Hey there, eco-conscious bike enthusiasts! We’ve got an incredible story to share with you. Last week, Bike It Forward teamed up with Friends of the Urban Forest for a game-changing event. We provided bicycles to the Green Teens program, giving them a greener, more sustainable way to navigate the city. Let’s dive into the highlights and find out how you can be part of this movement.

From the moment those bikes hit the pavement, magic happened. We met at India Basin Waterfront Park to help the Green Teens improve their bike-riding skills. Many hadn’t ridden a bike since childhood, so we made sure they felt comfortable and had the knowledge to stay safe on the road. After equipping them with helmets and discussing how to navigate the city, we set off on an adventure. 

Imagine a group of dedicated green teens, working tirelessly to make our urban environment greener. They face a common challenge — getting around the city efficiently and sustainably. That’s when Bike It Forward stepped in with a simple solution: bicycles. We wanted to give these passionate teens the means to travel sustainably and continue their hard work.

Together, we rode to Heron’s Head Park, embracing the joy of being on two wheels. Seeing their faces light up with freedom and connection to nature was fantastic. Once we reached the end of the Heron’s Head peninsula, some of the youth began exploring, searching for crabs under rocks, while others soaked in the view and observed birds challenging each other for fish. This experience of being outdoors and connected to nature is one of the great benefits of biking. It fosters an important developmental connection that inspires youth to care for their environment.

Join us in celebrating the power of biking and its positive impact on our environment and support Bike It Forward’s mission through donations. Right now, Bike It Forward has a special donor matching campaign, doubling the impact of your support. By donating to Bike It Forward, you’re empowering green teens and other partners to promote sustainable, active transportation.  Together, let’s ensure that more people have the means to ride towards a greener future.

San Francisco’s southeast neighborhoods have faced historical neglect from transit, non-profits, and government policies resulting in resource limitations that unfortunately have slowed conscious development and mobility.

To promote inclusivity and change this dynamic, we brought together some of our many  programs (Bike it Forward, Adult Bike Education and Youth and Family), and partnered with Monroe Elementary and local community groups like the Excelsior Collaborative and the Excelsior Bike Club to create Monroe Practice Days.Over the last year, at Monroe Practice Days, we also work together with other non-profits like Ybike to provide a safe car-free space at Monroe Elementary for adults and children to practice their skills with the help of a top notch multilingual set of bike instructors. We distribute bicycles, helmets, and u-locks to have their bikes safe and the knowledge and tips on how to ride safely on the road.

If you ride a bike, you know well that bicycles offer freedom, independence, and connection. Recognizing this, our community believes bikes could bring positive change to underserved communities. We are very grateful to have received an Excelsior Collaborative Community Action Grant in partnership between the San Francisco Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, the Office of SF District 11, Mission YMCA of SF, and the Excelsior Collaborative. Through Monroe Practice Days we have been able to provide over 70 bikes with helmets, u-locks, and the knowledge to be safe on the road in 3 different languages since June 2022.

As we continue to host Monroe Practice Days this summer, here are the main values that guide our work:

Listening to the Community:

We have been listening carefully to the community to understand the needs and aspirations of southeast San Francisco. This helps us identify that sharing a way to get around the city and the knowledge to be safe on the road truly has made a difference.

This program has been very popular and successful by being able to reach out to the monolingual Chinese and Latinx community of the southeast neighborhoods with the help of volunteers, the Excelsior Collaborative staff, and parents and family liaisons of the Monroe Elementary School.

Shifting our focus and resources towards underserved communities:

This program means more than receiving bicycles for many of the people who come and experience it. This event empowers the community with self-reliance tips on maintenance, safety, and riding skills. This has boosted recipients’ confidence among other parents and neighbors of the community. It also impacts participants in many ways by encouraging healthier lifestyles, improved accessibility, and has created new opportunities for the community to get to know each other more and grow closer together by breaking mobility barriers.

Monroe Practice Days in southeast San Francisco exemplify the potential of community-driven initiatives. Providing bicycles empowers individuals and fosters hope. Compassion, unity, and a shared vision can transform communities. By continuing to engage and collaborate, we are building a more inclusive San Francisco. If you would like to learn more about this program and provide support, please consider donating a bike that we can tune up and give to the community of the southeast side of San Francisco (ideally, the bike should be suitable for someone between 4’ 11” and 5’ 5”).

