Now Hiring: External Affairs Director

Posted on by Rahul Young

The SF Bicycle Coalition is looking for an experienced leader who can help grow our movement and play a key role in transforming San Francisco’s streets and neighborhoods into safe, just and livable places by promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation.

The External Affairs Director will work in tandem with the Executive Director and leadership team to help craft strategic messaging, build a comprehensive marketing plan, drive development initiatives, and pitch proactive media in order to develop and strengthen the organization’s constituent and membership engagement ladder. This position will manage a motivated team of membership, development and communications staff.

As the SF Bicycle Coalition begins to make serious progress toward achieving our ambitious strategic plan, we need to redouble our efforts to grow our membership and ensure that our message reaches the widest audience possible. Reporting to the Executive Director, this new position will serve in a leadership capacity to build new audiences and constituencies for our work, grow and engage membership to deliver our mission, and manage all aspects of the organization’s brand.

APPLY HERE

Primary responsibilities:

  • Manage, support and grow a team of talented membership, resource development and communications professionals.
  • As a key member of an organizational leadership team, help set organizational priorities, measure and evaluate progress, and respond to emerging opportunities.
  • Develop and deploy quarterly organizational high-level messaging.
  • Manage all incoming media inquiries, maintain and grow existing media relations.
  • Oversee production and publication of quarterly Tube Times magazine and weekly Biker Bulletin newsletter.
  • In line with the organization’s strategic plan, work with advocacy and program teams to fully develop the organization’s constituent and membership engagement ladder, including developing innovative ways to engage low-income members.
  • Grow the organization’s digital media capacity, including video.
  • Manage all social media channels, growing followers in line with strategic plan.
  • Lead refresh of sfbike.org website, blog and digital engagement strategy with members.
  • Manage and coordinate organization’s multi-channel communications calendar.
  • Oversee strategic partnerships with private sector, leveraging financial and in-kind support to further organizational goals and objectives.
  • Support advocacy staff with communications needs in campaign planning and execution.
  • Support program staff by effectively highlighting programmatic accomplishments and earning media exposure.

The ideal candidate will possess many of the following qualifications:

  • Experience in effectively managing and growing teams, with an emphasis on professional development support.
  • Experience managing a budget in excess of $1 million.
  • Superlative written and verbal communications skills.
  • Demonstrated track record of list and social media follower growth, including strategy development experience.
  • Spokesperson experience, as well as experience fielding media requests, developing internal media capacity, and handling crisis communications.
  • Working knowledge of local media landscape.
  • Ability to initiate and grow successful private-nonprofit partnerships.
  • Strong understanding of brand development and maintenance.
  • Experience working within a membership-based advocacy organization.
  • Experience crafting fundraising/membership communications.
  • High level of comfort with web/digital media analytics and experience evaluating performance and adapting planning/projects accordingly.
  • Advanced knowledge of Salesforce, Marketing Cloud and Google Apps suite.
  • Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite.
  • Fluency in languages other than English, especially Spanish, Cantonese and Tagalog.

Salary and Benefits: The annual salary for this exempt position $80,000-$95,000 depending on depth of experience. Full-time benefits include excellent medical, vision and dental insurance.
Hours: Full-time, exempt.
Reports to: Executive Director

About the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition works to transform San Francisco’s streets and neighborhoods into safe, just and livable places by promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation. Our work is guided by our five-year strategic plan and the core values of Transportation Justice, Sustainability, People Power and Joy. The organization’s culture reflects its grassroots origins and professional advocacy in equal measures. Our active membership of over 10,000 represents San Franciscans of all ages and backgrounds from all neighborhoods who are working towards safe, sustainable and more affordable ways to move around our city. The SF Bicycle Coalition is the largest city-based bicycle advocacy group in the nation and one of the largest member-driven groups in San Francisco. People of all races and genders are encouraged to apply. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition is an equal opportunity employer.

My Challenge. Our Challenge.

