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Women Bike Events
National Forum on Women & Bicycling
For four years, the League of American Bicyclists has hosted an event convening women engaged in bicycling advocacy across the nation.
It has been the mission of the League’s Women Bike program to change the face of bicycling by creating pathways for women of diverse backgrounds to embrace biking as an everyday activity and participate as riders, advocates and leaders. Our annual forum has proven to be where many conversations around this mission began, and people leave inspired to enact change in their own communities.
This year our theme is Bikes + Women Leaders = Big Ideas. View the agenda here. We believe in empowering women to take on positions of leadership in bike advocacy. By creating more diverse leaders, and proposing new systems of leadership we invite more creativity and innovation into the bike movement. We think this will lead not only to more women on bikes, but more inclusive conversations about bike advocacy.
view the list of pop up shop vendors here »
So our theme is about defining your personal destiny in the bike movement. Where can you be most effective? How can you use your authentic leadership style to elicit results in your community or at your place of business? How can we build a bike movement that values powersharing, building community, respecting diversity of personal experience, and challenging traditional notions of leadership? How can bike advocates that do not identify as women assist women in co-creating a bike movement that truly believes in bikes for all?
National Women's Bicycling Forum & National Bike Summit 2014 from STREETFILMS.
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Past Events
March 3, 2014 — Washington, D.C.
Thank you to the more than 420 registrants -- and hundreds of additional followers on social media -- who joined us for the third annual National Women's Bicycling Forum.
As an integrated and exciting aspect of the National Bike Summit, the event evoked the theme of "United Spokes," connecting, inspiring, informing and developing new and veteran leaders who are working to engage and elevate more women in bicycling in the United States. Kenote speakers included Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women, and sessions featured innovative advocacy campaigns; best practices in media, marketing and communications; leadership development and more.
Photo: Katie Monroe of Women Bike PHL and Gearing Up, one of 10 women to ride to D.C. from NYC, credit Brian Palmer
Program & Presentations
Opening Plenary
Six inspiring female leaders from different sectors and backgrounds shared their stories in a dynamic TED-talk format, moderated by Giant Bicycles' GM Elysa Walk. Speakers included:
- Dorothy Nichols, National Sales Manager of shebeest
- Kristin Gavin, founder of Gearing Up
- Beth Gordon, VP of Business Development at Formula 4 Media
- Jill Nickels, Senior Strategist at Gensler
- Nicole Freedman, Director of Bicycling Programs, City of Boston
- Shannon Galpin, founder of Mountain 2 Mountain and Combat Apathy
- Click here for their presentations
Break-out sessions
Winning in Women Bike Advocacy
In this session, we learned from successful outreach campaigns, including the Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s Women & Bicycles initiative; Women Bike PHL’s Girls Scouts on Wheels program; and WE Bike NYC’s “Mujeres en Movimiento” campaign. Moderated by Caroline Samponaro, Senior Director of Campaigns and Organizing at Transportation Alternatives, speakers included:
- Nelle Pierson, Outreach Coordinator for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association; click here for presentation
- Katie Monroe, founder of Women Bike PHL at the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia; click here for presentation
- Liz Jose, founder of WE Bike NYC; click here for presentation
- Jess Mathews, founder of Girls in Gear; click here for presentation
- Download the Pledge Card created for this session in English or Spanish
The Power of Storytelling to Engage more Women in Bicycling
Successful storytelling is critical to engage more women in riding bicycles. In this session we explored compelling, real-life examples showcasing the power of written and visual narrative can help you promote cycling. Moderated by by Sarai Snyder, founder of Girlbikelove.com and co-founder of Cyclofemme, speakers included:
- Leah Flickinger, Executive Editor of Bicycling magazine;
- Chris DiStefano, communications director for Rapha;
- Kim Price, senior leader in the Global Marketing Department at Specialized Bicycles;
- Tanya Quick, principal, NYC design firm Language Dept.
