Our Guiding Principles The YBS is a supportive, encouraging, and inclusive space that welcomes and highlights diversity of perspectives relating to advocacy, activism, social justice, job training, health, policy, transportation and mobility, climate change, community resilience, organizing, design and social innovation – all supporting bicycling as a catalyst for the health of our communities.
We believe. . .
Better Future
…when youth ride bikes, our communities are healthier, more sustainable, and more socially advanced
How It Happens Meet the Steering Committee
Members of the YBS Steering Committee represent several local locations across the U.S., predominately youth initiatives that get young people on bicycles. Steering Committee members are committed to promoting the Youth Bike Summit at national and local levels, embracing our Guiding Principles, and bringing the event to cities across the US.
Reach out to info@youthbikesummit.org if you’d like to learn more about joining or have questions for us.
In One Sentence
"The Youth Bike Summit (YBS) is a 3-day national conference bringing together students, educators, advocates, researchers, policy makers and community leaders in order to: gather and share ideas; give youth a voice, and; encourage civic engagement and advocacy. Through workshops, presentations, keynote speakers, discussion, and visioning, we transform dialogue into action.”
Our History
Because two teenagers could dream. . .
we have the Youth Bike Summit
In March 2010, two interns from Recycle-A-Bicycle (RAB) attended the League of American Bicyclists’ National Bike Summit, Kimberly and Kristi. On the way back home, the two 17 year-olds discussed their love for bicycles with RAB staff and expressed an interest in learning more about how bicycling fits into policy, the environmental sustainability, social entrepreneurship, and community-building. As a result, the Youth Bike Summit idea was born.
“I have come to believe that bicycling is like the hub of a wheel; it’s the central point to which all the spokes connect. Building a bike at Recycle-A-Bicycle led me to advocate for Safe Routes to School at the National Bike Summit in DC, which led to the creation of the Youth Bike Summit. By insisting on an inter-generational effort within bike advocacy, we secure the longevity and broader community investment in our growing movement.” -Kimberly
In 2011, Pasqualina Azzarello, Executive Director of Recycle-A-Bicycle Inc. , Karen Overton, and a few others founded the Youth Bike Summit as a way to connect its local partners. It became immediately evident that this was much bigger than that. Jane Pirone from The Parsons School of Design provided a free space to gather, and became a full partner in growing the excitement. They formed a National Steering Committee which grew to develop a system to rotate the event between members. In the first year the YBS attracted 175 attendees from 14 states.
In 2020, after the Youth Bike Summit in Atlanta Georgia got cancelled, the BRAG Dream team rescheduled it for 2022. Organizations were eager to gather and continue the steering committee but due to the pandemic, they did not have the capacity to run the YBS. In 2022, the National Youth Bike Council took over the organizing of the steering committee. They rallied together the remaining organizations who were still present to bring the future of the Youth Bike Summit to many more young people across the US.
View where other Youth Bike Summit’s have taken place.