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition

Editors: This story was originally published in Issue 164 of our quarterly Tube Times magazine, one of many perks of membership in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

Every day I have the privilege of waking up, getting ready and heading out to join the thousands of San Franciscans who ride a bicycle. Sometimes I pedal with you in groups and sometimes I travel independently. Either way I recognize that I ride on concrete streets that were embedded with social inequities. I don’t have the luxury to ignore how the design of the streets were driven by experts whose values intentionally left specific people to spend more money, time and effort to transport themselves to and from their desired destinations. These motivating values haven’t fully diminished with time, and I’m continually reminded of the ways that I’m asked to sacrifice my personal safety due to the lack of recognition for my community’s needs and values.

However, through this cloud of disparities has come executive leadership to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition that has the courage to confront discriminatory practices, cultivate partnerships with new allies and build trust with communities that have for too long lacked a place at the organization’s table.

This leadership is injecting love, peace, social justice, cooperation and compassion into the new waves of infrastructure. This leadership is confronting the challenge of how to incorporate the visions of marginalized communities with those of more traditional power players. This leadership is not indifferent to the effects of demanding infrastructure that reinforces existing models of inequalities.

Today, the 10,000-plus members of the SF Bicycle Coalition have the opportunity to harness our collective energy and support our staff on the diversity of projects they work on so tirelessly. These efforts look to invest in not just bike lanes, but the people who use them. As a bonded group, we, the membership, must take action. I PERSONALLY CHALLENGE OUR MEMBERSHIP TO TAKE ACTION and every month volunteer ONE extra hour or dedicate the equivalent of ONE hour of salary to your SF Bicycle Coalition. Together we can all take a stand for the delivery of bike lanes that bloom with the hopes and aspirations of all San Franciscans who want to join me and wake up every day with the ability to ride their bikes on safe streets.

Thank you for being a member!

Nicholas Aulston
President, Board of Directors

Show Up for Townsend on July 17

Posted on by Charles Deffarges

In the past week we have seen an incredible response from you, our members, demanding protected bike lanes on Townsend. On July 17, we’ll be driving home our demands at the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board meeting.

Will You Join Us?

When we heard that protected bike lanes on Townsend were being cancelled by the SFMTA, we sprang into action. So far, hundreds of emails have flooded into the inbox of Director Ed Reiskin. To send the message home, we are turning out in numbers at the next SFMTA Board meeting to hold the agency accountable to their commitment to safety.

SFMTA Board of Directors
July 17, 1:00 PM
City Hall, Room 400

Because the Townsend project has been indefinitely delayed by SFMTA staff, it isn’t on their agenda.  we are putting it on the agenda for them. We’ll be using public comment time to putour message on record: The decision to cancel protected bike lanes on Townsend Street is irresponsible.

Join us at the meeting, and push the SFMTA to do the right thing and deliver near-term protected bike lanes on Townsend Street.

Teacher Wins the EdgeRunner Family Bike

Posted on by Nancy Buffum

We have a winner! Omar Mendoza, kindergarten teacher at Monroe Elementary in the Excelsior, organized his school’s Bike & Roll to School Week and won the grand prize: the EdgeRunner family/cargo bike donated by Xtracycle. We delivered the prize bike to Omar on the last day of school and learned a lot more about how he promotes walking and biking to school all year long.

SF Bicycle Coalition: Tell us about winning the EdgeRunner family bike.

Omar: I entered the contest on Monroe’s Bike & Roll to School Day last April, when I signed in along with all the other parents and teachers who helped out by accompanying the students or handing out prizes. I didn’t really consider that I might be the winner.

How did you organize Bike & Roll to School Week at Monroe Elementary?

Omar: I registered Monroe to participate in October’s Walk & Roll to School Day at a wellness training at the beginning of the school year. The event was so popular with families, it made sense for me to become Monroe’s liaison for Safe Routes to School and organize Bike & Roll to School Week. On Bike & Roll to School Day, a big group gathered at the neighborhood meetup point at Excelsior Playground. I used school channels for publicity, and the principal and PTA helped get the word out to families.

How does biking fit in with your school’s Safe Routes to School goals?

Biking to school is one way to get healthy exercise for both kids and parents. Whether some bike, some walk or ride a scooter, it’s fun for the family. And fewer cars right around the school makes it safer. I’d like to see regular “walking school buses” and “bike trains” to Monroe, and teach more kids to ride at another school or community event.

What are you going to do with the EdgeRunner Family Bike?

I don’t have any kids of my own, but I know some kids to whom I’d like to give rides! I’m going to use it for groceries and errands as well. I can’t wait to ride it home.

