We’re joined by three guests, all of them experts in Youth in the Outdoors. Returning to the show is Melissa Werkman, she’s now the Executive Director of the Children’s Advocacy ‘Center’ of Kent County in West Michigan. Mike Greer joins us again as the Executive Director of Elevation Outdoors which works with underprivileged youth in the Kelowna, BC area. And joining us for the first time, is Nevin Harper, Associate Professor with School of Child and Youth Care at the University of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
Continue reading “Ep 78 – The Value of the Outdoors for Youth and the Impacts of Isolation”
Looking at what lies ahead, after COVID-19 for Trail Associations, Advocacy and Trails and Outdoor spaces in general. We’re joined by: Susie Murphy, Executive Director of the San Diego Mountain Biking Association, Patrick Lucas of the BC Aboriginal Youth Mountain Biking Project and Jay Darby, Fields Program Coordinator with IMBA Canada. Despite all the challenges this pandemic has created, it’s brought to light a lot of things, one of which is how valued our Outdoors Spaces actually are.
Ian Jones, President of the Southwest Montana Mountain Bike Association returns to the podcast to help us navigate the plethora of tech resources available online to help increase your organization’s productivity. We go through a list of a dozen or so tools, with the intention that you can pick and choose a few to look into. This includes Slack, MailChimp, Trello, SquareSpace, Donor Box, CalTopo, Canva & Zapier.
We hear from the crew at the Lowelifes Respectable Citizens’ Club: Treasurer and previous guest Erik Hillard, President Matt Baffert and Secretary Rob Pettersen. We discuss starting a new organization, their ongoing project of restoring the Condor Peak Trail, the surrounding Wilderness and how they’re creating an Elite Group of Volunteers while trying to not be elitist and stay welcoming to new volunteers.
We dive back into the old topic of eMTBs with a fresh perspective: Joe Vadeboncoeur, President of the Chequamegon Area Mountain Bike Association discusses his article: “eMTB Thoughts”. Prior to being Board President, Joe worked in the Bike Industry at Trek, and he shares what it was like going from there into the world of advocacy. Briefly, we follow up with what messaging organizations are using to communicate safe riding to their members.
With recent global events regarding COVID-19, the podcast is returning two weeks early. We’ll be hearing from a few different trail associations on what they’re doing to address the Pandemic. We’ll also hear from Eleanor Blick, Senior Communications & Advocacy Manager at the International Mountain Bicycling Association. Stay safe! Another episode will be out on April 3rd.
We hear from three Professional Trail Builders. First, Shane Wilson joins us from Hood River, OR, and is the Project Manager with the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s Trail Solutions. Pat Podolski is the Owner/Operator of Golden Dirt Trails in BC, Canada. And finally, Greg Mazu is in Fort Collins, CO and is the Chief Encouragement Officer at Singletrack Trails.
Continuing with our theme of Climate Change, we hear from the founder of Minneapolis Bike Parks: Devin Olson and Program Director: Kim Holm. They’re a fantastic example of a successful grassroots organization. They focus on building Bicycle Playgrounds that increase the Bicycle competency in kids, so that future generations are capable and comfortable with using a Bike to get around.
Jay Darby of IMBA Canada, returns to continue our discussion on Climate Change and what role Mountain Bike Trail Associations can play in addressing it. In addition we’re joined by past guest and Executive Director of the Aboriginal Youth Mountain Bike Program, Patrick Lucas. Both Jay and Patrick share their experience of working in remote British Columbia communities and how Climate Change is directly effecting them and how Mountain Biking is empowering these same communities to address it.
As a follow-up from last episode, we check in with IMBA Canada to hear about their Provincial Council Programs. We’re joined by Executive Director on IMBA Canada: AJ Strawson, Jay Darby: Field Program Coordinator for IMBA Canada and the Chair of BC Council and Dean Campbell: Board Member of IMBA Canada and founding Board Member of the Ontario Council. We also introduce the conversation of Climate Change and how we as Mountain Bike Trail Advocates can play an active role in addressing it.