Ross Evans

At 19, Ross travelled to Managua taking with him bike tools, a welder, and a question for his undergraduate thesis project. Alongside a group of war-disabled men, he set out to create a simple, cargo-carrying bicycle. What began in 1995 became 2 pioneering organizations – Worldbike, and its altruistic for-profit sibling Xtracycle, the original longtail cargo bike company. In the process, Ross discovered how to enable a beautiful machine (the bicycle) to meet more needs and desires than ever before. ID Magazine declared him one of the 40 most notable socially responsible designers in the world in 2000. Curious and catalytic, he’s led a team of world-class eye surgeons to develop cataract surgical tools for Nepal, developed an award-winning toy, and presented at the TED2009 Conference. He’s a Stanford-trained engineer, adventurer, inventor, humanitarian, heretic, yogi and design catalyst. Ross inspires others to make a positive difference by doing what they love. He calls it ‘holishift’.