Please welcome your new Outreach Coordinator Yessica Ávila to the Bike East Bay team. We first met Yessica as a field organizer on our Measure X campaign in 2016, where she specialized on outreach to Latinx communities in Contra Costa County. She will manage the volunteer program and support the education program. Her focus will be in developing outreach and leadership in communities of color.
Meet Yessica in person at Bike Ambassador trainings this spring. First training will be on March 1, 6-7:30pm at Bike East Bay headquarters. Sign up.
Yessica is a Los Angeles native from Huntington Park and has lived in the Bay Area for two years. She graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona where she received a BFA in Graphic Design. After graduating in 2012, she began her advocacy work as a volunteer for the local chapter, the Pomona Valley Bicycle Coalition. Yessica was introduced to this coalition after experiencing a lack of representation of low income cyclists. Although Los Angeles is known for its driving culture, there is a community of cyclists known as the “invisible riders,” who are largely undocumented and ride bicycles out of necessity and not for a political statement.
Yessica’s family and personal story as first generation immigrants from Mexico is the motivation for her advocacy work for the undocumented and immigrant community. Her work is centered around equity for cyclists of color and underrepresented communities. Her professional experience is grounded in community grassroots for anti-gentrification and anti-displacement.
Yessica was a panelist for Las Paredes in their attempt to protect the neighborhood of Boyle Heights from gentrification, and supported Richmond’s affordable housing Measure L, which successfully passed by 64.4 % in 2016. Today, she continues to work with organizations that represent communities of color, including the LGBTQ Latino Film Festival, MCM Multicultural Communities for Mobility, and Galeria de La Raza.
During her spare time you can find Yessica visiting her family in Los Angeles or hanging out at a local coffee shop reading and listening to new beats from Pan Caliente. She’s a huge José José fan and loves her cumbias/reggaeton.