If you are interested in a Community Leader Award, please learn more about these award spots below and fill out the application here.
Climate Ride is committed to building an inclusive environmental & active transportation movement, led by people with varied backgrounds and perspectives. Since 2016, we have provided awards (sponsored spots) in Climate Ride events. These awards are given to individuals and also to bike coalitions and eligible organizations so that their Climate Ride teams can represent the diversity in their communities and widen the conversation on sustainability. Awards are prioritized for people of color, youth activists, women, and applicants from underserved communities.
We are very grateful to the Annual Fund donors who make these awards possible.
“The Green Fondo SoCal Climate Ride was a life-altering experience for me, someone who picked up bike riding just two years ago. Leading up to this weekend, I was nervous and unsure about what to expect for my first bike tour. Thanks to the support from friends, colleagues, and the Community Leader Award program, I embarked on a challenging fun-filled ride through beautiful Santa Barbara County, a place I am so fortunate to have called home for seven years. I challenged myself to ride the Media route, which took me along some of the most breathtaking scenery- literally!
With every labored breath that I took through that nearly 70-mile stretch route, I questioned whether I was insane to be riding a bike this long. However, I mostly looked at the surrounding richly green canyons and felt immense gratitude for the opportunity to experience this place on two wheels. I felt supported by every crew member, rider, and friendly locals, who cheered on as I challenged my body through new extremes.
Best of all, I made a ton of new friends with whom I now share such a memorable experience. Thanks, Climate Ride. See you out on the road!“
“It was a pleasant surprise to be asked to consider applying for a Community Leader Award. Honestly I wasn’t sure if anyone would be up for it and nobody on our team of four had ever participated in an event like this. There are a lot of reasons why someone might decide against participating; doubts over physical ability, apprehensions about fundraising, vulnerability and anxiety about a group event. While the removal of registration fees and fundraising requirements helps make the decision a little easier by removing those barriers, holding dedicated space for often marginalized communities to join and participate on their own terms is just as important. Thanks to the Climate Ride staff for being super helpful and supportive!”
“Being a Community Leader Awardee was an awesome experience. It allowed me to join a Climate Ride I wouldn’t have been able to and it gave me the opportunity to share my organization’s story with passionate people. I was able to present on the youth climate work I do for Action for the Climate Emergency (ACE) in front of nearly 200 people! I met so many people afterward who wanted to connect about youth activism and organizing. Plus, I had an amazing time riding, making new friends, and dancing to the evening band.
This was a great way to strengthen my relationship with Climate Ride as a fund recipient, and to represent ACE in the saddle. I can’t wait to do the Climate Ride again, and I hope next time that I can take an ACE contingent with me. It’s a life-changing experience.”
“I’m grateful for the Community Award because I’d wanted to do Climate Ride for years, but it felt out of reach. It allowed me to do what I never could have on my own: become a real cyclist, train for this intense 5-day ride, fundraise for Team Active San Gabriel Valley, demonstrate climate action, and challenge myself physically to bike like I’ve never biked before, through miles of peaceful, beautiful landscapes.
A surprise for me was the great feeling of kinship with all the riders — it felt wonderful to be surrounded by so many supportive, cool people from around the country dedicated to this cause, and be in it together: the ride, and the fight for climate action. The camaraderie with my new friends and my team really helped motivate me to keep going.
Climate Ride is such an inspiring experience and I can’t wait to do it again!”
“Grassroots advocacy and policy work takes a tremendous mental and emotional toll on nonprofit leaders. Having the opportunity to join Climate Ride on their Big Sur ride as a result of their Community Award was the best thing for my organization’s success in 2019! Riding with like-minded advocates, environmentalists, and value-driven individuals was refreshing, rewarding, and left me rejuvenated to tackle the biggest issues facing my community. I arrived knowing no one and left with over 100 new friends and allies in the fight for a better world. I am so grateful to Climate Ride for this opportunity. Thank you Climate Ride!”
