BOULDER, COLO. (May 10, 2023) — The PeopleForBikes Coalition Board of Directors, composed of 20 of the bicycle industry’s top leaders, met in person for their semi-annual gathering on May 10.
The board’s main topic of discussion was reviewing progress on the organization’s objectives for 2023 centered around PeopleForBikes’ vision: Transforming America into the best place to ride a bike in the world through infrastructure, policy, and participation. PeopleForBikes’ President and CEO Jenn Dice, Vice President of Marketing Jose Maldonado, and Senior Director for Infrastructure Dave Snyder walked the board through the organization’s upcoming campaign to make that vision a reality by engaging local communities to build 1,000 bike projects across the U.S. They also explored how to get the greater bike industry, everyday riders, and non-endemic partners involved to support and fund the campaign.
“The number one way we will get more people riding bikes is by building them more safe, fun, and connected places to ride. That was and is PeopleForBikes’ original purpose and this new program takes that effort to the next level,” said board member Bob Burns, vice president and global advocacy director at Trek. “What gets measured gets done, and the national list of projects will help us invest in communities nationwide to create quality infrastructure for people of all ages and abilities to ride bikes. PeopleForBikes has the full support of the board and we welcome more bike companies and community organizations to join us in this effort.”
“We are really energized by the potential of this campaign to transform communities across the country through the power of the bicycle,” said Maldonado. “The campaign represents one of PeopleForBikes’ largest programmatic efforts to date and we look forward to sharing more details in the coming months.”
Vice President of Business Network Ravi Rajcoomar led a discussion on the success of PeopleForBikes’ recent industry events — the SHIFT‘22 conference in Bentonville, Arkansas, and the Bicycle Leadership Conference in Dana Point, California — and around what content and opportunities will most benefit the business of the bike industry at the organization’s future Bicycle Leadership Series events in 2023 and beyond.
“After receiving very positive feedback from both SHIFT‘22 and 2023 BLC attendees, we look forward to delivering top-notch content and experiences for industry members at future Bicycle Leadership Series events,” said Rajcoomar. “Working alongside our board and content specialists, we want to provide the very best keynotes, speakers, topics, and networking opportunities for our industry to tackle difficult and timely issues and create widespread solutions and proactive change.”
The board heard updates from PeopleForBikes’ electric bicycle team on pending regulatory legislation, ongoing conversations with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,
legislative changes in New York state and New York City, and opportunities for improved eMTB access on trails nationwide. Electric Bicycle Policy and Campaign Director Dr. Ashley Lovell and Vice President of Policy and General Counsel Matt Moore also covered the organization’s e-bike battery recycling program and work to expand model three-class laws and purchase incentives for electric bicycles at all levels of government.
“Electric bicycles are the fastest growing category of bikes, and PeopleForBikes is going big on pro-e-bike policies while also advocating for responsible e-mobility battery regulation at the local, state, and federal levels," said Lovell. “We are pleased to report that 40 U.S. states have adopted our model three-class electric bike legislation and there are about a dozen purchase incentive proposals in our legislation targets. We also recently launched our industrywide e-bike battery recycling program to the public, providing consumers and the industry a simple recycling solution to keep electric bicycle batteries out of landfills.”
PeopleForBikes Coalition Board of Directors
- Chair of the Board: Chris Speyer, Senior Vice President and Chief Merchandising Officer, REI
- Vice Chair: An Le, Global Marketing Director, Giant Bicycle
- Secretary: Michael Mercuri, Board Member, SRAM
- Treasurer: Pat Cunnane, CEO, Messingschlager USA
- Bob Burns, Vice President and Senior Legal Officer, Trek Bicycle Corporation
- Gloria Hwang, Founder and CEO, Thousand
- Daniel Trujillo, Partner and Global Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer, McKinsey and Company
- Ian Christie, CEO, Summit Bicycles
- Bernie Doering, Vice Chair, BPSA Trade Association Committee
- Joe Graney, CEO, Santa Cruz Bicycles; COO, PON Bike North America
- Nick Hage, Senior Vice President General Manager, Cycling Sports Group
- Ken Lousberg, CEO, SRAM
- Nolan Moser, Assistant Vice President, Bicycle Component Division, Shimano North America
- John Munhall, Director of Bicycle Product, Giant Bicycles
- Andrea Pankow, Vice President and GM, Vista Outdoor, Inc.
- Larry Pizzi, General Manager, Alta Cycling Group
- Kim Price, Senior Advisor, Specialized Bicycle Components
- Patrick Seidler, President, Wilderness Trail Bikes
- Allison Straub, President and CEO, Burley Design
- Rich Tauer, President, Quality Bicycle Products
- Claudia Wasko, Vice President and GM, Bosch eBike Systems Americas
About PeopleForBikes
PeopleForBikes is making biking better for everyone by uniting millions of Americans, thousands of businesses, and hundreds of communities to make every bike ride safer, more accessible, and more fun. The PeopleForBikes Coalition has more than 325 supplier members and 1.4 million supporters in its grassroots network. When people ride bikes, great things happen. Join us at PeopleForBikes.org.
