Women Bike, Women Lead: A social conference for women transforming their communities through bikes

By the end of the event series and pilot program, participants completed two bike rides and were given the opportunity to attend local summit for a group of 30 to discuss issues related to biking in Los Angeles and the projects, leadership, funding, collaboration, and people-power needed to make the city better for people who bike.

Multicultural Communities for Mobility (MCM) and the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) reached those who are new to biking and bicycle advocacy. With the support of a large group, women navigated their very first ride on the streets with ease. The Los Angeles ride was also featured in a music video from Las Cafeteras. At the summit, many were engaged in their first in-depth discussion about bicycling and gender, equity, policy, and media through the panelists and small group activities. See the Storify recap by LACBC here.

The organizers thank the League of American Bicyclists Women Bike Program for launching this program. Other contributions include event space from Community Partners, food from Chipotle and KIND Snacks, gear from Timbuk2, and donations from community members. Women Bike, Women Lead is exploring options and directions for this program. Stay tuned!

Los Angeles Ride featured in Las Cafeteras “Mujer Soy” Music Video. Photo by David Koo.

La Verne Ride. Photo by David Koo.

The Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition (LACBC) and Multicultural Communities for Mobility (MCM) are partnering on a women-led series of bike rides and workshops from January to April 2015 designed to encourage women to build their networks and grow their capacity for transforming their communities through active transportation, namely biking.

The Women Bike, Women Lead series is also dedicated to empowering women to expand personal and professional goals related to active transportation, especially for those who are new to advocacy and community mobilization.

The bike rides and workshops are provided at no cost and reserved for women-identified participants.