Climate Ride is committed to building an inclusive environmental movement, led by people with varied backgrounds and perspectives. We provide awards for climate and advocacy leaders so they can participate in a Climate Ride event. These awards are given 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 also directly given by Climate Ride to eligible candidates.
Our events connect these local leaders to veteran fundraisers and donors, growing the movement and helping support young people on their path to transformational leadership. The larger our community the better we understand the intersections between environmental and social issues. Their participation in our charitable events is key to building intergenerational unity and strength. We are very grateful to the Annual Fund donors who make these awards possible.
In 2020, Climate Ride will provide 16 awards for community leaders who work on climate change, clean energy, environmental justice, and transportation issues. As well, we extend awards to advocacy leaders in other sectors to support the cross-pollination of ideas. Our scholarships recognize individual achievements in these areas and future leadership potential. Awards are prioritized for people of color, youth activists, and applicants from underserved communities.
Climate Ride partners with eligible community-based organizations in order to make the award program a success. These partner organizations each develop their own nomination and application process for selecting scholarship recipients. Climate Ride partners are also instrumental in providing training for the event, securing necessary equipment, and mentoring the awardee before the event.
Climate Ride provides Community Leader Awards to cover the costs of attending our events, and we provide additional fund-raising support. Awardees are encouraged to fund-raise so that they can hone their climate messaging, organizational development, and networking skills.
Bryan Matsumoto
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!
Nicole Ver Kuilen
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!
Karina Casillas
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.
Cham An
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.
Madison Artis
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.
Kelly Charles
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.
Angel Miguel
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.
Marisa Borbon
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.
Lilyana
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.
Jenna
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.
Dan
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.
Jay
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.
José
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.
Mercedes Boston
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.
Erika Moreno
I was riding for those who might never get this opportunity or whose life was cut short on our city’s streets… It was a great privilege to be a part of something so empowering. It’s an experience more people must take on. I will never forget this journey and the amazing people I met along the way.
GusTavo A. Vásquez
“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.”