Meet Jenn Chan, our most involved and active San Francisco Bicycle Coalition member of 2013! Jenn has been a dedicated intern for several semesters, and in addition to her work on many street campaigns, she’s helped at special events including Winterfest and Golden Wheel, conducted surveys about biking behavior, planned and led bike rides, and volunteered to help expand bikes on BART access (it worked!). We caught up with Jenn to hear more about what she’s enjoyed about volunteering with us, and what keeps her coming back and continuing to advocate for safer streets.
How did you get involved with the SF Bicycle Coalition? What motivated you to start volunteering?
Friends of mine who were active members of the SF Bicycle Coalition got me into volunteering, but as I started to bike more, I began to realize just how important bikeways were and more importantly, the advocacy that is involved to get more of them and make the existing ones better.
You’ve been a part of so many different projects and events. Can you pick a favorite moment?
My favorite volunteering moments were whenever I inspired someone to bike somewhere they had never been before, either through sharing my experiences or through one of the Love Your Lanes rides.
You interned with us for multiple semesters. What kinds of projects have you worked on?
As a program intern, I worked on the SF Bicycle Coalition’s Connecting the City campaign through planning and leading Love Your Lanes rides, performing bikeway gap analysis, doing street-side outreach for Polk Street, doing bike valet and helping out at service stations as a Bicycle Ambassador.
What do you do when you’re not donating your time to the SF Bicycle Coalition?
I’m either biking with my friends from the San Francisco Cycling Club or Wheeltalk-TVC Racing, or crafting caffeinated beverages for cyclists at Rapha Cycle Club.
What advice would you give to someone thinking about volunteering or interning here?
No matter what your level of cycling or amount of spare time you have, there’s a place and a need for you at the SF Bicycle Coalition. And, everyone is super friendly, and the cycling community is an amazing one to be a part of!
Want to volunteer like Jenn? View our current projects and sign up here!
