In August 2020 BFK held our first “Diversity & Bicycling Leaders Meet and Greet” in a very well-attended, well-received virtual meeting. Everyone at that meeting shared their experiences with bicycling, round-robin style, and outlined resources that they and their organizations could bring to the table.
Words cannot express the synergy and potential that came out of this meeting. One way of putting it is that those present committed to reaching out to each other to explore ways to celebrate harmony in diversity through a common appreciation for how our shared interest in bicycling can build community.
Everyone present willingly exchanged their contact information to facilitate continued mutual, self-directed outreach as the inspiration and reasons for doing so rise to the surface over time.
Their commitment to exchange information for this purpose resulted in the area’s first Diversity & Bicycling Leaders Directory.
The effort to continue our outreach continues. We will update the Directory on a quarterly basis as we welcome additional community leaders to our group and share additional information on our Facebook page.
Even during the pandemic, ideas emerging from these leaders are already bearing fruit. Examples include our first face to face “Afternoon Elbow Bump — Diversity & Bicycling Meet and Greet” during Kalamazoo Bike Week, and a series of Ride Around the Town community bike rides are posted on our Events page.
To surface and guide additional systemic gains surrounding our mission to help make our greater community even more bicycle friendly, Diversity & Bicycling Leaders are specifically invited to express their ideas for bike program priorities in our periodic polls, to participate as guests and become full members in our Bike Program Steering Committee, and to implement Bike Programs via self-directed Bike Program Core Teams.
We see good things ahead, limited only by our creativity and initiative to act on our ideas given the resources we already possess.
If you feel you possess the “main ingredients” for joining as a member of our Diversity & Bicycling Leaders team — a desire to build community through bicycling and a current position of leadership in the field of diversity or bicycling, and/or a personal/organizational resource that could facilitate implementation of a bike program — please Contact Us.