Bike East Bay is excited to announce that we have concluded the search for our new Co-Executive Director of Mobility Justice. In February, we will be welcoming Justin Hu-Nguyen to the team! He will join Co-Executive Director of People and Operations Jill Holloway in leading Bike East Bay.
Meet Justin Hu-Nguyen
Justin identifies as a second-generation Vietnamese American, born and raised in Milpitas, CA. Justin and his family have called Oakland home for the past 6 years. He started his career at the Asian Pacific Islander Caucus in the California State Legislature before entering into the mobility justice realm, first through leading community engagement for Bay Area bikeshare expansion and creating the Equity Policy team at Lyft. Most recently, Justin served as the Director of Advocacy for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC).
Two projects he’s most proud of during his time at SFBC include:
- the creation of an equitable slow street program in San Francisco that is centered both on robust metrics around speed and safety as well as a pathway to expansion to all neighborhoods in San Francisco, and
- the reaffirming of car-free JFK and the passage of prop L that provides essential funding for quick builds, bike education and public transportation.
Justin shares, “I’m extremely excited to join Bike East Bay as the Co-Executive Director of Mobility Justice and be part of the movement in creating a more equitable, resilient, and thriving East Bay. I look forward to bringing the joy, freedom, and empowerment of biking to all communities.”
Leadership in the mobility justice sphere
Justin will be joining the leadership team alongside our Co-Executive Director of People and Operations, Jill Holloway. Jill shared, “Throughout the hiring process, Justin stood out for many reasons but most impressive is his deep commitment to the communities he works with. He reinforced talking directly with and listening to communities, building relationships, empowering local organizations, inviting people into the movement, and following the lead of communities as foundational to building a grassroots community organizing program. I am so excited to have him as my thought partner in this role, to learn from him, and to see how the entire advocacy team grows and evolves to deepen our equity and mobility justice work in the coming years.”
Shifting to Co-Executive Directors
Justin’s transition into the organization this year is one part of the organizational transformation we announced in late 2022. We were sad to say farewell to Ginger Jui as Executive Director in December, but during the transition we worked collaboratively to outline a vision for new leadership at Bike East Bay that uplifts mobility justice. Rather than hiring a new Executive Director, we have shifted to a Co-Executive Director model as part of a larger strategy of centering equity in our work. This change represents two innovations. First, we are investing in a mobility justice lens at the highest level of the organization. Second, we are aligning our staff structure with our values for shared leadership and collaborative decision-making.
Our intention is for the new Co-Executive Director of Mobility Justice to take our advocacy and organizing to the next level. We hope to leverage Justin’s expertise in mobility justice to connect with new partners and coalitions to tackle systemic barriers to healthy, sustainable mobility. In a conversation about Justin’s transition into the organization with Board Chair, Chris Cassidy, he mentioned: “The hire of Bike East Bay’s first ever Co-Executive Director of Mobility Justice demonstrates Bike East Bay’s dedication to serving everyone affected by the crises of affordability and climate change here in the East Bay.”
What’s next?
For a chance to meet Justin in-person, save the date for our 2023 Member Meeting, happening Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 5:00pm at Sports Basement in Berkeley. Make sure to renew your membership in order to attend this meeting, or join as a new member if you haven’t yet!
You can support Bike East Bay’s mobility justice work in 2023 and beyond by making a special gift at BikeEastBay.org/donate.
For more details on Justin’s transition, read San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s announcement from earlier today.
