Candidate Spotlight: Alison Hill Graves

The League’s Board of Directors serves a critical role in guiding the organization to a sustainable and vibrant future. The Board is made up of both board-appointed and member-elected seats — and currently, there are five open seats and nine candidates for those member-elected spots. We need YOUR votes to determine who will join the board for the next three years.

You can read more about all of the candidates and how to vote at bikeleague.org/vote. We are also highlighting each of our nine candidates on the blog this week and next. Today’s candidate spotlight is Alison Hill Graves, a current board member who is up for reelection.

ALISON HILL GRAVES

Alison is completing her first term as board member for the League. She is a nonprofit professional with a Master’s degree in Organization Development and more than ten years experience applying it in nonprofit organizations that are dedicated to improving the health of their communities. Alison’s experience and interest is in collaborative planning with diverse stakeholders, which recently resulted in transforming a vacant lot in a Portland housing development into a bike repair hub and a skills park for neighborhood families with a focus on job skills training and community building. This project was the result of listening to the needs of residents – access to affordable bicycle repair — then involving them with literally building the solution. This approach of stakeholder engagement, collaborative design and community focus are at the heart of her professional and personal interests. Portland’s advocacy group, the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, awarded Alison their community leadership award in May 2013. Alison serves as board liaison to the Equity Advisory Committee and has helped explore and advance the topic of building a more inclusive bicycle movement at the League through this effort.