Daniel Krause, Co-Founder, Executive Director & Vice-Chairman
Robert Cruickshank, Board Member
Bianca Walser, Secretary
Sharon Sim-Krause, Board Member & Communications Director
Daniel Krause is Co-Founder, Executive Director, and Vice-Chairman of Californians For High Speed Rail (CA4HSR). Daniel passionately believes that high speed rail is the foundation of building a sustainable society. He believes that with a core system of high speed rail in place, new transit systems will quickly develop to connect to the system, and transit-oriented development will become the standard development patterns. Therefore, he has dedicated much of his time to ensure that the high speed rail system will get developed in California.
Daniel has extensive experience in advocating for the improvement of all types of public transportation with a focus on rail transit. He has served for five years as the Managing Director of Rescue Muni, a San Francisco-based non-profit organization that focuses on public transportation. While working with Rescue Muni, Daniel’s main focus has been on improving the Central Subway project in San Francisco. An urban planner by nature and training, he is also founder and president of Public Vision Research, LLC, a San Francisco-based consulting firm. Daniel holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from San Jose State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on Land-Use Planning from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Robert Cruickshank is a board member of Californians For High Speed Rail (CA4HSR). Robert’s activism for high speed rail is based on his vision for rebuilding the California Dream in the 21st century, emphasizing the role of sustainable transportation in helping provide broadly shared economic prosperity. He has been one of the leading public advocates for high speed rail in California since early 2008, when he founded the California High Speed Rail Blog, where he helped generate grassroots activism that helped pass the Proposition 1A HSR bond at the November 2008 election.
In addition to his high speed rail work, Robert is also the Public Policy Director for the Courage Campaign, a progressive online advocacy organization with nearly one million members, and has implemented grassroots activism campaigns on a wide range of issues. He also writes for one of California’s leading political sites, Calitics.com. Robert is a PhD candidate in US History at the University of Washington, and has taught American history, government and politics at several colleges in California’s Central Coast region. Born in Orange County and educated at UC Berkeley, Robert currently lives in Monterey, and is active locally on mass transit and bicycle advocacy issues.
Bianca Walser is the Secretary of Californians For High Speed Rail. Bianca is eager to see California enjoy the economic and environmental benefits of high speed rail. As California continues to grow, high speed rail will increase the mobility of Californians while reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Bianca is a longtime advocate for progressive community development, with a focus on transportation issues. A graduate of Smith College and the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law, she has more than a decade’s experience in transportation finance and corporate law.
Sharon Sim-Krause is board member and communications director of Californians For High Speed Rail (CA4HSR). Sharon believes these next several years are critical in raising public awareness and support of California’s HSR project and is applying her skills as an entrepreneur, public relations veteran and writer to this worthy cause.
Sharon has her own PR consulting practice, Sim-Krause Consulting. She was formerly executive vice president at GolinHarris (a top 10 PR firm) and head of its San Francisco office. Prior to GolinHarris, she served as founder and president of Panache Communications, an award-winning PR agency. Panache became part of GolinHarris in 2006. Sharon also worked at Shipley & Associates, an Austin-based political consulting firm. She was also former TV producer at Asian American Austin. Sharon has a Bachelor of Journalism, Public Relations (Honors) from the University of Texas at Austin.
