Coming soon to Seattle for the first time ever: the National Youth Bike Summit

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The Youth Bike Summit creates a space like no other. It’s a space where everyone has something to teach, to learn and to share. At the Youth Bike Summit, everyone is welcome and every voice is heard. It’s where ideas are born, where vision is cultivated, and where the process of working together can make dreams for a healthier future come true. What’s more, the Youth Bike Summit is coming to Seattle for the first time ever—join us Feb. 13-15, 2015!

The Youth Bike Summit (YBS) is a three-day national conference geared toward youth, bikes, education, advocacy and leadership. People from different disciplines, backgrounds and ages gather together to learn, share, network and explore how bicycling can be a catalyst for positive social change. The 2015 program will feature keynote speakers, innovative hands-on workshops, engaging panel presentations (many led by youth) and a collective visioning session.

YBS started in 2011 with the help of two teenage interns at a community-based bike shop in Brooklyn, NY called Recycle-A-Bicycle – a sister-organization of Bike Works. The teens had just traveled to Washington, D.C. for the first time to attend the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Summit. While they were awestruck by all they had learned—from the Safe Routes to School bill; lobbying elected officials on Capitol Hill; exploring the nation’s capital by bike; and even meeting mountain bike pioneer Gary Fisher—they couldn’t help but wonder where all the young people were. For if bicycle policy affects all cyclists, then why weren’t all cyclists represented at the table? As the team debriefed their experiences, a blueprint for the Youth Bike Summit emerged.

While the teens initially hoped for a moderate showing of youth, educators and bicycle advocates from the New York area, it rapidly became clear – the Youth Bike Summit would attract a much broader audience, from near and (very) far! Each and every year, the Youth Bike Summit’s impact and momentum continues to grow and galvanize a new generation of bicycle advocates. Last year, more than 500 youth and adult participants from 26 states and four countries joined us. Recycle-A-Bicycle, Parsons, The New School for Design and New York City have proudly hosted the summit for the last four years, but it’s time to share the Youth Bike Summit with young people across the US.

We are thrilled to bring the Youth Bike Summit to Seattle. This will be the first year the Youth Bike Summit travels nationally, making the 2015 conference especially meaningful. With generous sponsorship from Cascade Bicycle Club and the Seattle Department of Transportation, Bike Works will host the 2015 event. Join the movement!

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