One Street News
July 2009
Vol. 2, Issue 7
Welcome New One Street Advisors
By: Sue Knaup, Executive Director
I have the pleasure of introducing you to One Street’s newest Advisors:
TOM BERTULIS - Tom is an international whirlwind for alternative transportation, traveling the globe and settling in places most in need of his innovative abilities for fixing messed up transportation systems. When I first met Tom, he was working for Cycling Scotland, though he originates from the USA. He is now working for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) www.itdp.org in Mexico City. You can find his inspiring materials peppered throughout the One Street Resources library already and we look forward to more big nudges from Tom to ensure we are reaching for the greatest gains for transportation systems that serve all the world’s people.
LIZ ELLIOTT & SHAY SANCHEZ - Liz and Shay are the co-directors of C.I.C.L.E. www.cicle.org in Los Angeles and our partners for our very first Social Bike Business local program. They have since become the role models for this program as our local leaders in Prague and Budapest follow their lead. They are also the founders of C.I.C.L.E., the most progressive bicycle advocacy organization I have encountered in the U.S. because they focus on inspiring new bicyclists and shifting the culture in Los Angeles to increase bicycling. Make sure to spend some quality time on their website. I guarantee you’ll gasp with glee at least once and likely laugh in surprise several times.
MORTEN KERR - Morten is President of the Norwegian Cyclists’ Association www.slf.no and an expert on cycle route development and effective signage. I have enjoyed many a laugh with Morten on multi-day group rides throughout Europe when we come upon jumbles of bike route signs pointing in crazy directions. Morten has offered many inspiring resources to One Street over the years, some of which are up in our Resources web library. The rest await our completion of our Mapping & Routes page. In fact, Morten was our inspiration for this page and we look forward to showcasing his expertise and tapping him for more inspirations, now as an official Advisor.
KENNETH WALKER - Kenneth has been an inspiration for me for many years. He has endured the worst of organization nightmares without easing his grip on his vision to bring bicycling into the most underserved areas of the urban core in Kansas City. He is the founder and CEO of the Urban Kansas City Community of Cycling and spends every day guiding young people into bicycling for the rest of their lives. Kenneth is also an expert on identifying the exploitation of minorities, a growing concern in the bicycle advocacy movement (see Hot Topics below). Make sure to visit his website: www.UrbanKCcc.com and don’t leave it until you’ve clicked through the slide show!
Please join me in welcoming Tom, Liz, Shay, Morten and Kenneth! We’ll enjoy many more inspirations from them as we move ahead. If their specialties have inspired you to learn more, you can connect with them through their websites or email me at sue{at}onestreet.org.
Resources Highlights – The Bicycle Lifestyle Guide
C.I.C.L.E.’s new Bicycle Lifestyle Guide is one of the best examples we’ve seen for showing new riders the fun of making bicycling a part of their lives. Find lots of inspiring ideas by flipping through the guide.
Hot Topics – Diversification vs. Exploitation
“Our strategic planning consultant said we’ve got to diversify our leadership! Does anybody know any minorities we can get?”
“If we don’t publish more pictures of people of color in our materials, we’ll be missing out on funding. Can we get that Hispanic choir to stand outside our event so we can get some good photos?”
“The FlimFlam Foundation has a requirement of 20% black leadership for organizations they fund. Do you know any black people we can invite to the board?”
Sound familiar? These statements don’t come from people wanting to do harm. Most of the time, such statements are made by good leaders of good organizations who are in a funding crisis and would do just about anything to raise money. And that is the welcome mat at the door to unethical practices or, to be more specific for this case - exploitation.
The accepted nonprofit organization structure has many inherent flaws which we at One Street have to face regularly when nonprofit leaders call us in crisis. Fortunately these structural flaws are coming under fire more and more as leaders in the nonprofit world realize something is terribly wrong. This realization is evident in the increasing scrutiny by the U.S. Congress and the number of surveys and studies on fraud in nonprofits (Ethics Resource Center & ACFE 2008; Boardsource 2009). Then there are the high profile cases of organizations dragged down by bloody battles between boards and executive directors such as the Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity and the ACLU.
So which specific flaws are leading to the exploitation of minorities in nonprofit activities? Consider the lack of requirements for board members in most nonprofit bylaws. There is rarely a requirement that new board members can even articulate the reasoning behind an organization’s mission, let alone understand the organization’s current situation. And yet, as soon as the election is completed, that new board member has the power of a vote that could destroy the organization.
That flaw attracts many hazards to nonprofit organizations, but it also opens the door to exploitation of minorities. If you can elect Joe Schmoe off the street to serve on your board, why not go “get” some minorities to join the board, whether they qualify or not, so you can “get” that funding? And if minorities can be so easily “gotten” for boards, what’s the big deal if you prop them up around the fringes of your event for photo ops, even if they aren’t engaged in or even interested in your event? If it brings funding to the organization, that funding will eventually reach them...maybe...someday...when we get around to adding that program that serves minorities.
We understand the twisted logic that leads to ultimatums from funders for diversification. But we all must remember that funders are locked securely away from the begging, desperate hordes; in other words, the frontline action of our movement. While that is no excuse for causing unethical behaviors, we must understand that the responsibility for recognizing this unacceptable practice of exploitation lies entirely on us – the leaders of nonprofit organizations.
While organization leaders must accept this responsibility, Kenneth Walker, CEO of the Urban Kansas City Community of Cycling notes, “It is also important for those minorities in position to be exploited to recognize and understand the reasons this may be happening to them and be of the attitude that it is an opportunity for them to teach others about themselves and their culture. They need to understand that doing so could lead to a better understanding of each other and the world, and the beginnings of a solid relationship between organizations.”
The fact we all must face regarding the bicycle movement is that it does not serve minorities well, yet. That’s nothing to be ashamed about (or to panic about!). Every movement has to start with a dedicated and passionate group of people. Most bicycle advocacy organizations were founded by advantaged members of the majority cultures in their countries, people who had the time and money to contribute to a difficult cultural shift in the transportation decision making for the communities they serve.
Other movements, such as for affordable housing and community development, have done an excellent job of delivering benefits to minorities, showing these minorities the value of their movement, and then inviting them to lend their expertise in leadership positions. Let’s learn from their success and calmly follow an effective sequence that will create bicycle programs that significantly benefit minorities, inspire those minorities to take part in our movement, and then encourage them to lend their passion to leadership positions. Once we’re on this roll, the photo ops will be a given.