Don Sparks is the founding President of Charleston Bicycle Advocacy Group (CBAG) and is a Board Member of the Palmetto Cycling Coalition, a state-wide bicycle advocacy organization. He is a member of the CHATS Standing Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (the Charleston MPO's transportation planning arm) and serves on the Enhancements Committee. Don is helping with the South Carolina Department of Transportation's Bicycle Policy Committee. He is an avid cyclist, having ridden cross country with his wife Katherine on their tandem in 1993. In addition, he has cycled extensively in other parts of the United States, Canada, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France, Australia and Southern Africa. Don is member of the Adventure Cycling Association, Coastal Cyclists, Tandem Club of America, the International Randeneurs and is a Life Member of the League of American Bicyclists.
Currently, Don is Professor of International Economics at the Citadel, and has served on the academic board of directors of the University of South Carolina’s Center for Environmental Policy. Before coming to the Citadel, Don served as a staff assistant to Senator Hollings in Washington, DC and as an economist with the US Department of State. He has presented papers or been an invited participant at the Car Free Cities Conference in Copenhagen (1996), the Velo Austria World Bicycle Conference in Perth, Australia (1997) and ProBike Conference in Santa Barbara, California (1998).. He has been a consultant to a number of international organizations, including the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources in Gland, Switzerland and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization in Vienna, Austria. In 1996-97 he was Senior Fulbright Professor of Economics at the University of Swaziland. Dr Sparks received his BA from the George Washington University and his MA and PhD from the University of London.