Everything You Need to Know about the 2025 Youth Bike Summit

By: Trinity Hodges | June 26, 2025

From May 30th to June 1st, hundreds of youth and young adults participated in the 2025 Youth Bike Summit. This event has been in the works for over a year with collaborations from many organizations across the U.S.. Taking place at Emerson College and Roxbury Community College (RCC), participants participated in group bike rides and classroom workshops relating various topics related to biking and environmental justice. 

The first day of the summit was an eventful night for connecting and getting to know the fellow summit attendees. Our Friday reception was entirely put together by MFFC's Vigorous Youth which included a fulfilling night of music, games, arts, and crafts. 

The night started out as a networking hour where everyone played get-to-know-you bingo and introduced themselves to multiple people of various backgrounds. This opened the door for more bonding through the arts and crafts station, the caricature artist station, and the many games laid out for anyone to partake in, like Jenga and Uno. 

We also enjoyed a lovely, live performance by Kay Wolff before retiring for the night and getting everyone checked into the Emerson College dorms for the weekend. For many, this was their first time spending a night in a college dorm, giving them a little glimpse into their future! 

After a long nights' sleep, participants spent breakfast together at Emerson before making their way to Roxbury Community College. Those who had their own bikes were able to take the 20-minute ride to Roxbury, while others had the chance to check out Boston's public transit and take the Green or Orange Line. Either way, our many visitors from around the country were able to enjoy the beautiful views that Boston has to offer. 

Our opening on Saturday included many keynote speakers that were vital to the creation of this year's Youth Bike Summit. Vivian Ortiz spoke about her experience as Boston's First Bike Mayor and her history with riding a bike through the city. Representatives from the National Youth Bike Council, Bikes Not Bombs, and Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition talked about their role in putting together the summit and introduced our sponsors for the summit highlighting everyone who played a role in making this impactful event happen. 

For our executive director, Shavel’le Olivier, the conference was an opportunity for youth development and leadership while emphasizing how important that is when thinking about the future of our neighborhoods. 

“Our young people entered a youth serving organization that may have a focus on biking, but they themselves necessarily may not have that interest. However, during their time learning about biking or even just general transportation advocacy, they are being exposed to different individuals, people, and career fields they may not have heard of and it can spark interest in these careers." - Shavel'le Olivier, Executive Director of MFFC

The most impactful speech came from Senator Liz Miranda, who came to support the success of the Youth Bike Summit and shared a bit of her life as someone who grew up in Roxbury herself. Lastly, we enjoyed a speech from our Youth Keynote Speaker, Anika Peura. She shared her experience with biking and how it has made a significant influence on her upbringing. 

With a strong and passionate introduction to our day, everyone was on their way to check out the many workshops the summit had to offer. Presenters went their separate ways across the RCC campus to share their wisdom across the three session periods that participants had to complete their day. Participants had two mobile workshops and 25 classroom workshops to choose from and each one was a unique experience. Some of the most popular workshops to note were:

• El Puente of New York, NY who took a 5 day bike ride from New York to Boston to attend the Youth Bike Summit. 

• Phoenix Bikes of Arlington, VA's Makerspace were able to expand the usage of bike parts to create jewelry, belts, and ties for a funky new look. 

• Oasis Bike Workshop of Nashville, TN's Beyond the Bike presentation where attendees made postcards representing their experience at the summit. 

• West Town Bikes of Chicago, IL's presentation about diversifying bike racing which is a great opportunity for youth to be stimulated in their community regardless of their background. 

• See Meghan Volcy’s article about more workshops that motivated the youth attending the summit. 

Our mobile workshops for the day included time to learn how to ride a bike, tours of the Neponset River Greenway, and lessons on why riding in groups is safer than navigating alone. 

At the end of the night, attendees had the freedom to explore more parts of Boston and dip a toe into the diverse food scene we have to offer. 

The last day of the summit was our grand finale. After one last night in the dorms and breakfast before navigating their way back to  RCC, attendees gathered together for the Big Ride that lasted about two hours. At the end of the ride, attendees gathered together for some final remarks and a couple closing games. 

Before parting, the Youth Bike Summit Steering Committee presented two awards to youths making an impact on their community. The Invest in Women Entrepreneurs Youth Scholarship Award was presented to Kayla Edwards who has made a powerful impact on Black youth in Washington, D.C.. The Kimberly and Kristi Award was presented to Allan Feldman whose work has been featured in Streetsblogs and nationally as a youth advocate. 

Overall, the Youth Bike Summit was a huge success that either exceeded or made big steps towards achieving our internal goals. Swipe through the full impact of the 2025 Youth Bike Summit below.

In addition to meeting our personal goals, the Youth Bike Summit reached a wide audience that exposed attendees to more diverse communities and opportunities for learning. As our impact increases, we open up a space for more understanding of the individual experiences of our attendees. See Meghan Volcy’s thought-provoking article about the realities of being an immigrant in the U.S. in the current state of the world and what that may mean for transportation in the future. Her commentary on the experiences of the El Puente and ECO Youth groups provided strong insight on why events like the Youth Bike Summit matter so much to so many people. 

The root of this summit was to boost the confidence in our youth as leaders. Many left holding the sentiment that they see themselves as leaders at a young age and can empower their community through biking. Overall, the summit truly lived by the chant that both commenced and concluded the summit:

Q: “Power to?”

A: “The Youth!”

For more photos from the Youth Bike Summit, visit this Streetsblogs Article!

Check out this in-depth CalBike Article about the Youth Bike Summit, as well.

Full Photo Gallery