“They supported me from the moment I committed to doing the ride. I’ve wanted to do a charity ride for a while but felt intimidated by the amount of money you have to raise… The scholarship gave me the opportunity to do something epic for a cause I believe in.“
“I was able to overcome all of my ‘I can’ts.’ Each day showed me you can really do whatever you put your mind to. I wasn’t a cyclist before, but now I love it… I can tell my child ‘Mommy rode 320 miles to San Francisco and I gave my all.“
“Is new to LA, He grew up in post-KhmerRouge Cambodia. Focused on surviving for transportation, his family only had bicycles. Starting at 12 years old, he was waking up before classes to help his family open up their family bike repair shop. This workshop also was where they lived, so he slept among bikes and bike parts too. Cham now lives with wife in LA and hates LA traffic and smog. He wants to encourage others to ride bicycles.”
“I started cycling recreationally in college and haven’t stopped since then. For a while cycling allowed me to affordably commute to and from work. Now that affordable housing leads me further away from work I rely on public transportation. I support the multifunctional benefits of sustainable movement such as biking.”
“Team LACBC is a great group of riders who made me feel welcome and seen in the group, not just another random rider. I’m excited to learn more and develop more of a passion for mobility justice as it integrates my love of cycling/commuting AND passion for racial/minority justice and environmental justice that I developed in classes I took, movements I was involved with, and the journey of my own gender transition while in college at a great liberal arts university.”
“I lived in LA without a car until this fall, when I began a new job over 20 miles from where I live. Though I am no longer bike commuting to work every day, I absolutely try to limit my gas consumption on the weekends by biking to run errands or to visit friends. I try to be creative with using combinations of cycling and the metro to get anywhere I need to go. I’m passionate about making LA a more bike and pedestrian-friendly place, whether that be from my participation on the Central Neighborhood Bike Ambassadors or helping my friends become more confident about biking on Los Angeles streets.”
“I believe that LACBC is leading the charge to best improve the culture and the infrastructure to the LA County area, especially with initiatives like BEST classes. I have been an ongoing member of The Bikerowave, (a DIY co-operative bike shop), that helps the local community by teaching people how to properly maintain their own bikes as well as teach them proper communication with motorists.”
“My passion for mobility and environmental justice started as I was pursuing my bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning at Cal Poly Pomona. Pursuing my degree allowed me to understand the disparities among the communities with LA County. Whether it is poor air quality due to refineries or lack of access to parks, every community deserves better. If there is anything I had learned in college, change can occur when voices are heard.”
“My name is Lilyana Serrano, I have been an advocate for cycling for many years. I found myself on a party group ride in 2010, and instantly became hooked on bike life. I’ve been working on a small project which I am very proud off an All Womxn Bicycle Club which I founded in 2014. HBC – Hot Babes in Charge/Homegirls Building Community Bicycle Club was created to offer a safe environment for womxn and womxn identified individuals to feel comfortable with their own riding ability.”
“My name is Jenna I am bike commuter working in the field of air quality, I am passionate about cycling and clean air. I look forward to joining Climate Riders on California’s beautiful Northern Coast and cycling to my heart’s content with like-minded folks.”
“My name is Dan Hanasono I was born in a blizzard in the midwest, and while I have grown fond of warmer weather, I would like to keep things in check. Fewer emissions, healthier bodies, better relationships with fuel and transporting oneself, and a stronger appreciation of community? Check, check, check, check. I am riding Climate Ride this year to check those marks and more.”
“I am super excited to be part of Team LACBC for Climate Ride 2018. Currently working for the Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator in Downtown LA, the importance of climate change research and advocacy along with cycling combine two of my passions, as California has become a new home for me these past two years. Originally from New York, I learned very early the importance of cycling as a great way to both exercise and commute while enjoying the outdoors.”
“My name is José Gómez, I am a member of Team LACBC. I am one of the many passionate riders for this year’s Climate Ride California 2018. I have been cycling for about four years now, it started as an affordable way to get to campus as a student. I fell in love with that exhilarating sensation of a simple bike ride. Since then, I ride recreationally in the Angeles National Forest as well as to and from work. I genuinely believe cycling can help solve many issues facing our world today, like the health of the environment.”
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