Hi, I’m Eli! As a long time bike-commuter and emerging bike-dad, I’m excited to serve as the next Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition. I’m ready to dig in with the team and build on the past 20 years of bike advocacy so that we can continue to scale safer and more equitable streets across our region. The task of transforming the transportation profile of Los Angeles is a big one, and starts with actively engaging the people who are most directly impacted by unsafe streets. This includes those who don’t yet see themselves as transportation advocates. Whether we are on foot, on a bike, or in a car, we’re all still people trying to get to where we’re trying to go. At LACBC, we’re trying to make that journey safe for everyone.
Since moving to Los Angeles in 2000, I’ve been drawn to public spaces, particularly the Los Angeles River. I’ve spent the past four years building the overall awareness of this grand resource through advocacy and engagement as the Director of Content and Experience at River LA. More recently, I served as Director of Production at Swell Creative Group where I produced a successful communications campaign to pass Measure W, LA’s Safe, Clean Water Program. Seeing the promise of the LA River grow as part of a larger transportation and open space network that also manages water intelligently gives me tremendous hope for the future of transportation in Los Angeles.
During my first month at LACBC, I’ll be going on a “listening tour” across the County to meet with as many partners, supporters, volunteers, and community members as I can. I want to better understand your transportation needs and desires, and learn from the many communities on the ground who have been working for mobility justice for decades. I’d love to hear your ideas for how to create a brighter, safer future for those who travel Los Angeles on wheels and by foot. You can reach me at eli[at]la-bike.org.
With the knowledge that the change we seek is possible if we work together, Los Angeles is poised to empower and connect its communities via safer and more equitable streets. That’s the Los Angeles we’re working to create here at LACBC, and I couldn’t be more grateful to be a part of the movement. See you on the streets!