Who we are

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition works to promote bicycling for everyday transportation in order to transform our streets and neighborhoods into more safe, just, and livable places. Our member-based grassroots organization is considered one of the largest, most active, and effective groups of our kind in the country.

The position

The Youth And Family Program Coordinator will play a vital role in the SF Bicycle Coalition’s efforts to encourage the city’s families and K-12 youth to adopt bicycling and other sustainable modes as one of their transportation options, both by providing fun and informative activities and administratively supporting citywide sustainable transportation programming. Contributing to the work of two contracts – San Francisco-Safe Routes to School (SF-SRTS) and Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Spare the Air Youth (MTC-STAY) Family Biking program – the Youth and Family Program Coordinator will split their time between contract and project administration responsibilities and youth and family biking program implementation, such as organizing workshops, bike fairs, rides, and other events to educate and encourage youth and families to bike. The successful candidate will be organized and have a keen attention to detail, as well as experience and expertise in leading youth (K-12) programming, especially related to bicycle education. 

Commitment to Equity and Justice

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition acknowledges the harm biking culture and unequal access to transportation have inflicted upon underserved communities — especially people of color, people with disabilities, people from working-class backgrounds, women, and people with LGBTQ+ identities. We believe that these communities must be centered as leaders in the work we do; therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Work with the Director of Youth and Family Programs on Safe Routes to School contract administration and project management. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
  • Scheduling of meetings, trainings, and onboarding for partner subcontractors 
  • Developing and leading onboarding for partner subcontractors
  • Invoicing and reporting
  • Contract compliance
  • Meeting facilitation
  • Ensure consistency across subcontractors in programmatic quality and adherence to program processes and protocols 
• Lead reporting and invoicing for MTC-STAY contract, coordinating with six other non-profits or government agencies who hold up to 40 events annually.
• Lead four Family Biking Workshops annually. Responsibilities include: 
  • Scheduling workshops
  • Identifying appropriate locations and acquiring necessary permissions or permitting
  • Organizing and planning workshops
  • Coordinating with nonprofit, agency, and/or business partners, as needed 
  • Teaching bicycle skills
  • Evaluating efforts
• Lead program implementation for SF-Safe Routes to School as-needed bicycle programming. Responsibilities include: 
  • Curricula development and updating
  • Coordinating and collaborating with schools and SF-SRTS partners
  • Teaching bicycle safety education
  • Collection of evaluation data
  • Coordinating with evaluation contractor
  • Leading additional bike education instructors.

Strong candidates will possess as many of the following qualifications and skills as possible: 

We recognize that this position encompasses a number of different responsibility areas. We are committed to train and support our staff to strengthen their abilities in each area and we encourage applications from people who may not have all of the qualifications listed below.

• Two or more years teaching or working with youth (K-12) and families;
• One or more years implementing bicycle safety education or other transportation-related programming;
• Three or more years of experience in contract or project management;
• League of American Bicyclists-certified League Cycling Instructor;
• A commitment to and passion for the mission and core values of the SF Bicycle Coalition and SF-SRTS;
• Highly organized with excellent attention to detail;
• Strong self-starter;
• Proven collaboration skills;
• Excellent communication skills (both verbal and written);
• Experience and skills using software for project management, database management, and/or CRM (Airtable, Salesforce, etc.);
• Experience and skills with Google Suite or MS Office/365 applications;
• Bilingual in English and another language especially Spanish, Cantonese, Filipino/Tagalog, Arabic, or Samoan

Reports to: Director of Youth and Family Programs

Salary and Benefits: The annual salary for this exempt position is $68,300. Full-time benefits include having every other Friday off, excellent medical, vision and dental insurance with no employee contribution, as well as three weeks of paid time off, two weeks of sick leave, pre-tax transit benefits, and a flexible work arrangement policy.

Hours: Full-time, exempt. The position may require occasional early morning, evening, or Friday/weekend work.

Location: Hybrid — San Francisco Bay Area. Staff and their supervisors will work together to determine the appropriate work arrangement based on the nature of the individual’s role, and in alignment with organizational policies and departmental needs and activities. We strive to be as flexible and fair as possible while ensuring in-person accessibility when needed to interface with our volunteers, membership, community, and each other.

To apply, please submit a resume and a PDF with your answers to the below three questions. Please make your answers roughly one paragraph each. NOTE: if you apply to both this role and the School Liaison role, you may provide the same response to questions 1 and 2, but please provide different answers to question 3 for each role.

