We are thrilled to announce that Cynthia Rose and LACBC have been awarded multiple Advocacy Awards by the Alliance for Biking & Walking at this year’s National Bike Summit & Women’s Forum in Washington DC!
After receiving five nominations, Monday night we took home:
Cynthia Rose (right) accepts the Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award.
LACBC staffers Eric Bruins, Ishraq Ali, Hyeran Lee, and Tamika Butler accept the award for Winning Campaign of the Year for Mobility Plan 2035.
Cynthia Rose rides a Breeze Bike Share bike with Countri Bike’s Jeffrey Tannenhaus around Santa Monica.
Susie Stephens Joyful Enthusiasm Award
This award commemorates Susie Stephens, one of the Alliance’s founders and an enduring inspiration for many members of the bicycle and pedestrian movement. The honor goes to an individual who carries on Susie’s passion for advocating for bicycling as a fun and economical means of transportation, as well as creating a safe biking and walking environment for all.
- Â Â Cynthia Rose, Santa Monica Spoke
I feel so incredible honored to have received this award that commemorates the dedication and inspiration of Susie Stephens. I am so grateful to her and her inspirational mother who has carried on her daughters enthusiasm with her own commitment and dedication. With that I must say that like any successful advocacy – there are many to thank. Those that preceded us and make our work and successes possible, those that continue today working with us side by side, and in Santa Monica to our wonderful, talented community and civic partners that help and support us in creating a safer environment that encourages more people to walk and bike. I am deeply appreciative of all these partners every single day.Â
Thank you to the Alliance of Biking and Walking and the League of American Bicyclists for their national leadership and support of local advocacy — and to our regional and state partners at LACBC and the California Bicycle Coalition.Â
“Together We Lead†our communities to a healthier, safer, more equitable future biking and walking.
— Cynthia RoseÂ
From the Alliance for Biking & Walking: “Cynthia Rose, a co-founder of Santa Monica Spoke, is also known to many in the Los Angeles area as ‘Purple’ (her favorite color) — but her vibrance spans the spectrum of bicycle advocacy. She played a key role in helping launch the first public bike share program in Los Angeles County: Breeze Bike Share, and pioneered the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition Local Chapter program. She is an educator, an advocate and a rider leader, but even her actions are outdone by her joyful enthusiasm. Her bright smile and infectious attitude have invited countless new riders into the movement by making bicycling welcoming and fun. As her nominator summed up: ‘Cynthia truly is an inspiration.'”
Winning Campaign of the Year
This award goes to an organization for a winning campaign, in the last year, which has had the biggest impact on walking and biking. Their victory will dramatically increase active transportation in their state/ community or will dramatically shift the way that walking and biking are considered.
- Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition, Mobility Plan 2035
From the Alliance for Biking & Walking: “With 300 miles of protected bike lanes, the adoption of Vision Zero and a central commitment to safety, the Mobility Plan 2035 passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 2015 marked a major transformation for big city transportation. Behind the scenes, the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition helped to lead that charge with a thoughtful, strategic and multi-year campaign to increase access and safety for all. Their inside-outside game, rallied the public and LACBC members to engage with their policymakers, brought new partners to table and authentically considered the need of all road users, from bicyclists to bus riders. Read much more about their effort here.”
We would like to thank all of our members, partners, and supporters for making these wins possible! These wins (plus our additional nominations) are recognition of every call to action you’ve responded to, every meeting you’ve attended, every letter or email you’ve written, every public comment you’ve made, every hour of time you’ve volunteered in the office or on the streets, every hashmark recorded for our bike and ped counts, and every bike light installed as a member of Team Firefly, not to mention every mile you’ve pedaled either with us or on our behalf. We hope you’ll help Santa Monica Spoke, LACBC and all our local chapters continue this work to make Los Angeles County a great place for all people from all communities to ride their bikes everywhere, safely and conveniently, by becoming a member of LACBC and a local chapter or renewing your membership.
Congrats to Cynthia and all the other winners: Living Streets Alliance (Tucson), Fernando Martinez, and Community Cycling Center (Portland). Read more about all the winners on the Alliance for Biking & Walking blog.
We will hear about this and more from Chris Morfas who since 2014 has been Senior Advisor to Despacio, a nonprofit based in Bogota, Colombia, a city with rates of transit and bicycle use that are among the highest in the world. Morfas is a longtime transportation reformer, the founding executive director and former Board Chair of the California Bicycle Coalition (CalBike), a senior policy coordinator with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. At CalBike, Morfas directed award-winning successes that launched the nation’s strongest Safe Routes to School program, Complete Streets policy, and the innovative Bicycle Transportation Account that funds bike infrastructure like bikeshare and more.
