Bike Summit 2024: Meet Our Keynote Speaker

We are thrilled to announce Naomi Doerner as our Keynote speaker for this year’s Silicon Valley Bike Summit!

Keynote: Naomi Doerner, Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, Nelson\Nygaard

Naomi Doerner is a change agent in the realm of mobility and active transportation. Known for her commitment to mobility justice and racial equity. Naomi's practice and work is rooted in community building and organizing principles, thus, her expert ability to craft, cultivate, and facilitate diverse coalitions that champion affordable, safe, sustainable and just mobility options. From inclusive advocacy campaigns to complex equitable planning and policy-making processes, she provides strategic advisement to nonprofit, government, and philanthropic leaders on how to shape transportation and environments while holding community vision for transformation at the center. In addition to her role as Director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Nelson\Nygaard, where she leads the firm's internal equity efforts as well as its client-facing equity practice, she is also a co-founder of The Untokening, a multiracial collective that centers the lived experiences of marginalized communities to address mobility justice and equity. Naomi resides in Oakland, CA with her son, Zaran, where they hike, bike, and play throughout the Bay.

MEET OUR KEYNOTE Q&A

Q: How did you first become interested in biking and what role has it played in your personal and professional life?

A: While I was introduced to biking as a child, it didn't become integral to or in my life as a means of getting around and/or a "tool" for learning and advocacy until many years later when I was living in NYC, attending grad school and then after grad school when myself and two close friends started an experiential education project called, "Velo-City." That purpose of the project was to introduce youth initially from the Lower East Side and then in subsequent years... Brooklyn, Bushwick and the South Bronx, to urban planning and design projects and professionals. We wanted them to know this field of work existed so that they would consider it as a career pathway because as women of color in these professions, we knew/know a paradigm shift is needed in who is planning and making decisions in planning. Anyway, we essentially toured each of the respective neighborhoods by bicycle with the youth, and looked at different aspects of planning through various projects and had such amazing conversations and perspectives elevated by the students we were working with. It really was transformational for me... seeing city streets, public spaces and projects through their eyes... and from the vantage points of walking, biking and taking transit. It changed the trajectory of my work and career... and biking played a role in that for sure.

Q: Can you share a personal story or experience that inspired you to get involved in transportation policy and planning?

A: There are several but it really started in my youth. My mother was an undocumented immigrant here from Honduras, CA. My earliest memories as a child are of us traversing Chicago's streets and neighborhoods via public transit. And there were times we had to wait... long waits... in the cold. I'd complain and ask her, "why do we have to wait so long?" She'd say (in Spanish), "Así es." Meaning, that's the way it is. And I'd question, "But why?" And... I never stopped asking that question. There's a longer, more winding answer as to how I ended up where I am not... but that's the earliest seed or root I can trace it back to.

Q: You’ve had an impressive career in urban mobility and transportation justice. Can you share some highlights and key accomplishments from your journey?

A: Well... one was Velo-City, starting that project up and working with high school students. That work truly shifted me and has stayed with me since. Really rooted me in values that still influence my work to this day. I also had the opportunity to work on major projects as a young planner within a traffic engineering team at a consulting firm, which I will not name, that absolutely helped me understand that I did NOT want to contribute to planning for more cars, traffic, and parking. Learning the language and how traditional traffic engineering and planning worked and was performed, however, has been crucial because I understand the technical scenario planning aspect of this work and how to talk to engineers and, thus, how to play a liaison role between communities, planners and engineers. I also worked in post-Katrina New Orleans supporting and setting up engagement processes and systems to allow for equitable community engagement and advocacy at a pivotal time in the cities history of putting projects in the ground. That was a really amazing opportunity to learn now to organize locally. It was such an educational experience. Finally, working in the advocacy and planning space, I served a co-founder and facilitator of The Untokening, a collective of mobility justice advocates from across country that have really been at the forefront of developing a set of principles to move us close to a vision of justice within transportation and mobility, an agenda. It's been amazing to see that work flourish, though, there's much more to do. I now work at Nelson/Nygaard, a transportation consulting firm. moving our firm and the work we do with clients, towards equitable outcomes... it's a different of the spectrum from mobility justice... but important place to move the needle and get us closer to the vision of mobility justice that communities have and hold for themselves.  

Q: As we emerge from the pandemic, what key opportunities do you want to highlight for cities and agencies seeking to build bikeable and walkable communities?

A: Follow the peoples' lead. During the pandemic we saw people taking trips in their local neighborhoods by foot and biking in much higher numbers, especially where cities and communities either intentionally cleared the "path" to do so safely by creating or expanding upon a network of bike boulevards and or "healthy" streets. We saw this the world-wide. Without the presence and, thus, fear of high-speed vehicles, people flocked to be outside when and where they could do so safely. And... for those that had to... and there were many workers... transit levels remained the same... so... we really should use this vital information and data to make critical and equitable decisions for policy, planning, design investments. For economic reasons. For health reasons. For environmental reasons. Seems like a no-brainer. Why go back to a status quo that wasn't favorable or working well. Again, follow the peoples' lead.

Q: What’s your favorite bike ride or route in the Bay Area, and why?

A: I am still discovering so many areas. And so I am definitely open to suggestions for easy/family friendly routes. But one ride/route I have done several times now and that is really easy for me to get out and do, especially with my son, is San Leandro to Alameda. So much beautiful shoreline... beaches for us to stop along and play in as well as marshes and bird sanctuaries to appreciate. It just makes my heart sing to be out there with my son. 

About the Silicon Valley Bike Summit

The Silicon Valley Bike Summit is the Silicon Valley’s largest annual gathering of active transportation leaders and organizers from government, the private sector, non-profits and the general public. Its organizer, the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, is a non-profit focused on building healthier and more just communities in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties by making biking safe and accessible.

Registration for the Bike Summit is now open. Learn more and register.