leadership

USA Cycling, Inc.
Brendan Quirk 18 Feb22 250x250

Brendan
Quirk

CEO & President
Background

Brendan Quirk first raced a bike in 1986 and has been a USA Cycling member ever since. He's raced at every age level -- Junior, Collegiate, Elite, and Masters. His passion for the sport pulled him into the cycling industry in the mid-'90s and led him to start Competitive Cyclist in 2000, serving as CEO while turning it into North America's largest eCommerce cycling business.

He later served as Executive Vice President for Backcountry.com, then President of North America for Rapha. In 2018 he went to work as the Cycling Program Director for the Runway Group, where he helped efforts to transform Northwest Arkansas into one of America's foremost cycling destinations.

His experience in race promotion spans local events as well as international ones. He created the Ronde van Burns -- a longstanding, weeknight summer criterium series in North Little Rock, Arkansas. He also served on the organizing committee of the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships.

Brendan divides his time between Little Rock and Colorado Springs. He has three children, two dogs, and nine bikes.

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Vp Operations Chuck Hodge

Chuck
Hodge

Chief of Racing and Events
Background

Chuck joined USA Cycling in 2015 as Technical Director, before moving into his next position as VP of Operations in 2017. He moved into his current role as Chief of Racing and Events in 2018.  Chuck overseas USA Cycling’s National Championships, national series, and officials’ programs, as well as the development of new programs to benefit event organizers and members at all levels.

A former competitive cyclist in road, track and mountain bike, Chuck moved into the organizational side of the sport in the late 1990’s. Since then, he has been involved in organizing some of the largest races in the US, holding management positions with the Tour de Georgia, Tour of Utah, Tour of California, US Pro Challenge, and 2015 Richmond World Championships. In addition, he is a UCI International Road Commissaire and still works as an official at races of all levels.

Chuck is a recent transplant to Larkspur, Colorado where he lives with his wife and two dogs.

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Erika Lehman headshot 250x250

Erika
Lehman

Chief Marketing Officer
Background

Erika joined USA Cycling as the Chief Marketing Officer in December of 2021, after a successful growth-focused leadership role at U.S. Figure Skating. During her tenure at U.S. Figure Skating was responsible for growing the sport of figure skating in the United States, leading the organization to a record-breaking 200,000 members in 2019, contributing to a 21% increase in membership dues and admissions revenue over a 2-year period. She also played a key role in program-development initiatives, creating diverse participation opportunities that lengthened the amount of time an individual remained connected with the NGB, creating lifelong members engaged in the care for the sport.

Erika received her undergraduate degree in English & Art History from the University of New Hampshire, and her MBA from the Peter T. Paul College of Business & Economics at the University of New Hampshire. Erika is a Colorado native but has spent time in Hawaii, New Hampshire, and England. In Erika's spare time she's an avid figure skater, hiker, former youth orienteering champion, and outdoor enthusiast.

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Jim Miller Bio

Jim
Miller

Chief of Sport Performance
Background

A successful professional cyclist in his own right, Jim coached several cyclists on the side and eventually retired from racing in 1999 to focus solely on his flourishing coaching career. After developing several notable cyclists, he originally came to USA Cycling to run the women’s road program in 2002. After earning Coach of the Year distinctions from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee in 2003 & 2004, Jim was promoted to director of endurance programs, overseeing the development of American junior, U23, and women endurance athletes in road and track cycling. After making significant strides toward the USA Cycling National Development Program’s goal of developing the next generation of American cyclists, he was named Vice President of Athletics in 2010. In 2017 Jim left USA Cycling to become the Vice President of Business Development for Training Peaks. Unable to resist the Olympic call, he returned to USA Cycling in 2020 as the Chief of Sport Performance.

In his spare time, Jim also provides day-to-day training programs for athletes such as 2018 Mountain Bike XCO World Champion Kate Courtney and international stars like Chloé Dygert and Christopher Blevins. He has earned the International Olympic Committee’s highest honor for coaches, the Order of Ikkos, three times, all for coaching 3-time Olympic Champion Kristen Armstrong to victory.

A native of Casper, Wyo., Jim also earned a Bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology from Colorado State University. Miller resides in Colorado Springs, Colo., with his wife and two children.

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Cfo Todd Sowl

Todd
Sowl

Chief Financial Officer
Background

Todd has been with USA Cycling since 2001 and leads the accounting, finance, legal, human resources, and risk management functions at USA Cycling.