Learn more about family bikes this Sunday at Sunday Streets in the Mission. We’ll be there with our fleet of family bikes, happy to answer any questions and offer free test rides.

Learning to (Bike) Share

Posted on by Christopher White

Editors: This story was originally published in Issue 164 of our quarterly Tube Times magazine, one of many perks of membership in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

My partner has ridden his bike, named Smithy, thousands of miles, including from San Francisco to Los Angeles five times with AIDS LifeCycle. They have a close emotional bond. But day-to-day they don’t spend a lot of time together. Fear of locking Smithy up on the street keeps him from riding for errands and general transportation. Happily, the huge swell in bike-share options in San Francisco means that my partner and I still ride together most times we’re heading somewhere.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that the two bike-share systems, Ford GoBike and Jump Bikes, bridge such a gap for many people. Plenty of new users of these systems are riding SF’s streets for the first time or the first time in many years.

More access to active transportation options is a win for all of us. Your SF Bicycle Coalition also recognizes the need for education of new riders to ensure that people are biking safely — for their own well-being and that of everyone with whom they share the streets. That’s why we’re partnering with both bike-share companies to offer bicycle education specifically tailored to bike-share users.

We’ve offered an hour-long Introduction to Urban Biking class to GoBike users for the past few years. This year’s GoBike offerings have expanded with a revamped 90-minute curriculum. The new class begins with 45 minutes in the classroom, covering the rules of the road and best practices for safely sharing the street. In the second half of the class, we hit the bike lanes on GoBikes, giving students the opportunity to practice what they learned under the guidance of experienced SF Bicycle Coalition instructors.

“Having a sturdy bicycle to try out riding on San Francisco streets — without a financial commitment — can help someone feel safe and empowered to incorporate bicycling into their lifestyle,” GoBike Marketing Manager Abby Salzer said.

Classes with e-bike share company Jump follow a similar structure, but the curriculum includes education about safely operating its e-assist bikes, which can travel faster and have more sensitive brakes than non-electric bikes.

“We want to see everyone taking these classes, especially people who may not presently see biking as something that’s for them,” said Meaghan Mitchell, community outreach coordinator with Jump.

For both systems, free classes are offered quarterly at the centrally located offices of SF Bicycle Coalition. In addition to learning critical bicycle safety skills, all attendees are offered incentives, including drawings for either annual GoBike memberships or generous credit on Jump Bikes, depending on the class.

To find out more or register for a class, please visit sfbike.org/education.

Building Community: Meet Volunteers Mike and Jonas

Posted on by Kelsey Roeder

Editors: This story was originally published in Issue 164 of our quarterly Tube Times magazine, one of many perks of membership in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

As someone once said (or should have said): The couple that volunteers together stays together. We recently caught up with one of our favorite pairs of volunteers — Mike Machala and Jonas Crimm — to see what keeps them coming back.

Ever since their beginning as a couple, biking has been an integral part of Mike and Jonas’ story.

“Jonas biked to our first date at Land’s End,” Mike said. “I drove, but to be fair, it was a Sunday, and I was living in the South Bay at the time. I also had two dogs with me, in hopes of wooing Jonas. But I biked to our next date!

“One year, Jonas even planned a bicycle-centric scavenger hunt for my 30th birthday,” Mike said. “I had to bike all around San Francisco and the South Bay in a downpour to meet various friends and find hidden clues. I would say it was a very wet success.”

When it comes to volunteering, Jonas lit up.

“Volunteering is important to us because we fully believe in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s mission: promoting the bicycle for everyday transportation,” Jonas said. “The SF Bicycle Coalition does so much to make San Francisco more bike-friendly and to get more people riding, and we feel it’s important and rewarding to contribute to the community.”

When asked about summer plans, Mike and Jonas said that their travels centered around their wedding in central Oregon in June.

“I’m also currently partnering with the SF Bicycle Coalition and the San Francisco Bike Kitchen to coordinate a Bike it Forwards program for students at San Francisco International High School, the public high school for recent immigrant students, where I work,” Jonas added.

“We love the SF Bicycle Coalition,” Mike said. “All of our volunteering with the organization has been awesome. We love the energy, creativity and general happiness.”

