— Advertisement —

What can bike advocates learn from the Youth Bike Summit?

Thanks to a lot of hard work by the folks from Bike Works, Seattle hosted the Youth Bike Summit this month. An annual gathering of youth-focused bike organizers, the fifth summit was the first one outside of New York.

I had planned to have lots of live coverage, but I woke up the summit morning terribly sick. Huge bummer. It sounded like an amazing and inspiring time.

But lucky for all of us, Bike Works recorded the excellent lineup of keynotes, including both not-youths (no offense) like Mayor Ed Murray (19:38) and jump-out-of-your-seat awesome young leaders like Brook Negussie of Cascade Bicycle Club’s Major Taylor Project (1:29:19) and Kahlil Brewer of Bike Works (lead-in video about Bike Works starts at 1:35:26). Or you can watch the whole thing here:


— Advertisement —


One big takeway I’ve heard from just about everyone who was at the summit is that we need to invite more youth to all the bike leadership tables. This year’s summit drew more young people than adults (a first for the summit), and young people lead many of the workshops and sessions.

Bicycling isn’t just about bicycles. It can be a powerful tool for building community, as youth bike programs across the nation show. If you spend a lot of time in the adult bicycle advocacy world, listening to young people in these programs is refreshing and inspiring.

Josh Cohen wrote a story about the summit for New City if you want to read more. Were you at the Youth Bike Summit? What was your biggest takeaway?


About the author:


Related posts:

Comments

One response to “What can bike advocates learn from the Youth Bike Summit?”

  1. The YBS was a great time! It was great to see how Bike Works and similar organizations around the nation are increasing youth interest in bikes while making an amazing positive impact on their local communities. Personally, I left feeling optimistic and inspired by the youth leadership. From high school bike club presidents demanding better parking facilities at schools and organizing rides to a youth organization demanding its rights in Portland, the message was clear. Youth have a lot of ideas and plenty of energy – we just need to listen!

— Advertisement —

Got a tip? Email Tom.

Get posts via email

Shorts

Join the Seattle Bike Blog Supporters

Supporters receive endless love in addition to the satisfaction of knowing you helped power independent bike news in the Seattle area. Please consider supporting the site financially if you are able, starting at $5 per month:

Bike Events Calendar

May
31
Wed
5:30 pm SNG New Volunteer Orientation
SNG New Volunteer Orientation
May 31 @ 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm
Join us and learn about how to get involved with Seattle Neighborhood Greenways!Wednesday, May 31, 5:30 – 6:30 pm – virtually via Zoom.Zoom link shared here and to RSVPs.RSVP on Facebook hereor to [email protected] us[…]
Jun
1
Thu
7:15 pm Point83 @ Westlake Park
Point83 @ Westlake Park
Jun 1 @ 7:15 pm
Point83 @ Westlake Park
Meet up in the center of the park at 7ish. Leave at 730. Every Thursday from now until forever rain or shine. Bikes, beers, illegal firepits, nachos, bottlerockets, timetraveling, lollygagging, mechanicals, good times.
Jun
3
Sat
9:00 am First Saturday Neighborhood Clea…
First Saturday Neighborhood Clea…
Jun 3 @ 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Every month volunteers gather to collect garbage and help beautify our neighborhood. On average, we collect about 15 bags of garbage per clean up, which means 1,000’s of small pieces of plastic that do not[…]
Jun
4
Sun
10:00 am South Seattle Infrastructure Tour @ Cafe Red (patio)
South Seattle Infrastructure Tour @ Cafe Red (patio)
Jun 4 @ 10:00 am
South Seattle Infrastructure Tour @ Cafe Red (patio) | Seattle | Washington | United States
Let’s check out some new, ongoing, and future bike infrastructure projects (including new bike runnels) in South Seattle on a 7.4 mile bike ride at a Leisurely (10-12 mph average on flat ground) pace! Bring[…]
Jun
5
Mon
7:00 pm D5 Candidate Forum on Mobility
D5 Candidate Forum on Mobility
Jun 5 @ 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Save the Date. More information coming soon.
— Advertisements —

Latest on Mastodon

Loading Mastodon feed…

Latest on YouTube