1. What inspires you to want to work at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition?
2. What does transportation justice mean to you and how do you see it fitting into your career?
3. What skills and/or experiences do you have that would make you a good fit for this role?

APPLY HERE

Who we are

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition works to promote bicycling for everyday transportation in order to transform our streets and neighborhoods into more safe, just, and livable places. Our member-based grassroots organization is considered one of the largest, most active, and effective groups of our kind in the country.

The position

The Director of Youth and Family Programs leads the San Francisco Safe Routes to School (SF-SRTS) program, under a 4-year, $5M contract with the SF Metropolitan Transportation Agency (SFMTA). SF-SRTS educates and engages SF Unified School District communities around sustainable transportation choices. The person in this role will have the opportunity to shape the present and future of school-related transportation, helping the SF Bicycle Coalition and the city achieve vital climate and equity goals. 

Through programming, outreach, and engagement across the SF Unified School District (SFUSD), SF-SRTS aims to increase the safe use of the “Four Fun Ways” — walking, biking, transit, and carpooling — by SFUSD students and their families. Functioning as the Project Manager (as defined in the program’s SFMTA contract) and acting in coordination with the SFMTA’s Project Manager, the Director of Youth and Family Programs will manage a team of seven subcontracted partner organizations, ensure cohesion and success of the program activities, lead SF Bicycle Coalition staff working on the contract, and oversee budgeting, invoicing, reporting, and evaluation. The role will be responsible for coordinating with the SFMTA and SFUSD on strategic and implementation plans. The successful candidate will be an experienced, passionate, and highly organized leader with the ability to balance many stakeholders and put forth compelling and coordinated plans of action.

Commitment to Equity and Justice

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition acknowledges the harm biking culture and unequal access to transportation have inflicted upon underserved communities — especially people of color, people with disabilities, people from working-class backgrounds, women, and people with LGBTQ+ identities. We believe that these communities must be centered as leaders in the work we do; therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Manage, coordinate, and lead School Liaison team (two full-time staff), Activity Implementation team (three subcontractors), communications subcontractor, evaluation subcontractor, and translation subcontractor to ensure alignment on strategy and progress towards goals; 
• Directly manage two coordinator-level staff, including onboarding and providing training as needed, as well as covering for direct reports when necessary (as in the case of illness, PTO, or vacancies);
• Ensure the effective onboarding and training of subcontractor staff in the processes, protocols, and policies of the SF-SRTS program;
• Facilitate meetings and communication between subcontractors, SFMTA, and SFUSD to ensure focused, efficient, and productive execution of the program;
• Take a collaborative leadership role in overall organizational strategy, ensuring our Youth and Family programs work in concert with the work of other departments (Non-Youth Programs, Advocacy, Membership & Development, Marketing Communications, and Operations) to advance our mission and goals of transportation equity;
• Develop systems, processes, and protocols to promote effective and efficient collaboration across the program;
• Work with School Liaison team to identify what programmatic offerings to recommend to each school, in order to successfully impact safety and modeshift outcomes, including recommending new, innovative programming be developed if current offerings don’t meet existing need;
• In collaboration with SFUSD and SFMTA, develop outreach, engagement and implementation strategies, and the attendant implementation plans.
• Work with partners to track progress towards near-term and long-term goals and adjust course if needed;
• Coordinate with staff and contractors to produce monthly invoicing and reporting that tracks activities and progress towards goals;
• Work with Program Implementation subcontractors to ensure that all programmatic materials are approved by SFMTA Project Manager; and
• Work with SFMTA to develop program purchasing plans, and coordinate purchasing with SF Bicycle Coalition SF-SRTS staff.

Strong candidates will possess as many of the following qualifications as possible: 

We recognize that this position encompasses a number of different responsibility areas. We are committed to train and support our staff to strengthen their abilities in each area and we encourage applications from people who may not have all of the qualifications listed below.

