ABOUT THE WYOMING SEAT BELT COALITION
Created by Governor Matt Mead, The Wyoming Seat Belt Coalition’s mission is to increase seatbelt usage in Wyoming to prevent fatalities and decrease the number and severity of injuries in traffic crashes. By working together to increase seat belt usage, we can drive our state toward zero traffic deaths.
Wyoming Seat Belt Coalition Appointed Members:
Cody Beers, of Riverton, is currently in his 12th year as a member of the Wyoming Seat Belt Coalition, and he is in his 8th year, by appointment of Gov. Matt Mead, on the Governor’s Council on Impaired Driving.
The Wyoming native is a 1983 Cody High School graduate, a 1985 graduate of Eastern Wyoming College, and a 1988 graduate of the University of Wyoming, with a bachelor’s degree in journalism.
Beers joined the Wyoming Department of Transportation as a public relations specialist in 2004. He has coordinated public relations efforts on a number of high-profile construction projects for WYDOT, including the $140-plus million Togwotee Trail to Yellowstone Project. For his efforts on the Togwotee project, The Wyoming Office of Tourism presented Beers with the 2013 “Reach” Award for being state tourism’s “Industry Partner of the Year.”
He also works as a WYDOT liaison with the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes on the Wind River Reservation, and for the past 9 years, has worked with tribal leaders, tribal members and other partners to improve traffic safety, enhance occupant protection, and end impaired driving on Wind River Reservation highways. For his efforts on the Wind River Reservation, former Gov. Dave Freudenthal presented Beers with a 2010 award for his Outstanding Efforts to Prevent Impaired Driving.
Matthew Carlson is the State Highway Safety Engineer and serves as the Governor’s Representative for Highway Safety within the Highway Safety Behavioral Grant Program at the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Sgt. Elazizi was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. He moved from Egypt to chase his dream of becoming a United States citizen in 2011. Before joining the Patrol, Sgt. Elazizi worked with the Wyoming Department of Corrections (D.O.C.) as a Correctional Officer. He worked his way up to the rank of sergeant at D.O.C. before joining the Wyoming Highway Patrol in 2015. As a member of the Patrol, Sgt. Elazizi worked primarily in the Cheyenne area as a trooper before being promoted to Sergeant on February 1st, 2018.
Alexandra Farkas is the Public Information Officer for the Cheyenne Police Department. She is responsible for developing, coordinating, and implementing communication strategies between residents, businesses, the media, and the Police Department regarding a variety of projects and initiatives which align with the department’s strategic priorities.
Prior to the Cheyenne Police Department, Farkas served as the Director of Marketing and Communication for the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center Foundation’s Board of Directors. Farkas earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Marketing with Minors in Entrepreneurship and Management from the University of Wyoming.
Sheila D. Foertsch has been with the Wyoming Trucking Association, Inc. for 41 years, serving as their Managing Director and lobbyist for the past 24 years. The Wyoming Trucking Association, Inc. represents 400 members, including all types of motor carrier operations from the owner operator to international carriers, as well as allied members who serve the trucking industry.
She has served as the Chairman of the Western Trucking Association Executive Council, the Chairman of the national Trucking Association Executive Council and is a past member of the Research Advisory Committee of the American Transportation Research Institute. She serves on the Board of HELP, Inc. (Heavy-vehicle Electronic License Plate), currently serving on HELP, Inc.’s Safety Committee and Operations Oversight Committee and is a past member of that group’s Executive Committee.
Matt holds a degree in Broadcast Journalism from Colorado State University, and has more than twenty year’s experience crafting award-winning multimedia education and outreach materials for diverse audiences. In his current role with WYDOT Public Affairs, he applies visual storytelling in support of the department’s internal communications, public outreach and safety messaging. He also works with state highway safety partners in developing engaging and effective media campaigns aimed at making Wyoming highways and travelers safer.
Victoria Ingerle serves as the Laramie County Safe Kids Coordinator under the direction of the Cheyenne Regional Medical Center in Cheyenne, Wyoming. She has been in her role for the past 8 years. Victoria actively works to provide car seat education to Cheyenne by providing education at a weekly car seat inspection station. Victoria coordinates several community educational events each year that utilize certified car seat technicians and local partners to ensure car seat safety in Laramie County. She also works with local partners to implement a low-cost car seat distribution program for families that qualify for low income assistance programs. Victoria implements all the programs of the Injury Prevention Program at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. She is extremely passionate in what she does to save lives.
Karson James is the Manager of the Highway Safety Behavioral Grants Program at the Wyoming Department of Transportation. The Program’s goal is to reduce traffic crashes, deaths, injuries and the associated economic losses in Wyoming through the coordinated efforts of state, local agencies and other safety partners. The Highway Safety Program provides project funding to help achieve stated program goals and objectives which address identified highway safety problems. Priorities of safety effort and location are based on projects with the greatest likelihood to impact crash and injury reduction.
