Bike Traffic - December 2006/January 2007

December 2006/January 2007

Coordinator to Harness Volunteer Energy for Advocacy

by John Haley

I’m thrilled to join the staff of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation in the newly-created position of advocacy and volunteer coordinator.

I’ve worked in both advocacy and volunteer management for the better part of the last 10 years. My life took a new direction when I became the ninth person to register for the first Twin Cities-Chicago AIDS Ride in 1996. Thousands of training miles and $7,000 in pledges later, I rode down Lake Shore Drive in a victory ride with more than 1,400 others.

I realized this was a path I wanted to stay on, and I joined the staff as the Recruitment Manager for Chicago. After several other AIDS Rides - many as staff and two as a rider – I moved on to related pursuits, working as volunteer director for a social service agency serving homeless adults, deputy finance director for a U.S. Senate campaign (she lost, don’t ask!), and most recently as development manager for Gay Games VII, which took place in Chicago last summer. Working on the 2006 Bike The Drive as packet pick-up manager first connected me professionally with the CBF.

The list of CBF’s accomplishments over the past 21 years is astounding. Chicagoland is certainly at the forefront in terms of being a bicycle and pedestrian-friendly metropolitan area, but much remains to be done. Our 6,000 members are the life-blood of the organization, and we’re only effective and successful to the extent that we have your involvement and participation in all that we do.

There are many issues in the upcoming year that require our attention, particularly at the local and state level. There are laws to propose to make bicycling safer for everyone, appropriations needed for building and adding to the network of trails and bike lanes that exist throughout the seven county region.

In the coming weeks we’ll be developing a legislative agenda for the upcoming year, as well as setting some long-term goals for our advocacy efforts. We’re reaching out to all of you to ask you to do your part in furthering our mission. This can take many forms – writing an e-mail or letter, calling an elected official, attending a planning commission hearing, volunteering at one of our events that promote cycling or making a financial contribution to support our efforts if you’re unable to give your time. But we all have a stake in this work, and we all play a role in deciding how and where best to focus our efforts.

I look forward to working with you and for you in the coming years. Feel free to call or e-mail with any questions or suggestions about how you can get involved. I can be reached at johnh@biketraffic.org or (312) 427-3325, ext. 234.