Naida Montes (left) and Maryem Gad (right) have joined the Bicycle Coalition team.
Here at the Bicycle Coalition, we are wrapping up our summer season and preparing for a busy season of advocacy and engagement, including the 2019 Active Transportation Forum and drumming up support for the legalization of parking protected bike lanes and pedestrian plazas.
We’re excited to welcome two new people to our team to help us with all the big projects ahead of us this fall.
Naida Montes joined the Bicycle Coalition as a Policy Fellow. Naida grew up in North Philadelphia where biking was not considered to be a safe option for her family due to safety concerns of the time. Over the years she has grown a love for nature, the great outdoors and enjoying the process of becoming healthier. As a community engagement specialist with years of local experience, from grassroots organizing to working at a university, Naida has enjoyed serving as a liaison between communities and those that seek to improve them while addressing social determinants of health. She is currently a Ph.D Student at Temple University’s Geography and Urban Studies Department and is elated to be joining the Policy team with the Bicycle Coalition. She’s looking forward learning more about the Philadelphia region’s vast trail system and working to advance transportation policy that will benefit all road users in all communities.
Maryem Gad will be fulfilling the position of Data Intern. Some of you working to help us complete our annual bike counts have already heard from her. She has been biking most of her life. Maryem is a current Temple University student, majoring in Global Studies. Being born in Egypt meant everyone around her had a bike. When she immigrated to a big city in Connecticut, where there were no bike lanes or consideration for bikers, it was a culture shock that resulted in a shift to only biking on occasion. When first moving to Philly in 2016, she fell in love with the city by riding around on her bike. This sparked her interest in the fight for accessible and safe biking in the city.
We’re so glad to have Naida and Maryem on board!