Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Originally posted in October 2021; updated in April 2025

Local Motion’s mission is to make it safe, accessible, and fun for everyone to bike, walk, and roll in Vermont. In order for us to fulfill our mission, our priorities and focus must be on ensuring that biking and walking are equitable and available to all Vermonters. 

We understand that, due to historic inequity in the distribution of resources, oppression, and systemic racism, marginalized communities have been and continue to be negatively impacted by Vermont’s transportation system. This can include a lack of access to safe walking, biking, and rolling, a lack of public transportation services, and the burden of the transportation system’s negative impacts. The most important work we can do is continue to identify and reduce barriers, create opportunities, and provide resources so that every Vermonter has equitable and safe access to biking, walking, and rolling, while also being sensitive to the needs and desires of local communities.

We are on the land which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange among indigenous peoples for thousands of years and is the home of the Western Abenaki People. Local Motion honors, recognizes and respects these peoples, especially the Abenaki, as the traditional stewards of the lands and waters on which we gather today. In that spirit, we acknowledge that we are guests in this land. We need to respect and help protect the lands within our use.

Local Motion’s work is divided into impact areas that help us achieve our mission. Our diversity, equity, and inclusion goals are listed by impact area below. We will continually update, evaluate, and reassess these goals.

Complete Streets and Technical Assistance
Goal: To support communities in making their streets safe and equitable.

• What we do: 
  • We have a selection process for technical assistance and Pop-Up projects that incorporates demographic criteria to allow us to more equitably focus our work.
  • We advocate for transit infrastructure to be incorporated into projects during the planning and design phase.
  • We have increased emphasis on pedestrian infrastructure and ADA accessibility in our technical assistance work.
  • We include a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in our Learning Network webinars, particularly through applying an All Ages and Abilities (AAA) approach.
• What we will do / continue to work on: 
  • We will include more focus on underserved communities in our Learning Network webinars and resources.
  • We will engage marginalized communities in the conversation during project planning and implementation, through offering different ways to engage, such as pop up demonstrations, materials in relevant languages, and targeted outreach. 
  • We will increase our messaging to help public understand that walk/bike/roll infrastructure is important for accessibility—not just about driving and parking at destination

Outreach and Education
Goal: To provide resources to help people become more comfortable using a bike in everyday life.

• What we do:
  • Our school programming allows all students to participate in activities and events, from providing adaptive bicycles and other inclusive resources to waiving Bike Smart use fees for all.
  • We work with summer programs and community organizations that serve at-risk and marginalized adults and children, such as offering Bike Smart at community centers, hosting bike rides, and strategically locating bike racks.
  • We host periodic, free bicycling and commuting events around the state to teach the benefits of affordable transportation - through rides, workshops, and webinars.
• What we will do / continue to work on:
  • We will continue the development of educational programming that is accessible to all, including e-bike education and demonstrations.
  • We will acquire and deploy a three-wheeled electric cargo trike to increase accessibility for older Vermonters and Vermonters with disabilities.
  • We will expand our storytelling that shares diverse perspectives of folks who ride to help create interest/engagement/confidence in others who feel marginalized from biking
  • We will partner with more organizations that serve marginalized communities, broaden our reach beyond Burlington, and work to eliminate barriers to participation.

Trailside Center Bike Rentals
Goal: to provide opportunities to get more people on bikes for recreation.

• What we do: 
  • We partner with organizations to provide bike rentals at no cost to BIPOC, low income communities, and/or youth programs.
  • We offer a wide range of bike types and styles, including adaptive recumbent bikes, and e-bikes, which allow for more people of different abilities to get moving outdoors.
• What we will do / continue to work on: 
  • We will continue to partner with additional organizations, such as Vermont Adaptive, to provide recreational opportunities for people with disabilities.
  • We will continue to partner with organizations to provide affordable ways and encouragement to get more people on bikes.  
  • We will make improvements for increased accessibility for our customers and staff. 

Island Line Bike Ferry
Goal: to provide a safe connection between Colchester and the Champlain Islands along the Island Line Trail.

