Our Leadership Team

We are women who ride mountain bikes in the Ozark region of Arkansas, a rapidly growing region with IMBA-designated Silver Level and Bronze Level Ride Centers. Although we’ve only been in operation since February 2019, we have to date had close to 5500 participants in our programming

Allyson de la Houssaye

Board Chairwoman

Executive Director NWA for People for Bikes, an avid athlete, mother and wife. Allyson was a Sports and Documentary Producer from Chicago. Having always ridden a bike at one point or another in her life she recently discovered mountain biking thanks to the beautiful OZ Trails system in NWA. She now considers herself a recovered road cyclist with a passion for bringing women together through mountain biking.

  • BICP Level 1 Certified Mountain Bike Instructor
  • CPR and First Aid
  • WOZ RLCC certified

Lauren Pickman

Executive Director

With New Jersey and California roots, she came to Arkansas with her family in 2016 to open a made in the USA bike brand: Allied Cycle Works. Co-founder and race director of the Rule of Three bike race.

  • BICP Level 1 Certified Mountain Bike Instructor
  • CPR and First Aid
  • WOZ RLCC certified
  • PMBIA Level 1

Kourtney Barrett

Board Member, Director of Branding

Director of Workplace Mobility at Walmart, founder of JUNK Brands, co-founder of Women of OZ NWA, and 2020 Chairwoman Greater Bentonville Chamber of Commerce.

  • BICP Level 1 Certified Mountain Bike Instructor
  • CPR and First Aid 
  • WOZ RLCC certified

Ashley Patterson

Board Member, Director of Education

Manager of the Workplace Mobility HUB at Walmart, Ashley has been racing or playing around on one kind of bike or another for 15+ years.  One of her favorite places she’s ridden (besides our backyard) is Bellingham, WA.  They have this stuff called “dirt”, it’s awesome.  If she’s not riding you’ll probably find her at Oven & Tap.

  • BICP Level 1 Certified Mountain Bike Instructor
  • PMBIA Level 1
  • WOZ RLCC certified
  • CPR and First Aid
  • BBI Certified Bike Mechanic

Ashley O’Reilly

Director of Development

Missouri native, Arkansas grounded. Ashley has a passion for hard work, fun, and friendships. She believes in creating a mindset to always learn from others and teach in return. 

Mother, Wife, Cyclist, Runner, Teacher, Chef, Environmental Naturalist.

  • BICP Level 1 Certified Mountain Bike Instructor
  • WOZ RLCC certified
  • CPR and First Aid

Cara Osborne

Board Member, Advisor

Previously an assistant professor in the UA’s Eleanor Mann School of Nursing, Osborne now fills a new role in the Sam M. Walton College of Business as an assistant professor of practice. She is the founder of Baby & Co., a business to serve expecting mothers who want an alternative to hospital births. She established eight centers in different markets in the U.S. and sold the company to a large private equity firm in New York. Prior to Baby & Co., Osborne practiced as a nurse-midwife and taught for the Frontier Nursing Service. Osborne has contributed to the work of public health non-government organizations in a number of developing countries. Osborne is a licensed helicopter pilot, active fly fisherwoman, and enjoys a wide variety of outdoor recreation activities with her husband Steve and their 5 children.

Sarah Drew

Board Member

Spending most of her life in the big cities of Houston and Dallas, Sarah didn’t discover the joy of the outdoors until moving to NWA and it’s overwhelming beauty in 2018. In an effort to keep up with her toddler and husband on the bike, she joined her first WOZ Flagship and has been hooked on the bike and community ever since. Sarah keeps herself quite busy as the Director of Development for Women of OZ, co-owning and operating The Ride Series MTB Skills Clinic with her husband and homeschooling their exuberant son.

  • BICP Level 1 Certified Mountain Bike Instructor
  • WOZ RLCC certified
  • CPR and First Aid

Jess Hana

Board Member

Jess loves bringing smiles to the ride. As a mtb coach and content creator, she aims to make mountain biking a more inclusive and approachable sport. She relocated to Northwest Arkansas in 2021 in search of a place that had better trail access and all-year-round mountain biking. Little did she know she was about to become a part of an amazingly vibrant and welcoming community.

  • PMBIA Level 2 Air Certified Mountain Bike Instructor
  • WOZ RLCC Certified
  • CPR & First Aid

Ruby Monter

Financial Advisor to the Board

Ruby is an Associate Program Officer for the Walton Personal Philanthropy Group at Walton Enterprises. She’s passionate about growing dynamic communities through the advancement of the arts, the conservation of green space, and activating outdoor resources. Through her community involvement and professional experience, Ruby has worked on various initiatives that promote community inclusion and college access among first-generation college students. Ruby holds a Bachelor’s in Cultural Anthropology with concentrations in Spanish and Latin American Studies and a Master’s degree in Higher Education Administration from the University of Arkansas. Ruby loves everything related to the outdoors and is an avid cycling enthusiast.

Sasha Smith

Director of Programming

Sasha enjoys spending as much time as possible in the dirt. She is passionate about mountain biking and is convinced riding will put anyone in a good mood. Her goal is to help students face their fears in a healthy way and build confidence as they encounter different challenges throughout their mountain biking journey. She loves seeing women progress as they put in the effort to do so.

  • WOZ RLCC
  • BICP Level 1
  • PMBIA Level 1
  • CPR & First Aid Certified
  • Ambassador for Bike Shop Joe’s

Lindsey Southwick

Director of Sales

Lindsay originally hails from the tall mountains out west but has called Bentonville home for the last 11 years. As a mountain girl, she has always loved anything that gets her outside. She is a long-time runner, skier, and hiker and has even submitted a few tall peaks. She added mountain biking to her hobby resume four years ago at the request of her biking-loving husband and quickly made friends with other women who were discovering their love of mountain biking at the same time. Being outside with her husband and four kids is her favorite thing – whether on foot, a bike, or boat. When she’s not outside or managing kids she is a part-time freelance writer.

  • CPR and First Aid
  • WOZ RLCC certified

Candice Hansen

 Director of Philanthropy

Born and raised in New Orleans, moved to NWA in 2018 to enjoy more outdoor adventures. Candice fell in love with the area’s hiking trails, but eventually got her first mountain bike and never looked back. She is passionate about influencing women to ride. You can find her most weekends riding Mt. Kessler in Fayetteville.

  • WOZ RLCC Certified