Lindsay Martin is the Program Manager for the Wyoming Injury and Violence Prevention Program at the Wyoming Department of Health. She has over 10 years of experience in the field of public health, monitoring and evaluation, and program development and management, with many of those years being dedicated to injury and violence prevention in various capacities.
Her experience spans the topics of infectious disease, suicide prevention, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, older adult falls prevention, and motor vehicle crash prevention. In her current position, she serves to study and report data on major injuries and fatalities occurring in Wyoming. These data are used to identify health and safety priorities, inform policymakers, and develop prevention strategies and activities throughout the state with a variety of stakeholders.
Ms. Martin holds a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Glasgow and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Zambia 13-16). She is an active participant in several national and regional committees, including the Safe States Alliance where she serves on the Membership Committee and the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.
Byron Oedekoven is the Executive Director of the Wyoming Association of Sheriffs and Chiefs of Police (WASCOP). He previously served as Campbell County Sheriff from 1987 to 2004.
Eric began his career in motor carrier safety as a port of entry clerk in June of 1998 at the I-80 Port of Entry in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 2005, Eric was promoted to a Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program (MCSAP) officer for the Wyoming Highway Patrol’s commercial carrier section and spent five years on the road weighing trucks and conducting vehicle inspections and investigations. In 2010 Eric was selected as a Safety Investigator with FMCSA in the Wyoming Division and in February of 2012, Eric was promoted to the Federal Programs Specialist for the Wyoming Division.
Eric is a national instructor for Vehicle Inspections, Driver Inspection, Drug Interdiction, and has served on several national task groups such as the CSA 2010 National Implementation Team, the National ELD implementation team, the Drug and Alcohol technical assistance group. Eric brings a vast experience of strategic thinking, safety experience, and overall leadership to his position as the Division Administrator for the Wyoming Division.
James M. (Mike) Reed, although born in Kansas has lived in Wyoming for over 38 years and considers it home.
Having started his career in the private sector Mike quickly became involved locally serving as Chairman of the Carbon County Child Development Center, Carbon County Counseling Center and finally as the Chairman of the Carbon County Memorial Hospital.
Mike currently holds the position of Wyoming State Fire Marshal and is proud to continue his service with Wyoming s great Firefighters.
Kendall is a graduate of The University of Wyoming, where she received her B.S. in Agriculture Business and her M.S. in Agriculture Economics.
Kendall currently serves as the Southeastern Youth Board Member to the Wyoming Board of Agriculture, Research Assistant to the University of Wyoming, and the President of the Young Producers Assembly with Wyoming Stock Growers Association. She serves as the Wyoming Seat Belt Coalition Chair and grassroots representative to encourage seat belt safety and save lives in traffic crashes, statewide.
Tiffany joined SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) as the Wyoming State Coordinator in December 2020.
She grew up in Wyoming and graduated from the University of Wyoming with a BS in Psychology. She then attended the University of Denver and graduated with an MS in Advertising Management and began her career in non-profits at the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Tiffany met her husband, a fellow Wyomingite, and they moved back to Wyoming where she served as the Development Director of the Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum. An interest in health and prevention led to a position as the Executive Director of the Wyoming Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. Tiffany enjoyed building relationships and promoting women’s health across the state with Komen for nearly a decade before making the decision to step away and focus on raising her two daughters.
As a mom to two now-teenage girls, Tiffany was drawn to the mission of SADD and looks forward to spreading the message of youth health and safety to all Wyoming students.
Meredith Towle is the State Occupational Epidemiologist at the Wyoming Department of Workforce Services. She has over 15 years of experience in public health research, surveillance, and program management, with most of those years being dedicated to worker health and safety in various capacities.
Ms. Towle holds a Masters in Public Health from the University of Colorado and is a member of Delta Omega, the Honorary Society in Public Health. She is an active participant in several national and regional committees, including the NIOSH National Occupational Research Agenda Oil & Gas Extraction Council and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Occupational Health Leadership Committee.
A lifelong resident of Sublette County, Administrative Sergeant Travis Bingham is a graduate of Pinedale High School and a 14-year veteran of the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office.
Sergeant Bingham was promoted to the rank of Corporal in 2009, Sergeant in 2010, Detention Center Administrative Sergeant in 2012 and in 2015, Sergeant Bingham started his service as the Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer. He continues to be responsible for numerous administrative tasks within the Sheriff’s Office, while supervising the Sublette County Warrant Team and serving as a Reserve Communications Officer.
Sergeant Bingham and his wife, Amanda, have been married 12 years and have two sons. In his spare time, Sergeant Bingham volunteers in the community as a youth sports coach and at the Pinedale Aquatic Center.