Meet SVBC’s newest staff
Recruitment and retention is tough for any organization in Silicon Valley, hence, we’ve always kept our ears to the ground, trying to be proactive about bringing awesome folks onto the SVBC team. The latest two additions bring different strengths to SVBC and passed the vibe check with flying colors, we are stoked to have them join the squad!
When we first got wind that Monica Nañez might be available, our bike bells rang, saying, “go talk to her to see if she might be interested in a role in the bike movement.” (Your bike talks to you through its bell too, right?)
We met Monica through SVBC’s Pedal to Health Program. For those new to the movement, the program provided bike safety education to affordable housing communities. Monica worked for First Community Housing at the time, one of our affordable housing developer partners. Fast forward to today, and Monica is riding in as our Director of Educational Programs.
Monica’s career goals are centered in working to create healthy and sustainable communities rooted in environmental stewardship and justice, something she’s done now for over 20 years. Starting at Our City Forest (an urban forestry nonprofit) she led outreach, education, and volunteer engagement efforts and played a lead role in establishing the OCF AmeriCorps service program. As Sustainability Program Director for First Community Housing (a South Bay Area based affordable housing developer), Monica established programs across their portfolio to create environmentally sustainable, healthy, and equitable communities. The programs she led included: digital literacy programs, alternative transportation programs with a focus on bicycling, healthy food access, community gardens, and sustainable-living workshops. Prior to joining SVBC Monica was a grant writer for the City of San José’s Environmental Services Department, focusing on climate action and zero waste projects.
Monica’s hobbies overlap with her career as she loves biking local trails, exploring new cities by bike and train, spending time in nature, gardening, and learning about environmental justice movements. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies from San José State University. Because there is always more to learn, she currently does research on Native American Environmental Justice movements.
Shelley Patterson stumbled upon us while googling bike organizations. She saw we were hiring and shot us a line. We went out on a ride with her knew right away that she would be a great fit at SVBC. Her passion for education and bicycles made her a perfect candidate for our Program Coordinator role.
Shelley has been a runner all her life, moving from Seattle to Texas to Mississippi before finally landing in the Bay Area with her husband and two rescue dogs. Though her life has been characterized by many hardships, she discovered the joy of a bicycle while living in Texas in 2014 on a camping trip after a pretty severe running injury. Her friends put her on a full suspension demo bike, and the racing bug bit her and didn’t let go!!
Shelley originally went to school for music, earning a degree in biochemistry as well as a music degree. During this time she worked in and out of several bicycle shops while she embarked on her racing career - and grew her love and knowledge of cycling. Her career aspirations have always been focused on research, education, and assisting those in need. Her Biochemistry career led her to discover and characterize a novel folate-degrading enzyme that will hopefully be a stepping stone for scientists to follow. Additionally she has over 8 years of experience teaching music to all ages and abilities of students. The common thread underlying her career motivations is to be able to give back to her community through a combination of research and education. SVBC has allowed her to begin to give back to her newfound community through the amazing bicycle!
When Shelley isn’t riding or working on one of her bicycles she can be found making music or learning more about her latest hobby: archery. Or cooking yummy foods for the folks she loves.
We also want to take a moment to highlight the well-deserved promotion of Clarrissa Cabansagan to Deputy Director of Strategy and Development. Clarrissa has a wealth of experience in the nonprofit world having spent 9 years working for TransForm and we are so incredibly fortunate to have her depth of experience dedicated to SVBC.
We’re always looking for passionate folks to join the movement. Check out our recent post and pass it along to folks in your circle who you think could help make waves in the bike movement. We want to meet them!