Martin Massuh Named President and Martin Cassinelli Executive Director

By Edward Benjamin
Founder and Chairman, Light Electric Vehicle Association

LEVA is growing and changing.

And I believe that is a very good thing.

When we founded the Light Electric Vehicle Association in 2006, our industry was much smaller.
Electric bicycles were still a curiosity to many people, trained technicians were difficult to find,
and the idea that light electric vehicles would become an important part of transportation around
the world was far from obvious.

A lot has changed.

LEVA has changed as well.

LEVA was founded with a simple idea: bring together the people and companies working in this
emerging industry so that, together, we could accomplish more.

Education soon became an important part of that mission.

In 2008, Dr. Don Gerhardt, working with Sidney Kuropchak, created what became the
LEVA E-Bike Technician Training and Certification Program.

Since then, the program has trained more than 2,000 technicians and has been taught in classrooms,
workshops and online to students from around the world.

But the program was never intended to stand still.

Technology changes. Batteries change. Motors, controllers, diagnostic tools and safety practices
change.

And our industry learns something new every day.

For that reason, LEVA’s training has always benefited from the knowledge and experience of our
members, our Board, our instructors, manufacturers and industry partners. Their experience in the
field has helped us continually review, update and improve the program so that what we teach
reflects the vehicles, technologies and challenges technicians are actually seeing in their shops.

That collaborative approach is important to me.

LEVA has never been just one person. The knowledge of the association comes from the industry itself.

And that brings us to another important change.

Martin Massuh Named President of LEVA

I am pleased to announce that Martin Massuh, currently Executive Director of LEVA,
will become President of the Light Electric Vehicle Association.

Martin has been working with LEVA for eight years. During that time, he has taken on an increasingly
important role in almost every part of the organization.

He has helped us develop and expand our Technician Training and Certification Program, move training
successfully into online education, improve the way we communicate with our members and students,
and reach technicians in many different countries.

He is a LEVA Certified Technician and Instructor, but perhaps more importantly, he understands what
we are trying to accomplish.

Our job is not simply to talk about electric bicycles.

Our job is to help the people who build them, sell them, service them, and use them.

Martin understands this very well.

As President, Martin will take a larger role in the direction, growth and international development
of LEVA. I will continue as Founder and Chairman, supporting Martin, our Board,
our members, and the industry that I have been fortunate to be part of for so many years.

Martin Cassinelli Joins LEVA as Executive Director

And we are adding another Martin.

Martin Cassinelli will join LEVA as Executive Director.

Cassinelli is an electronics technician and product designer with more than 20 years of experience
developing products and leading design and product teams.

He brings something particularly valuable to LEVA: a combination of technical understanding,
product thinking, communication and education.

He has already been working with Martin Massuh on the development of our new
LEVA Technician Training Program in Spanish, which is currently in development.

This is important.

The LEV industry is global. The need for qualified technicians is global as well. There are millions
of Spanish-speaking bicycle and motorcycle technicians, students, businesses and entrepreneurs who
will participate in the transition toward electric mobility.

We want LEVA to help them.

The Spanish-language program is not simply a translation of our existing materials. It is an
opportunity to take the knowledge LEVA has developed over many years, together with the experience
of our members and industry, and make it accessible to a much larger community.

Adding Cassinelli to our leadership team and expanding Martin Massuh’s role are part of the same
objective: to prepare LEVA for its next stage.

More education.
More technicians.
More countries.
More languages.

And a stronger international community of people who understand light electric vehicles and know
how to work with them safely and professionally.

I founded LEVA because I believed that the companies and people working with light electric vehicles
would accomplish more by working together.

Twenty years later, I still believe that.

After working with Martin Massuh for eight years, I am confident that LEVA will be in good hands as
he takes on the role of President.

I am also very pleased to welcome Martin Cassinelli as Executive Director.

Twenty years after LEVA was founded, and eighteen years after our Technician Training Program began,
our mission remains remarkably similar.

The technology is different.
The industry is much larger.
The opportunities are greater.
And LEVA is ready for its next generation of leadership.

I think the best years for LEVA — and for the light electric vehicle industry — are still ahead of us.

Edward Benjamin
Founder and Chairman
Light Electric Vehicle Association