 years and served on the Board of Directors for 3. I look forward to seeing you at my next mechanics talk! |
Jerome Hughes
|
Board Secretary | Guide
Born on the West Side of Chicago, Jerome moved to Elmhurst when he was 3, where he rode bikes from the get go, delivering papers just South of the then-new Illinois Prairie Path, and learning to wrench on bikes and more from his Dad and Mr. Russell Stemple at Stemple’s Cycle Center, the local Schwinn shop. He’s a lifelong camper whose first bike camping trip was out the IPP to a South Elgin backyard at 13 and featured flying a friend’s uncle’s small plane. He’s been captaining tandems with lots of stokers (blind and sighted) since the early ‘90s, and riding RAGBRAI and BRR in Iowa for about 10 years now. You’ll find him leading from the back of many local group rides while flying a Chicago flag, fixing flats and other bike issues to keep things rolling. Started as a participant in 2019, and became a guide, a big ride guide, and eventually a board member in 2022. |
|
Matt Weiss
|
Where the Wild Things Grow Program Director | Guide
Matt is an Illinois native and dedicated OOFD volunteer. Currently he is the director of “Where the Wild Things Grow”, the day ride and stewardship program. Matt’s favorite OOFD overnight so far has been attending Valhalla. After riding every street in his hometown of Park Ridge, he’s made it his goal to cycle every street in Chicago. Currently he’s at 77%. Matt works as an architectural designer and enjoys photographing the unique buildings across Chicago and wherever his travels take him. |
Claire Meyers
|
Youth Program Director | Guide
Claire grew up a stone's throw from the Prairie Path and was born into a family that loved biking, so much so that we had a "family bike group." Family bike group consisted of several tandems, burleys, and tag-alongs -- to say it was a sight to see is an understatement. But this planted the seed of biking as a form of community and adventure. As she grew up, Claire found a love of working with kids by way of nannying and theatre, and in her adult life found out that there was this whole field of work called youth development and out-of-school programs. Professionally, Claire served in program coordination roles at various Chicago organizations and continues to work in community partnerships. Now through Out Our Front Door Claire is thrilled to have the opportunity to blend the two worlds of biking and youth work.” Became a guide and the Youth Program Director in 2023. |
|
The 2023 Guides - Profiles Coming Soon
|
"To put an idea into existence is an absolutely thrilling endeavor; where imaginations can run wild"
|
It takes a Community to build a Community.
We're a mainly volunteer organization and as we continue to grow we will need your support. We are looking for passionate individuals who want to commit to this growth.