• Seven or more years serving youth and their families, preferably with at least two years with SFUSD or other public school system;
• Three years or more of progressively increasing responsibility in contract management, program development and/or nonprofit management;
• Three or more years managing contractors;
• A commitment to and passion for the mission and core values of the SF Bicycle Coalition and SF-SRTS;
• Direct experience building strong partnerships with public agencies and community-based organizations, particularly those serving marginalized or underserved communities;
• Experience using both quantitative and qualitative data to assess community behaviors and needs, especially in transportation;
• Experience managing teams of five or more direct reports/contractors
• Excellent communication skills (both verbal and written);
• Successful, proven project planning and strategy implementation;
• Experience with data management within database tools, such as AirTable;
• Bilingual in English and another language especially Spanish, Cantonese, Arabic, Samoan or Filipino/Tagalog

Reports to: Deputy Director

Direct reports: School Liaison (Coordinator), Youth and Families Coordinator

Salary and Benefits: The annual salary for this exempt position is $105,000 and is non-negotiable. Full-time benefits include having every other Friday off, excellent medical, vision and dental insurance with no employee contribution, as well as three weeks of paid time off, two weeks of sick leave, pre-tax transit benefits, and a flexible work arrangement policy.

Hours: Full-time, exempt.

Location: Hybrid — San Francisco Bay Area. Staff and their supervisors will work together to determine the appropriate work arrangement based on the nature of the individual’s role, and in alignment with organizational policies and departmental needs and activities. We strive to be as flexible and fair as possible while ensuring in-person accessibility when needed to interface with our volunteers, membership, community, and each other.

To apply, please submit a resume and a PDF with your answers to the below three questions. Please make your answers roughly one paragraph each:

1. What inspires you to want to work at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition?
2. What does transportation justice mean to you and how do you see it fitting into your career?
3. What skills and/or experiences do you have that would make you a good fit for this role?

APPLY HERE

Job Description: Director of Community Programs

Who we are

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition works to promote bicycling for everyday transportation in order to transform our streets and neighborhoods into more safe, just, and livable places. Our member-based grassroots organization is considered one of the largest, most active, and effective groups of our kind in the country. 

The position

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Director of Community Programs leads and shapes the vision for our organization’s programmatic work, reflecting our core values of Transportation Justice, Sustainability, People Power, and Joy. 

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has many best-in-class programs supported by long-term contracts, grants, and fee-for-service arrangements. These programs are also a strategically vital aspect of achieving our mission, promoting sustainable transportation by enacting culture change and tearing down structural barriers. The organization aims to continuously evaluate and refine our programmatic approaches and expand their scope and impact. The Director of Community Programs should be a strong, creative leader with deep passion and experience who will work in tandem with staff and the leadership team to help elevate our programs, deepening their impact and improving their equitable reach. At the same time, they should ensure that these programs remain a solid and growing source of revenue for the organization. This position manages a dynamic staff of two full-time and one part-time individuals focused on adult bicycle education, valet bicycle parking, professional driver training, and our Bike It Forward program.

Commitment to Equity and Justice

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition acknowledges the harm biking culture and unequal access to transportation have inflicted upon underserved communities — especially people of color, people with disabilities, people from working-class backgrounds, women, and people with LGBTQ+ identities. We believe that these communities must be centered as leaders in the work we do; therefore, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities.

Primary responsibilities include:

• Take a collaborative leadership role in overall organizational strategy, ensuring our programs work in alignment with the work of other departments (Advocacy, Membership & Development, Marketing Communications, and Operations) to advance our mission and goals of transportation equity;
• Lead, direct, and manage overall San Francisco Bicycle Coalition non-youth programmatic work, priorities, and deliverables, including planning initiatives and contract management;
• Directly manage and coach two full-time and one part-time Program staff for Adult Education, Bike It Forward, and Valet Bicycle Parking. This includes strategic leadership, training, professional development, leading the hiring process for vacancies, and oversight of contracts and deliverables;
• Cover the work of direct reports when necessary (as in the case of illness, PTO, or vacancies), or when redistribution of work requires it (as may be the case with the Professional Driver Training program);
• Contribute to the development of the organization’s new Theory of Change and Strategic Plan, and ensure that outcomes and targets related to the plan are met or exceeded; 
• Work with team members to prepare and submit bids for grant applications and RFPs relevant to our mission and program work, monitor open contract compliance, and prepare and submit reports relevant to contract work;
• Work with Program staff on business development activities, such as researching businesses, prospecting relevant target companies, and pitching programs, to grow the aspects of programmatic work that are offered on a fee-for-service basis;
• Develop and monitor plans to meet or exceed budgeted goals for earned revenue programs including valet bicycle parking and professional driver training; 
• Maintain positive working relationships with relevant partners in government, other nonprofit agencies, communities and private sector organizations; and 
• Play an active role in organizational budgeting and forecasting. 

