For years, we were on the outside looking in.

Bicycle and pedestrian advocates were ignored or overlooked as evangelists for a small special interest group. But, thanks to advocates like you, times have changed.

Don’t get us wrong: It’s still a daily fight to shift the status quo of streets designed for cars to communities built for people. But we’re not on the outside anymore. We’re at the table. We’re recognized as a voice for a growing, powerful constituency of people who bike and walk that can’t be pushed aside so easily.

The Alliance for Biking & Walking is here to make sure that, when you step up to the microphone or pull a chair up to that decision-making table, you’ve got the best resources and strategies of the movement at your back. But more importantly, the Alliance is committed to moving your advocacy forward.

The Alliance is the only national organization that trains, assists and strengthens community leaders and their organizations to improve lives through walking and biking — and, like the movement itself, we’re changing with the times, too.

Last year, at our Leadership Retreat nearly 200 advocates joined us in taking a clear-eyed look at who’s still on the outside, whose needs and interests we’re serving when we have that seat at the table. We examined how to deepen our roots with more inclusive engagement in communities of color, branch out from the city center to the expanding suburbs and cultivate new partnerships in areas like health and neighborhood development.

Here at the Alliance, we’ve embedded those discussions about building a diverse, 21st Century movement into how we serve you.

• We’re seeking a new Executive Director who can lead us through this exciting moment of transition and opportunity — and act as an intersectional mobilizer who brings bike/ped advocacy into allyship with other important social movements.
• We’re engaged in a strategic planning process focused on cultivating resources and building the capacity of our member organizations, while using equity, diversity, and inclusion as a guiding principle.
• We’re hosting a National Training this summer on “Organizing, Leadership, and Digital Strategy for a Stronger Movement” that will give advocates tangible tools to upgrade their communications tactics and effectively engage diverse audiences.
• We’re drafting our 2016 Benchmarking Report which collects and analyzes data on bicycling and walking in all 50 states — and turning it into an online resource to increase accessibility for practitioners and the public.
• We’re researching a State of the Movement report that will identify the current make-up and trends in bicycle and pedestrian advocacy, from staff demographics to campaign priorities, and inform our collective path forward.
• And we’re continuing to address the most timely topics and leading-edge skills for biking and walking advocates with daily discussion on our People listserv, monthly Distance Learning Webinars & custom campaign trainings.

At the Alliance, we’re focused on the inside game — making the movement stronger by building up the organizations who are on the front lines, empowering the advocates who are speaking up for change in their community every day. But we’re also stepping up to a larger challenge: To make sure that nobody is left out of our collective vision for bikeable, walkable, livable communities.

We can’t do that alone.

We know you share our vision. You’re an important part of our People Powered Movement. Please consider a gift to the Alliance to show your support for a movement that serves all people — and makes sure advocates have the resources and skills they need to show that biking and walking can’t be overlooked as we shape the future of our communities.

Thank you for your support.