About Women on Bikes SoCal
Women on Bikes SoCal marries traditional active living advocacy with a dynamic and evolving new media communications platform via our website and social media outreach. We are a program of the non profit bicycle advocacy organization Bikeable Communities.
Our Mission
To encourage, engage and empower women of all ages, races and walks of life in the Southern California region in the joy, benefits and beauty of bicycling, and to help double the number of women and girls actively riding bikes here within 2017.
Our Goals
- Normalizing and advocating for a bike-friendly life for women, girls and their families via fun, fashion forward events and both new media and traditional media outreach that positively promote the benefits of bicycling to a broad and diverse population.
- Offering community bike rides with a twist - including architectural design and historical tours, and themed rides (foodie tours, neighborhood tours, bikes books & beauty etc.) with a focus on shorter rides (most under 5-8 miles) to be an easy accomplishment for almost all levels of riders.
- Creating engaging, dynamic and popular new and traditional media pieces that serve as a valuable training platform for women from diverse backgrounds and age groups to become strong and positive voices for both bicycling and active living advocacy.
- Offering "Street Savvy" adult bicycle safety classes in collaborion with bike shops that are affordable and time consciouswith an emphasis on fundraising to bring these classes at no cost to underserved communities.
- Offering adult bicycle safety instructor training for women interested in teaching.
- Building community and connectivity with an active and inspired membership.
- Focusing energy, attention and presentation and media skills training on the next generation of female advocates.
- Encouraging women and girls throughout the state and the country to found their own "Women on Bikes" clubs and organizations.
Our Beginnings
Women on Bikes SoCal was inspired by Andrea White-Kjoss CEO & President of Bikestation who in 2006 created a special safety training and bike advocacy scholarship program for low income women and raised grant money to create the program from the Long Beach based Gumbiner foundation. The program was such a success that it was hosted again in 2007, 2008 and a "safety only" program ran in 2011.
To read about our team please click here.