Applications are now closed. Thanks for your interest!
BACKGROUND
In June, the City of Atlanta and Relay Bike Share launched a bike share pilot phase in downtown Atlanta with 100 bikes at 10 stations. Bike sharing is an innovative transportation program that gives people the ability to rent a bike at a self-serve bike hub and return it to any other bike hub. The system is planned to expand by the end of 2016 to neighborhoods across the city, including Atlanta’s westside.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Our team -- Atlanta Bicycle Coalition (ABC), Relay Bike Share, City of Atlanta, WeCycle Atlanta, Urban Perform, and Red, Bike & Green Atlanta -- are working collectively to implement the Atlanta Bike Share Champion program. The program’s goal is to work directly with westside community members on bike share station location selection, education, and bike safety. Our team is committed to building a strong base of bike share users in Atlanta’s westside neighborhoods via the employment, training and professional development of "champions." This program is funded by PeopleForBikes' Better Bike Share Partnership, which is focused on creating equitable bike share systems across the country, the Atlanta Regional Commission, and the Fulton County Department of Health and Wellness' Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH).
This project will primarily serve community members from neighborhoods on the westside of Atlanta, including the Atlanta University Center (Clark Atlanta, Morehouse and Spelman), the West End, Ashview Heights, Castleberry Hill, Vine City and English Avenue, all of which have rich Black cultural roots and tremendous vibrancy, but have faced historic disenfranchisement and disinvestment. Bike sharing systems can help alleviate certain community challenges like access to transportation options, healthy food, and sustainable employment, and health disparities.
While bike share systems are a tool for communities, community support, relationship building and community connections are the base of any successful program. To build relationships and to plan for bike share to be an asset, this program will hire and train local community members to be Atlanta Bike Share Champions.
The Champions will be recruited and trained by local community-based nonprofits and partners. They will be responsible for conducting direct outreach at community meetings and events, in order to raise awareness of bike share and generate enthusiasm for its use.
The Bike Share Champions program will provide westside residents the opportunity for paid training and work, job placement, and professional development tools. The training and paid outreach will focus on supporting the champions in reaching their professional goals, while helping to ensure that the bike share system reflects the vibrancy and community spirit of the westside.
ATLANTA BIKE SHARE CHAMPION EXPECTATIONS
1. Participate in a 40 hour training
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Complete a comprehensive 40 hour training to understand the Relay Bike Share program, biking in Atlanta, bike safety, outreach strategies and professional development. All training schedules will be coordinated with selected champions.
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The training will provide opportunities to engage with local non-profit professionals, city officials, elected officials and community leaders.
2. Events
- Champions will attend monthly Neighborhood Planning Unit meetings & neighborhood
- Champions will identify at least two community events per month in their communities
- Champions will attend all neighborhood festivals in their communities
- Champions will identify interested groups within local centers of faith, businesses, and and schools and meet with them about bike share - at least 6 meetings between October and May
3. Activities
- Distribute brochures at all events - report numbers distributed
- Collect contact information for interested community members - turn in sign up sheets to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition
- Once bike share launches, assist people with signing up for bike share passes - report numbers
- Collect stories with potential to be share via blog and social media by ABC and partners - one per month
- Provide content to business, local centers of faith, businesses, and schools about bike share to include in their newsletters
- Provide eight classes at local centers of faith and recreation centers
4. Training Manual
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The Champions will produce a publicly-accessible outreach plan for working in low-income communities.
ESSENTIAL QUALIFICATIONS
The candidate should have the following qualifications:
- Familiarity with a specific Westside community.
- Ability to communicate effectively with people of all ages, abilities, cultural groups, economic status and sexual orientations.
- Ability to be persistent, professional and creative when promoting Relay Bike Share.
- Ability to interact and communicate with people in a way that is appropriate for them and their lives.
- Comfortable presenting information to and engaging large groups.
- Problem solving skills, creativity, flexibility and self-motivation.
- A casual neat appearance and manner.
- Experience with biking in the city, or willingness to learn.
- Commitment to following traffic safety laws and using all appropriate safety gear including: helmets, reflective material, etc when riding a bike.
- Punctuality and good attendance.
- Currently reside or previously resided in Westside neighborhoods as identified above.
DESIRABLE QUALIFICATIONS
We prefer candidates with these qualifications:
- Interest in working with bike sharing systems.
- Interest in supporting and informing the communities they live and work in.
- Familiarity with navigating around Atlanta’s west side communities.
TIME COMMITMENT
40 hours of paid training and 3-5 hours/week of paid work between October 2016 and May 2017
COMPENSATION
The Bike Share Champions will be given a bimonthly stipend for their work not to exceed of $4,000 through the duration of the position.
Champions with be compensated through their access to life/work skill-building sessions with the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency and Westside Works, who are experts in the workforce development field.
TO APPLY – deadline is Monday, September 19 by 5 p.m.
INTERVIEWS: Will take place September 29 and 30th. References may be requested as the hiring process moves forward.
The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all persons regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, sexual orientation or gender identity, disability, sex or age.