Graves speaking in The Dalles in 2014.
(Photo: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Cycle Oregon announced today that Alison Graves is no longer the organization’s executive director but will remain involved as a member of the board.

Graves was hired by the Portland-based nonprofit in February 2014. Current Deputy Director Steve Schulz will take over leadership of Cycle Oregon.

For more details read the press release below:

Cycle Oregon Executive Director Passes Leadership Baton to Deputy Director
Organization will continue to focus on bicycle tourism and rural investments
[Read more…]

Alison Graves at the 2011
Oregon Active Transportation Summit.
(Photos by J. Maus/BikePortland)

Alison Graves is the new executive director of Cycle Oregon, the Portland-based non-profit organization known for its week-long bike ride.

Graves’ name is familiar to many in local bike advocacy circles given her seven year stint with the Community Cycling Center. Graves stepped down as the CCC’s executive director last March and she is also on the board of the League of American Bicyclists. In May 2013, Graves won an Alice Award from the Bicycle Transportation Alliance for her work in “ushering in a new way of thinking around equity and inclusion for the bicycle movement.” While at the CCC, Graves was best known for her strategic embrace of programs and outreach that sought to break down bicycling’s “color barrier”.

At the CCC, Graves led the organization on a mission to use bicycles as a tool of empowerment for people of color in under-served communities. While the public face of Cycle Oregon is nearly the exact opposite demographic, the lesser-known mission of the organization is actually quite similar. Cycle Oregon, like the CCC, uses bicycling to make a positive impact on people and their communities. In Cycle Oregon’s case, the people impacted are Oregon’s many rural residents who benefit from the ride’s economic boost and from community projects funded through the Cycle Oregon Fund.[Read more…]

Alison Graves at the 2010 Oregon Bike Summit.
(Photos © J. Maus/BikePortand)

Alison Graves announced to staff this morning that she is leaving the non-profit Community Cycling Center. Graves has been with the organization for seven years, serving the last three as executive director. Her last day will be March 14th. Current Deputy Director Anne Lee will be the CCC’s interim director and the organization will begin the search for a new leader in March.

Alison is married to Jay Graves, the former owner of Bike Gallery who sold his stake in the company back in November. “The time has come to move on,” Alison shared with us yesterday. She said she intends to take advantage of the “opportunity of a lifetime” to join Jay on a long (“a couple months”) trip to explore other cities, to visit family, and to, “Find out what our next chapter is.”
[Read more…]

Alison Hill Graves at a presentation
held in the Portland Building on
Thursday.
(Photo © J. Maus)

It’s been over a year since the Community Cycling Center embarked on an effort to better understand why Portland’s bike riding masses lack racial diversity.

In a story published here back in October, CCC executive director Alison Hill Graves said, “The people riding and making decisions about bicycles is a white, middle class group.”
[Read more…]

Alison Graves.
(Photos © J. Maus)

Alison Graves is the new executive director of the Community Cycling Center. She takes the reins from Susan Remmers, who took over leadership of the non-profit four years ago. Remmers has been on medical leave since December (the medical issue is not related to this decision).

Graves was formerly the organization’s director of community and programs and she’s married to Bike Gallery owner and uber-advocate Jay Graves.[Read more…]