Published by WCVB on July 30, 2024
BOSTON — Boston has been chosen to host the national Youth Bike Summit in 2025, an event that will bring hundreds of young people and advocates to the city.
Shavel'le Olivier, the executive director of the Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, led the effort to bring the summit to Boston. MFFC puts on the annual "Mattapan on Wheels" bike event, hosts a farmers market in Mattapan Square, and helps young people run a farm stand in front of the Mattapan Health Center. The group's mission is about healthy choices and empowerment.
Olivier was inspired after attending the event in another city.
"To be able to be in this space with young people, more specifically young people of color that were interested in cycling, that was very amazing," Olivier said.
MFFC is partnering with another local advocacy group, Bikes Not Bombs, to host the summit.
Monty Khaldi, a youth organizer with Bikes Not Bombs, said their efforts are focused on much more than teaching kids how to ride.
"Our entire mission is to use the bicycle as a vehicle for social change," Khaldi said. "When people get together, organize rides with their friends, that's when they start talking about the issues in their communities."
Khaldi said he often tells young people to remember that they will lead the way.
That's something Shavel'le Olivier has seen firsthand in volunteers like Ishmael Hazelwood.
"I got involved with Mattapan on Wheels at a very young age, actually at 9 years old, with my father," said Hazelwood.
More than a decade later, Hazelwood said learning to ride taught him the power of community.
"My biggest thing is to emphasize and defy stereotypes," he said. "This is for everyone. I want to see a 9-year-old, how I was when I was 9, start to do this ride consistently and maybe one day be a youth bike leader as well."
To Olivier, that is what it's all about.
"Empowering young people, not only to think about their health, but to show them they have things and they have the knowledge that adults need to listen to. And they can create movements as well," she said.
The Youth Bike Summit will be a three-day event starting May 30, 2025, at Roxbury Community College. It will feature keynote speakers, workshops and a group ride across Boston.
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