Want to get in on the volunteer fun? Join us for a Community Repair Night or any of the dozens of other ways to volunteer with SF Bicycle Coalition. Sign up at sfbike.org/volunteer.

Adrian Cardenas Shares His Love for Biking Through Outreach

Posted on by San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
By Whitney Ericson

“I love talking with people and learning about their relationship with bikes and how this relationship affects their life,” said Adrian Cardenas, a Bicycle Education Outreach Specialist and Valet Bicycle Parking Supervisor for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. If you share these passions with Adrian, you might be a perfect candidate for either or both of these part-time positions with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

Learn about these positions:

Bicycle Education Outreach Specialist

Valet Bicycle Parking Supervisor

Born in Mexico City and raised in Cancun, Adrian began biking after moving to the Bay Area, where he has lived for eight years. “I bought my first bike as an adult after seeing advertisements everywhere about Bike to Work day back in 2012,” Adrian said. “At first I only used it to commute to work from North Oakland to San Francisco near the ballpark. Later on, I started using it for recreation and to explore Oakland and San Francisco neighborhoods. Biking has been great way to get to know Oakland and San Francisco. I also save a lot of money and time biking instead of using Lyft or public transportation.”

Reflecting on how he initially came to work for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Adrian says, “I love riding my bike and enjoy so many positive benefits from biking. I want people to have this experience by teaching them how to ride safely. I also want to help communities have more bike infrastructure so they feel safe and are more motivated to use a bicycle as a primary mode of transportation. I first became a member of the SF Bicycle Coalition, but I wanted to be more involved with the organization. I applied for a job that led me to opportunities with the Bike Education Program and Valet Bike Parking.”

In his role as Bicycle Education Outreach Specialist, Adrian talks with people about the basics of bicycle safety and encourages Bay Area residents to attend free bike education workshops with the SF Bicycle Coalition. He attends Sunday Streets and other fairs and festivals in San Francisco where he promotes the bicycle education program.

“People love that the classes are free!” Adrian said. “Also, people get excited that the classes are focused on children and youth, but are open to adults. I think people feel less isolated or embarrassed when they see others their age learning a skill that many people take for granted.”

In his other role with the organization, he manages Valet Bicycle Parking, monitored bicycle parking at public and private events. The program encourages more people to bike to local events. It is a service that people really appreciate.

“Valet Bicycle Parking keeps everything organized,” Adrian says, “and it gives people who use bicycles a sense of relief, not having to worry about finding a good bike parking spot or about their bike getting stolen.”

For Adrian, working these part-time jobs he’s passionate about allows him to fulfill his other passions as well. “I wanted to be working with my two main passions: music and bikes,” he said. “As for my other passion, music, I recently started working at a local radio station and love it as well.”

The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition could not do the work that we do without people like Adrian Cardenas. Thank you, Adrian, for all that you do!

Want to work with Adrian? Learn more about applying to become a Bicycle Education Outreach Specialist and/or Valet Bicycle Parking Supervisor!

We Need Numbers for Valencia

Posted on by Kristen Leckie

The wait to see proposed designs for protected bike lanes on Valencia Street is over. You have two opportunities coming up to see them for yourself this month. Are you in?

I’m There

Our members have been working hard since the campaign launched earlier this year: attending committee meetings, happy hours and a walking tour to provide valuable input on solutions for the bike corridor. Because of these efforts, protected bike lanes free of Uber and Lyft drivers on Valencia Street are one step closer to reality.

For the first time, City planners will be sharing their proposed designs for Valencia, all of which include options for protected bike lanes. This is your chance to talk face-to-face with the project team and share your thoughts about whether their proposals will make your bike ride better.

Valencia Public Workshop #1
July 19 — 6:30 – 8:30 pm
Synergy School, 1387 Valencia St.

Valencia Public Workshop #2
July 28 — 4:00 – 6:00 pm
The Women’s Building, 3543 18th St.

While we’re excited to see the long-term vision for Valencia move forward, we’ve also heard loud and clear from our members that change is urgently needed now. Valencia has become an obstacle course as people biking have to weave in and out of the bike lane to avoid vehicles dropping off passengers or trucks making deliveries. Join us in pushing City staff to implement near-term improvements by the end of the year, because our safety can’t wait.

