Will Ochowicz started Madison is for People in 2021. Will grew up outside of Milwaukee and went to UW-Madison. After college he got a job, settled down, and stayed in the city. He's proud to say that he was married in one of Madison's beautiful parks.

Will is passionate about making Madison better for everyone, no matter their income or ability. 

Will recently made the switch to be car-lite, and bikes as his primary mode of transportation. He also leads the Communications Committee for MifP.

Kara moved to Madison in 2017 and immediately learned to appreciate walkability and public transit in her neighborhood. Having previously lived in car-dependent cities, it was refreshing and freeing to not be tethered to a vehicle. As a renter, she has also experienced the struggle to find quality, affordable housing in Madison. 

Kara loves Madison, and she is excited to help bring about a future for the city that includes housing abundance and the freedom to ditch our cars.

Spencer moved to Madison from Austin in 2021. He immediately fell in love with the cycling infrastructure and community in Madison and is an avid cyclist in all seasons of the year, both for commuting and recreation. Spencer believes in making Madison more livable for all by promoting policies to encourage housing affordability, promote pedestrianization, and improve public transit and cycling infrastructure. 

At Madison is for People, Spencer writes the monthly newsletter and is also part of the Transportation Committee.

Spencer enjoys spending his free time bouldering downtown, gardening at a local community garden plot, reading, and of course, cycling on all of the great bike paths in the Madison area.

Darrin Wasniewski’s journey into building communities can best be described as iterative. What began as a desire to save old buildings in the German Village Neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio evolved into a passion for fostering social connection and creating places for all ages and all abilities. He currently co-leads AARP Wisconsin’s Livable Communities efforts around the state in addition to being a partner in Grow Collaborative Consulting.

As a volunteer, Darrin is a Global Walkability Correspondent for Pedestrianspace.org, a collaborative focused on advancing walkable communities around the world, where he leads international workgroups focused on Architecture & Urbanism and the Walkable Economy. In Wisconsin, his passion finds an outlet as a steering committee member of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin’s Active Wisconsin Network. Locally, in his home of Madison, he serves on the steering and transportation committees for Madison is for People, is a member of Downtown Madison Inc. participating on the organization’s transportation and economic development committees, and as a transportation commissioner for the City of Madison.  Additionally, he maintains membership in Wisconsin Downtown Action Council, Congress for New Urbanism, American Planning Association and YIMBY Action.

Darrin is a non-fiction book junkie, soaking up a few a month, and an avid podcast listener. Be careful, he’ll talk your ear off about a current read or a podcast he just listened to. 

Mary Pustejovsky is passionate about livable cities for people. Biking is her primary form of transportation with 3 kids. She has lived in Madison since 2020 and prior to that lived in Austin and Chicago. In Austin, she was a board member for the Red Line Parkway Initiative as well as AURA, a land use and transit advocacy group.

In her day job, she spent almost 20 years working in the nonprofit industry, focused on technology used by nonprofits. Now she focuses on software used for geospatial mapping. 

Ian Jamison came to Madison 12 years ago as a student and never left. Moving to the “15-minute” Marquette neighborhood and going car-free in 2020 transformed his daily life. Now, as chair of the Transportation Committee, he advocates for policies that would give neighbors across Madison the same option.

He is passionate about sustainability, affordable housing, public transit, and building strong, cohesive communities. His nine years in the healthcare industry sent him all over the world and he loves sharing the great ideas he’s seen in other countries.