Letter from the Saddle
As we emerge from a season of transition for Bike East Bay with the departures of our long time champions and friends, former executive director Ginger Jui, and Advocacy Director Dave Campbell, we would like to introduce ourselves as your two new Co-Executive Directors, Jill and Justin.
Together we will be working collaboratively to continue the work of weaving mobility justice into the fabric of the organization and the work that we do. This shift is further instilling our core values of shared leadership and collaborative decision-making that are foundational to our organization’s culture.
In the past year we saw huge wins for safer, more connected streets, including protected bike lanes in Richmond on Cutting Blvd, in Fremont on Fremont Blvd, and in Berkeley with Milvia St. We also launched new environmental justice and community organizing trainings to further promote BIPOC leadership, which you can read more about on page 4. Finally, we took our education program to the next level with a cargo van purchase that helps us teach new skills to over 1,500 class participants for free.
This year, we will embark on a strategic planning process that will set the direction of the organization and guide our work over the coming years. We sit at the intersection of many important issues, including affordable housing, transit-rich communities, safe streets, and police reform. Building on our work around street safety and bicycle access, we want to continue developing a strategic vision and plan that centers the organization on building human infrastructure and community healing.
This year we will build community capacity through the recruitment and development of new League Cycling Instructors (LCIs) from all parts of our communities, who will teach bike education classes. You can learn about one LCI’s personal story on page 5. We will also focus on transforming corridors that connect our East Bay communities, such as the San Pablo Corridor, Bay Trail and East Bay Greenway.
With the rainy winter behind us, let’s dust off those bikes and get riding with tens of thousands this Bike to Work Day on May 18th: plan your Bike Month starting on page 6.
And, save the date for a special Richmond-San Rafael Bridge ride with the two of us scheduled for Saturday, June 24th from 9:00am-2:00pm.
See you out there on the road!
Ride On,
Justin & Jill
Co-Executive Directors