- Click here for their presentations
Bike Ed: Coloring Outside the Lines
This dynamic Pecha Kucha session included innovative education strategies and classes that are reaching out to women in new ways that inform, challenge and inspire — from the streets to the trails. Moderated by Jennifer Laurita, the League's 2013 Educator of the Year, speakers included:
- Dr. Talia McCray, Assistant Professor of Community & Regional Planning at the University of Texas- Austin, author of "Cycling in the African American Community: Safety Training Guidelines"
- Kim Cross, founder of Magic City Cycle Chix in Birmingham, Alabama
- Fionnuala Quinn, planner with Alta Planning + Design and founder of Junior Engineers in Training program
- Kimberly Kinchen, co-founder of NYC Biketrain
- Elisabeth Reinkordt, Sheclismo Cyclocross School, Lincoln, Nebraska
- Click here for their presentations
Cultivating the All Powerful Bike Lobby
In this rapid-fire Pecha Kucha session, we heard how groups are using fun, affinity and social connection to mobilize new riders and build a diverse constituency. Moderated Leah Shahum, executive director of the San Francisc Bicycle Coalition, speakers included:
- Dena Driscoll, founder of Kidical Mass Philadelphia and BikeMamaDelphia.com
- Nona Varnado, founder of the Bicycle Culture Institute
- Lilian Karabaic, board member of Cycle Wild and author of upcoming book on the Bike Fun movement
- Lesly Jones, Black Women Bike DC
- Gillian Burgess, founder of Kidical Mass Arlington
- Click here for their presentations
Gearing Up, Climbing to the Top
This discussion session highlighted the experiences and insight of top female leaders who shared critical skills and lessons learned that can spur success and leadership in the bicycle movement. Moderated by Lori Richman, Director of Organization Development at Quality Bicycle Products, speakers included:
- Elayna Caldwell, Mountain Bike Brand Director at SRAM
- Barb Chamberlain, Executive Director of Washington Bikes and former state legislator
- Renee Rivera, Exective Director of East Bay Bikes
- Click here for a recap from Rivera
Streetfilms U
Want the behind-the-scenes secrets to making good transportation films? This session provided all the fun tips and best advice on how to make successful bicycle advocacy films whether you're a beginner, curious or a pro. Presented by Clarence Eckerson, founder of Streetfilms. Click here for an online version of Streetfilms U.
March 4, 2013 — Washington, D.C.
Thank you to the more than 350 participants who attended the second annual National Women's Bicycling Forum on March 4, 2013 in Washington, D.C.! With a theme of "Women Mean Business," this all-day event showcased women leaders and entrepreneurs in the bicycle industry and highlighted the economic impact and rising influence of women in the bicycle movement.
The Forum included keynote addresses from industry pioneer Georgena Terry, Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (pictured above) and NYC Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, as well as break-out sessions, a Women Bike Pop-up Shop and plenty of networking.
Photo: (From left) Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth and the New York Bike Dancers (Credit Brian Palmer)
Program:
Photos:
- Photos from the event on our Flickr page
- Images from the Forum Photo Booth
Videos:
- Women Bike Builders: Georgena Terry in discussion with Natalie Ramsland
- Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) (above)
- New York City Transportation Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan
- Community-Based Bicycle Advocacy break-out session
- How Do we Maintain the Momentum Around Women Biking (Streetfilms)
Blog Posts:
September 13, 2012 — Long Beach, California
More than 275 participants attend the National Women's Bicycling Summit, September 13, 2012 in Long Beach, California. In partnership with the Pro Walk Pro Bike conference and Women on Bikes SoCal, this half-day event featured a keynote address, six break-out sessions, a fashion show and bike ride.
Program:
Photos:
See our collection of pictures on Flickr
Videos:
The Inaugural National Women's Bicycle Summit from Streetfilms on Vimeo.
March 12, 2012 — Washington, D.C.
The first National Women Cycling Forum was held March 20, 2012 at the 2012 National Bike Summit. The two hour discussion was co-hosted by the Association for Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals, the Alliance for BIking & Walking and the League.
Panelists included Veronica Davis (Black Women Bike DC), Nelle Pierson (Washington Area Bicyclist Association), Marla Streb (former Mountain Bike Champion), Andrea Garland (Alta Planning + Design), Cornelia Neal (Royal Netherlands Embassy) and Elysa Walk (Giant Bicycles).
Watch the recording
Read the blog recap
See the event pictures