You’ve dreamt big alongside us, let’s make sure the SFMTA does too.

Enjoying Summer by Bike

Posted on by Janice Li

Editors: This story was originally published in Issue 164 of our quarterly Tube Times magazine, one of many perks of membership in the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition.

This Bike to Work Day was the biggest we’ve ever celebrated, and as I now look back on the day, I remember Interim Mayor Mark Farrell’s words on the steps of City Hall: “Every day can be like this.”

For many of us, every day is already Bike to Work Day. We bike not only to work, but to school, to shop, to parks and beyond. Still, we are all different people before we get on the saddle and we bike for a variety of reasons. But I know that everyone who bikes experiences at least one thing in common: the joy that comes with bicycling.

In fact, we even formalized “joy” as a core value of our organization in our strategic plan. We celebrate bicycling as a fun, healthy way to get around and connect with each other and our communities.

There’s an inherent joy that comes with biking as a way of getting around, whether you’re flying past a line of cars in traffic as you’re riding in a protected bike lane or, if you’re like me, shouting “Hello, friends!” as I bike by the Bison Paddock in Golden Gate Park every day.

But there’s also joy in connecting with community by bike. I discover new shops, restaurants and parks on the regular. I meet so, so many people in the bike lane, on a bike ride, at an SF Bicycle Coalition event or even just through the very chatty bike community on Twitter.

So join me in celebrating the joy of biking at one of these events this summer. Better yet, invite a friend to go pedaling together. Every ride you take is building community and making San Francisco a better city.

Can we watch your bike? We’re offering free Valet Bike Parking at these events throughout the summer:

Flower Piano, July 7-8 & 14-15 11:00 am – 6:30 pm
Wander Golden Gate Park’s beautiful Botanical Garden and discover music streaming from pianos throughout the park. You can even tickle the ivories yourself!

Presidio Picnic, Every Sunday, 11:00 am – 4:00 pm 
Haven’t been yet? The Presidio Trust and Off the Grid know how to throw a killer picnic, complete with just about every food truck the heart could desire.

Giro Di San Francisco, Sept. 3
You don’t need to go to Europe for a front-row seat at a bike race. Since 1975, this thrilling, criterium-type event has showcased the competitive side of cycling. It’s open to a range of riders.

Folsom Street Fair, Sept. 30 
There is a little (or big?) something for everyone at SF’s leatherfest in the street.

SF Street Food Festival, Oct. 13, 10:30 am – 8:00 pm 
People who bike love food, and when you get there by bike, you can justify trying everything! Check out the Street Food festival to experience treats from around the world.

San Francisco Giants
Don’t forget that we’re offering free Valet Bicycle Parking at every home game all season long!

Your Bay Bridge Dreams, Unveiled

Posted on by Janice Li

Update: We are disappointed to share this meeting has been canceled by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. More information will be shared in the near future as our campaign continues to connect the entire Bay Bridge span with a path from Oakland to downtown San Francisco.

Mark July 23 in your calendars because you won’t want to miss this meeting. After two and a half years of technical design work and feasibility studies, the project team is ready to unveil the preferred concept for the Bay Bridge West Span people path to finally connect Oakland to downtown San Francisco — by bike.

Bay Bridge West Span Path Public Meeting
Monday, July 23 — 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Bay Area Metro Center: 375 Beale St.

This is the last step before this design would be able to move forward into environmental review, approvals then eventually, construction. The project team, led by planners and engineers at Arup, have been whittling down multiple options for the Yerba Buena Island connection, the path on the actual West Span and the final touchdown in South of Market. Given the complexity of the project, their work has been highly technical but driven by public feedback from the earlier open house in January 2016.

Now, they’re finally ready to present the preferred design in full detail, incorporating brand new renderings, a 3D model and even virtual reality tours to bring what we’ve been imagining for years one step closer to reality. With estimates of 10,000 people biking on this path daily at full build-out, this would be the Bay Area’s most iconic, signature bicycle project in history.

Join Arup and the Bay Area Toll Authority at a public meeting to see and experience what the Bay Bridge West Span will look like. After this, we’ll be working closely with our partners at Bike East Bay to rally support and continue our campaign towards victory: to finally bridge the bay by bike.