Strong candidates will possess as many of the following qualifications as possible: 

We recognize that this position encompasses a number of different responsibility areas. We are committed to train and support our staff to strengthen their abilities in each area and we encourage applications from people who may not have all of the qualifications listed below.

• Five years or more of progressively increasing responsibility in program development and management;
• A commitment to and passion for the SF Bicycle Coalition’s mission and core values;
• Direct experience building strong partnerships with public agencies and community-based organizations, particularly those serving marginalized or underserved communities;
• Successful track record in bidding and winning grants and contracts, monitoring deliverables, and reporting on success;
• Successful track record of business development in the nonprofit or service sectors;
• Experience managing staff;
• Successful, proven project planning and strategy implementation;
• Excellent communication skills;
• Excellent interpersonal and networking skills;
• Budgeting and forecasting experience;
• Exceptional, proven writing skills for a diversity of media and audiences; and 
• Collaborative skills and eagerness to be a team player, working with development, advocacy, communications and operations leadership. 
• Experience working and collaborating with a membership-based organization;
• Experience managing and implementing education, school and/or volunteer programs;
• CRM software experience, preferably with Salesforce;
• Bilingual in English and another language especially Spanish, Cantonese or Filipino/Tagalog.

Reports to: Deputy Director

Direct reports: Bike It Forward Program Manager, Adult Bike Education Program Manager, Part-time Valet Bike Parking Coordinator

Salary and Benefits: The annual salary for this exempt position is $85,000-$95,000 depending on depth of experience. Full-time benefits include having every other Friday off, excellent medical, vision and dental insurance with no employee contribution, as well as three weeks of paid time off, two weeks of sick leave, pre-tax transit benefits, and a flexible work arrangement policy.

Hours: Full-time, exempt.

Location: Hybrid — San Francisco Bay Area. Staff and their supervisors will work together to determine the appropriate work arrangement based on the nature of the individual’s role, and in alignment with organizational policies and departmental needs and activities. We strive to be as flexible and fair as possible while ensuring in-person accessibility when needed to interface with our volunteers, membership, community, and each other.

To apply, please submit a resume and a PDF with your answers to the below three questions. Please make your answers roughly one paragraph each:

1. What inspires you to want to work at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition?
2. What does transportation justice mean to you and how do you see it fitting into your career?
3. What skills and/or experiences do you have that would make you a good fit for this role?

APPLY HERE

On April 4, 2023, the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors unanimously approved the Valencia center running bike lane pilot from 15th Street to 23rd Street. 

The bike community and local Mission community turned out strong during public comment. Though some of us wanted to see a different outcome, we were all on the same page about the existing conditions along Valencia being disastrous and needing improvements now. 

After hours of public comment and one of the most comprehensive discussions we’ve seen between the SFMTA Board of Directors, the unprotected stretch of Valencia is finally getting improvements. 

Here’s what was passed:

1. A 12-month pilot with an evaluation presentation to the SFMTA Board of Directors 6 months in;
2. K71 post every 20ft, with bus lane curbs in-between
3. After every 90ft of materials, a 10ft gap will be included for bikes to enter and exit the bike lane 
4. Long-term studies for the entire Valencia corridor and a placemaking pilot

Construction officially began last week and will take six to eight weeks to complete. We knew a center-running bike lane could only work if we had robust materials in the ground like K71 posts. That is why we were so disappointed to find out through public news channels that SFMTA doesn’t have enough K71 posts for the new spacing of 20ft and will be using soft-hit posts in the place of them where we run out. We understand that the new spacing of 20ft means double the amount of K71’s than what was originally planned, and the supply chain isn’t keeping up with demand. We have communicated to SFMTA they should be proactively communicating updates to the public when things go awry and when they are unable to deliver projects in the manner or timeline laid out. We call on the SFMTA to do everything in its power, including reaching out to additional vendors, to implement the complete number of K71 posts indicated in the approved design. We also demand proactive updates from the agency about any other barriers or slowdowns, to repair trust with the biking community.

While under construction, there will be signs on every block reinforcing that bikes and other active modes of transportation are expected to share the lane with vehicles. The 12-month pilot officially starts once construction is complete. 

We agree with the SFMTA Board Directors that this is not the end but the beginning of conversations on Valencia Street.