Erik Nielsen
​CEO / Board Member

Erik has had a lifelong passion for skateboarding since first stepping on a board in the late 1980s. While in college, he began volunteering at summer and winter camps for children with disabilities, sparking his dedication to helping others. When SkateMD was founded, Erik discovered the perfect way to combine his love of skateboarding with his commitment to serving his community and supporting children. As a founding board member, Erik brings his experience as a pediatric physical therapist and longtime skateboarder, making him a perfect fit to help honor and uphold SkateMD’s mission and vision.

Quinton Boucher
​Treasurer/ Board Member​

Quinton is a lifelong skateboarder born and raised in the Sacramento area. As a volunteer since 2022, he’s seen firsthand how skateboarding can bring joy, confidence, and community to children with physical and developmental disabilities. Quinton is passionate about making skateboarding inclusive and accessible.
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Off the board, he’s a certified public accountant (CPA) with his own small practice providing tax and accounting services to individuals and small businesses. He’s excited to serve on the board of directors as the Treasurer.​

Andrea Battle
​Secretary / Board Member

Andrea started skateboarding as a way to get around when her brother gave her his old skateboard when she was 8 years old. After she graduated with her Masters in occupational therapy and began working in pediatrics for Sacramento County, she was looking for a way to give back to her community. She found SkateMD through a Google search, volunteered for a couple clinics, fell in love, and officially joined the board in 2019. Her daughter Eva is at nearly every clinic and her husband volunteers as a skate buddy when he can. Spreading kindness and expanding children’s ability to participate in what may seem like a less-than-accessible activity brings her and her family so much joy. Andrea loves spending time with her pitbull Tallulah, learning new home improvement skills, lifting weights, and all things yarn related.​

Angel Cantrell
​Board Member

Angel is a Sacramento native and retired State of California employee with a 20-year career in public service. She is a proud mother of two, including a teenage son who has attended SkateMD since first grade. Angel brings a strong commitment to family and community. She enjoys spending time on the Northern California coast and attending live music events.

Mason Moayed
Board Member

Growing up, Mason has always had a deep appreciation for skateboarding and the supportive, creative community it fosters. He also enjoys giving back however he can, whether helping out at canned food drives or volunteering at local animal shelters.
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Mason is a U.S. veteran with over eight years of emergency management service and medical training. Currently, he is finishing up a degree in Management in Information Systems, focusing on personal growth and community outreach. Outside of volunteering, he is a huge music and movie buff, so if you see him at a clinic and want to chat about anything from James Brown to the Bladerunner series, he is always up for it!

Kim Thompson
​Board Member

Kim was born and raised in Chico, CA, and is passionate about giving back to the community. Her experience with non-profits started with working at and managing animal shelters, and later serving on the board of the North Valley Harm Reduction Coalition.

Kim is autistic and the mother of six children, four of whom have an autism diagnosis. Kim became familiar with SkateMD when her daughter Delilah signed up for a clinic, and instantly wanted to become more involved and was thrilled to be able to join the board. Kim is passionate about disabilities advocacy, finding ways to make spaces accessible to others, and spreading kindness.

About us.
SkateMD is an all-volunteer Northern California based 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2014 by Melanie Biesecker (the "M") and Andrea "Drea" Bibelheimer (the "D"), and joined at the onset by Mel’s longtime friend, Erik Nielsen. They joined forces as "partners in kind" with a mission to heal hearts by spreading kindness and skateboarding to children facing developmental, physical, emotional, or family challenges. The SkateMD program was created as a heartfelt response to a viral video of a hate crime against a teenage boy with Autism.  As members of skateboarding families and strong advocates of kindness, they set out to empower children with exercise, positive interactions, and fun while increasing tolerance, compassion, and support within the community. Through support from the full board team and our local region, we have been able to provide one-on-one skateboard clinics in an accepting environment for children ages 5-17 to experiment with skateboarding, to fine-tune existing skateboarding skills, or to just have fun. Our program is proud to pay special attention to the individual needs of our participants.

​Participant coordination is facilitated by Erik Nielsen (PT, DPT, PCS), a board certified clinical specialist, and Andrea Battle (MS, OTR/L), a board certified occupational therapist; additional volunteer therapists are recruited for our clinics to support both volunteers and children. As we have no paid staff members, our board of directors are our key coordinators for our program and events. We honor the legacy of our co-founders and past board members and are grateful for the current team who share their time and talents for the success of SkateMD.

Honoring our past.
Following their long-term dedication to SkateMD, our co-founders Mel and Drea, and board member Pat Guild, stepped down from our board of directors in 2025 to pursue other interests and to usher in a new chapter of the program. They remain involved in the SkateMD community.

From left to right: Melanie Biesecker, Andrea Bibelheimer

Left to Right: Andrea Bibelheimer, Erik Nielsen, Melanie Biesecker, Andrea Battle, and Pat Guild.