Comings & Goings: New and Retiring Staff
SVBC is thrilled to welcome new Program and Advocacy Manager, Chelsea Biklen and is excited to congratulate Santa Clara County Advocate, John Cordes on his retirement at the end of May.As you may recall, beloved Program Manager, Allison Greenlee departed for snowier pastures late last year. Though last year saw a drop off of in-person bike programming, SVBC is ramping up for several new and returning programs, such as Safe Routes to School education, adult education, fun rides, and more! In order to boost our current Program Team of Kate Plant and Mui Sam Le, and replace Allison, we are welcoming Chelsea Biklen to the SVBC Programs Team. Some of you may already know Chelsea as she served as Cupertino’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator for several years. Chelsea is just returning from a couple years traveling and learning in Central and South America. She will be helping out with multiple programs as well as leading some advocacy work in East San José. Welcome Chelsea!
In other news, we are happy and excited for John Cordes, Santa Clara County Advocate, as John's role with SVBC is changing. John is stepping away from being a staff member to have more time to enjoy a well-deserved retirement. He will be one of SVBC's many active volunteers going forward. John joined the Advocacy Team in early 2019, bringing his years of experience in local government, and environmental and bike advocacy. Since starting, he has created three new Local Teams (Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and South San José) and shepherded other Local Teams (Mountain View, Palo Alto, and San José). He has organized countless infrastructure bike rides and action alerts, as well as successful campaigns for better bike plans and El Camino Real plans. John will be on staff with SVBC through May 31, so you have a bit more time together. He will also hopefully be helping to train his replacement as well as continue in a volunteer capacity.
To that end, we share the job posting for a new Santa Clara County Advocate. We are looking for someone who has experience in community organizing and policy work, as well as a passion for biking! Please share far and wide. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until the position is filled.