Prior to joining USA Cycling, Todd was with PricewaterhouseCoopers with a focus on hi-tech, SEC, and manufacturing clients along with extensive IPO experience.

Todd has MS and BS degrees in accounting from the University of Denver and completed the Strategic Financial Leadership Program with the Tuck Management School of Business at Dartmouth College.  Todd is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Colorado and a Chartered Global Management Accountant.  He resides in Colorado with his wife and two kids and enjoys trail running, cycling, and backpacking.

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Nancy Cowan Leadership 250x250

Nancy
Cowan

Executive Assistant & Office Manager
Background

Nancy has been with USA Cycling since 2009 in her role as Executive Assistant. In 2014 she joined the Board as its Corporate Secretary, and also took on the role of Office Manager, wearing lots of hats managing the day-to-day office needs and serving as the CEO’s right hand and office cheerleader.

Prior to joining USA Cycling, Nancy spent over 25 years in a Paralegal career, working for Holland & Knight and Latham & Watkins, then moving on to a Private Equity Investment firm, Brentwood Associates, relocating from Los Angeles to Colorado Springs in 2006.

Nancy resides in Colorado with her constant four-legged companion Jolene and enjoys hiking, yoga, art, and tooling around town on her E-bike.

Kelsey Erickson headshot 200x200

Kelsey
Erickson

Executive Director of Athlete Health, Engagement, & Experience
Background

Kelsey joined USA Cycling as the SafeSport Director in May 2019. Prior to her appointment at USA Cycling, she spent nearly a decade of work in the international anti-doping community. As a student and professional at Leeds Beckett University (UK), Kelsey led and supported multiple global anti-doping research projects, receiving funding from such organizations as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Athletics Foundation (IAF). Her research focused primarily on developing evidence-based anti-doping education interventions and whistleblowing policies and procedures. To do so, she was particularly interested in raising the athletes’ voice and underlining the complexity of doping and whistleblowing in sport. Kelsey’s unique background paved the way for her to assume her current role at USA Cycling, where she is focused on developing and implementing programs aimed at providing holistic and long-term support, development and protection to USA Cycling members. Her career is motivated by the desire to constantly raise the bar in sporting integrity and athlete welfare practices and procedures from the local event to the international peloton.

Kelsey completed her BA in Psychology at Biola University (La Mirada, CA) as a scholarship student-athlete (basketball). She then received her MSc and PhD in Sport and Exercise Psychology from Leeds Beckett University (Leeds, UK) where she was a student-athlete in volleyball.

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Shane Garman Feb 2019

Shane
Garman

General Counsel
Background

Shane joined USA Cycling in 2014 as Staff Attorney, before moving into his next position as Legal Counsel in 2016. He moved into his current role as General Counsel in 2019.  Shane is responsible for advising USA Cycling on all legal matters including, governance, contracts, intellectual property, insurance/risk management, disciplinary issues and dispute resolution, as well as managing litigation and overseeing USA Cycling’s SafeSport Program.

Garman is on the Board of Directors for Advance Colorado Fund, a Colorado nonprofit corporation that produces the Bailey Hundo, a 100-mile mountain bike fundraising race supporting the Colorado Mountain Bike Association, Colorado High School Cycling League and Trips for Kids Denver Metro.

Shane received a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2000, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law in 2007. Shane is an avid cyclist and a regular cyclocross and mountain bike racer.  He and his wife, Jodi, live in Lone Tree, Colorado with their cat Jack.

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David Lipscomb LT Headshot

David
Lipscomb

DEI & Organizational Development Consultant
Background

David has spent over 25 years at the highest levels of cycling and martial arts and brings more than 10 years of leadership and organizational development expertise. He was an early advocate of DEI initiatives, having been VP of Diversity and Inclusion for Sovereign Bank in 2009. In that role he authored the bank’s first-ever diversity playbook.

Today, David is CEO and Head Coach of New York-based CIS Training Systems, a cycling performance organization that focuses on coaching in the widest possible sense to drive personal, professional, and organizational performance and success. The goal of David’s coaching methodology is to create training behaviors that go beyond the bike by breaking down mental and communication barriers, thereby surpassing individual and by extension organizational limitations.

In addition to being an avid cyclist, David has achieved an advanced level Black Belt Degree and two Brown Belts in three separate Martial Art disciplines during that time.