NEWS RELEASE 4/5/2012
Contact: Caeli Quinn, Co-Founder and Director, Climate Ride, 406.871.5477, [email protected]
CLIMATE RIDE GROWS 70% IN 2012; NYC-DC RIDE NEARLY SOLD OUT
National Environmental Bicycle Event Expands Staff
MISSOULA, MT – April 5, 2012: Climate Ride announced today the hiring of new staff member Kathryn Socie to accommodate the organization’s exponential growth. As of last week, the upcoming Climate Ride NYC-DC 2012 event was nearing maximum capacity at more than 200 participants, a 70% increase over last year’s event. Climate Ride California, which takes place along California’s scenic North Coast from September 9-13, 2012, is also showing signs that it may double this year, with nearly 70 participants already registered.
“We’ve reached our tipping point,” said Caeli Quinn, Co-Founder and Director of Climate Ride. “We’ve seen extraordinary interest in this year’s events and I think our growth also has to do with the phenomenally hard work of our small three-person staff and board, as well as our new beneficiary structure, which allows riders to choose from more than 40 local and national green organizations to support. This translates into more riders, raising more money for more organizations, and creating more impact. We hope to increase our grants by 30% this year to more than $500,000 to support these innovative, hard-working nonprofits. Bringing Kathryn Socie on board will help us continue to deliver extraordinary events, while taking Climate Ride to the next level.”
Socie was hired as Rider and Communications Manager to strengthen the organization’s connection with event participants – or Climate Riders. She brings more than a decade of experience in communications for environmental and conservation non-profits, and will use those talents to enhance Climate Ride’s outreach capabilities, while helping Climate Riders overcome logistical hurdles, optimize their fundraising, and have the extraordinary experience that Climate Riders count as the main reason they do the ride over and over again.
“We’re thankful Kathryn is on board to contribute her expertise and boundless energy, and we look forward to her helping us raise our capabilities as an organization,” said Geraldine Carter, Co-Founder and Director of Climate Ride. “She’ll be developing an array of important projects we have long-wanted to accomplish, but lacked the people power to make happen. Kathryn’s passion for cycling and her non-profit experience will bolster Climate Ride’s success at inspiring everyday people to take action for a sustainable future.”
“In my life, there have been few job announcements that not only fit my experience so perfectly, but also have the potential to give me tremendous joy,” said Socie. “I jumped at the opportunity to connect people to the myriad of issues involved with sustainability and to help them realize that their actions truly can make a difference. Having worked with conservation groups and scientists, it’s apparent to me that the biggest hurdle to progress is the disconnect that so many people feel because of the immensity of the issues. Climate Ride is a means for people to learn more, talk more, do more, and it’s all fabulously packaged in a remarkable adventure, in the name of the most important environmental challenges we face today.”
2012 Ride Events
From May 19-23, 2012, Climate Ride returns to the East Coast with its fourth annual Climate Ride NYC-DC event from the heart of New York City to the steps of the US Capitol in Washington, DC.
The epic Climate Ride California will return for its third year from September 9-13, 2012, and will see more than 150 Climate Riders pedal more than 320 miles in 5 days.
About Climate Ride
Climate Ride was founded to inspire and empower citizens to work toward a new energy future. Climate Ride events raise money for a collection of innovative, organizations including 350.org, Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Green America, Climate Counts, 1% for the Planet, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Washington Area Bicyclist Association, and Transportation Alternatives. For more information, or to support a participant, visit www.climateride.org.
Kathryn Socie
After receiving a degree in Sociology and Philosophy, Kathryn promptly went to work in the non-profit sector, writing grants, outreach materials, web content and op-ed pieces for several organizations throughout Wyoming and Montana. A passion for wildlife and natural resources lead her to further pursue her education in ecology while running field and laboratory projects examining community and disease ecology with the Rocky Mountain Research Station. This experience lead to editorial work with the Journal of Wildlife Management as well as freelance science writing, writing popular press pieces, grants and outreach and communication pieces for a variety of conservation and environmental organizations.