• What we do: 
  • We made access to the ferry free for all passengers, removing the financial barrier to riding the ferry.
  • We welcome bicycles for all abilities on board.
  • We have partnered with the Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources and the Lake Champlain Sea Grant program to provide free access to environmental education at the Ferry kiosk.
• What we will do / continue to work on:
  • We will expand our work with the Rubenstein School during the shoulder seasons (when the ferry does not provide service to the public) to offer outdoor adventure classes for groups like the YMCA and the Howard Center that may not otherwise have access to this opportunity.
  • We will increase our efforts to get more people with disabilities to have access to the Island Line Trail and the Bike Ferry by working with partners such as Vermont Adaptive.

Valet Bike Parking
Goal: to provide a safe parking option for bikes at events.

• What we do: 
  • We offer secure bike parking at events at no cost, removing the financial barrier for all.
  • We approach Valet Bike Parking as a universal need serving all cyclists.
  • Our welcoming, non-judgmental atmosphere creates a safe space for community members to volunteer.      
• What we will do  / continue to work on: 
  • We will continue to offer our service to the whole community of cyclists, treating each other with the respect we all deserve.
  • We will look for new opportunities to offer our free services to promote a car-free way of life. 

Communications
Goal: to communicate our programs to a wide audience.

• What we do:
  • We made our website, email, and social media* more accessible by including photo descriptions, adding closed captioning to our YouTube videos, and writing in plain language with a clear and concise style.  (*currently, only Facebook; we will look for ways to do this in Instagram) 
  • We stay abreast of new developments to improve communications accessibility and to make our marketing strategies more equitable. 
  • We work to ensure content is responsive for mobile, desktop and tablet. 
• What we will do  / continue to work on: 
  • We will seek to capture new content and imagery that better represent the diversity of communities with which we work.
  • We will continue to make improvements to our website, such as adding image descriptions, descriptive links and shortened links.  
  • We will refine our copywriting across all of our platforms to:
    • avoid ableist language
    • sticking with gender-neutral pronouns and terms
    • sharing diverse voices and emoji
    • evaluating text for assumptions of limited points of view

Development & Volunteering
Goal: to develop relationships to help ensure a wide range of organizational support.

• What we do: 
  • We build relationships with our individual donors, prospective donors, corporate sponsors, and foundation supporters and actively listen to their thoughts, concerns, and feedback with respect and gratitude.
  • We build relationships with individuals who volunteer their time and diverse talents with us and acknowledge their contributions. 
• What we will do / continue to work on: 
  • We will develop financial resources to ensure our programmatic and service work can be expanded to marginalized communities.
  • We will look for new funding partnerships that support mutual diversity, equity, and inclusion goals.
  • We will identify new channels through which to attract more diversity to our volunteer corps.
  • We will work with businesses that offer workplace giving programs and workplace volunteer programs to encourage and support employee engagement in Local Motion’s work, with focused outreach to businesses that have compatible DEI goals.

Financial Management
Goal: to maintain a healthy and financially stable organization.

• What we do:
  • We do business with financial institutions that are locally based and that share the same core values as our organization.
  • We make purchases from organizations that share our core values, and support local vendors if possible, while staying within our budget.
  • We are transparent about our financial status, internally and externally. We post wage ranges on job postings. 
• What we will do  / continue to work on: 
  • We will seek out new relationships with vendors from underrepresented groups.
  • We will review our purchasing practices on a regular basis with input from our staff in an effort to diversify our vendor selection.

People Resources
Goal: To build a work environment that is inclusive and supportive.

• What we do: 
  • We are an equal opportunity employer, and welcome applicants with diverse cultural backgrounds. 
  • We strive for an inclusive work environment where each person feels welcomed, respected, supported, and valued as a team member.
  • We support employees to learn more about cultural and social identities to provide a more inclusive workplace.
  • We have professional development funds available for continuous learning for our staff on diversity, equity and inclusion and provide paid time for attending relevant events. 
  • Diversity, equity and inclusion is noted as an organizational value and is integrated into our current Strategic Plan 
• What we will do  / continue to work on: 
  • We will continue to support our employees by allowing time for webinars and conversations about equity and inclusion.
  • When there are openings in staffing or board seats, we will seek and recruit diverse candidates through targeted organizations, such as Vermont Professionals of Color Network 

Local Motion’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan incorporates many of the action items spelled out above. As we begin to plan the next strategic planning process, we will include external stakeholders and facilitator that will ensure that our future plans fully integrate diversity, equity and inclusion.