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Tag: volunteer

Beat the Bay State registration now open for Fall 2022!

Beat the Bay State registration now open for Fall 2022!

Starting November 1st, we’re challenging you to compete in the 3rd Annual Beat the Bay State Challenge throughout November (Nov1st-30th). In 2022, over 500 people took part in the virtual team challenge to walk/run 900 miles, the distance of the perimeter of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and together we covered over 50,000 miles.

For more info or to sign up:
https://runsignup.com/baystate

3rd Annual Beat the Bay State Logo

Sponsorships are available! Please contact Deputy Director of Operations Althea Wong-Achorn for more info.

Interested in volunteering? Please contact Deputy Director of Advocacy Brendan Kearney for more info.

Have any other event questions? Check out our 2022 FAQ.

Beat the Bay State registration now open for Fall 2021!

Beat the Bay State registration now open for Fall 2021!

Starting November 1st, we’re challenging you to compete in the 2nd Annual Beat the Bay State Challenge throughout November (Nov1st-30th). In 2020, 31 teams and 450 people took part in the inaugural virtual team challenge to walk/run 900 miles, the distance of the perimeter of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. (Read our post with the full 2020 results & recap.)

For 2021, we’ve also added an in person 5k Run/Walk on Saturday, November 6th along the Charles River in Watertown to kick off the month together! 5K entry includes a race shirt; buffs and hats available for purchase for either event.

For more info or to sign up: https://runsignup.com/baystate

BTBS2021
Sponsorship opportunities (PDF) are available! Please contact Development Director Althea Wong-Achorn for more info.

Interested in volunteering? Please contact Deputy Director Brendan Kearney for more info.

MA Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board seeking interested candidates

MA Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board seeking interested candidates

CALL FOR INTEREST IN SERVING ON THE MASSACHUSETTS BICYCLE AND PEDESTRIAN ADVISORY BOARD

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is seeking interested candidates in serving as public members on the Massachusetts Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board (MABPAB). MABPAB public members volunteer their time for the benefit of advancing bicycle and pedestrian transportation across the Commonwealth. Nominated candidates will be appointed for a two-year volunteer term, beginning fall 2018. Official nominations will be made by the Governor of Massachusetts.

Mission:

Legislatively established in 2004 and appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts, the Board’s purposes are to:

  1. Advise Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and other State Agencies on bicycle and pedestrian transportation initiatives
  2. Advise MassDOT on issues of interest to people who walk and bicycle today, or wish to walk and bike more
  3. Monitor the implementation of the Massachusetts Statewide Bicycle Transportation Plan and the Massachusetts Statewide Pedestrian Transportation Plan, and assist MassDOT in preparing future plan updates.

Meetings:

The Board meets six times a year, every other month during the day. Three of these meetings are held at the State Transportation Building in Boston and three are held at different locations across the Commonwealth. Advisory Board members are expected to attend every meeting in person.

Sample topics covered at Advisory Board meetings:
– Statewide Bicycle Plan
– Statewide Pedestrian Plan
– Safety
– Year-round Maintenance
– Monitoring and Evaluation
– Public Health
– Trails/Multi use paths
– Safe Routes to School
– Complete Streets
– Events and Outreach
– Access to Transit
– Accessibility
– Sustainable Mobility
– Planning and Design
– Education and Enforcement

Membership:

The Board is made up of public members representing the following:
– Bicycling organization representatives
– Bicycling representatives
– Bicycle industry representative
– Pedestrian representatives

The Board also consists of designees from statewide bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations, WalkBoston and MassBike, and the following governmental agencies:
– Department of Transportation
– Department of Conservation & Recreation
– MBTA
– Department of Public Health
-Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs
– Representative from a Regional Planning Agency
– State Police
-Office of Travel & Tourism

Terms:

Candidates should be residents of Massachusetts interested in serving as public members. Nominated candidates shall serve without compensation for a term of two years, beginning September 2018. Member-volunteers may be reappointed. All nominated individuals will be subject to a standard background check.

To Apply:

Interested candidates should email or send a resume and letter of interest to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation at mabpab@dot.state.ma.us or Att: MABPAB, State Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza, Suite 4160, Boston, MA 02116. In your resume, please include contact information, including mailing address, email address and phone number where we can contact you. In your letter, please include what public seat you are applying for (i.e. bicycle organization representative, pedestrian representative); your background (work and/or life experience) that relates to the mission of the Board; what, if any, groups you will be formally representing while serving on the Board; what you would like to contribute to the Board; and any additional information for consideration. Please apply by June 25, 2018 to be considered.

If you have any questions about the Board, please contact MABPAB@dot.state.ma.us

Want to get involved? Join the newsletter team

Want to get involved? Join the newsletter team

We mail out copies of our printed newsletter 3-4 times a year to supporters, state & local officials; with our new website, these articles are also added as individual posts to be shared online (see previous newsletters). We’re looking for a new volunteer newsletter editor to help!

What’s it take to be a newsletter editor?

The role of newsletter editor involves more coordinating than editing. Here is the current lifecycle of a newsletter, from inspiration to a supporter’s mailbox:

  1. A WalkBoston newsletter starts with a brainstorming session at the Communications Committee (we meet after work on the first Thursday of the month). Together with the editor, the Committee picks a topic and often creates a list of potential authors. Armed with that information, the editor drafts emails to each author inviting them to participate and explaining logistics. Each edition has 2-4 stories.
  2.  After each author agrees to participate, the newsletter editor is responsible for checking in with authors and getting final drafts. With last drafts in hand, the editor does a preliminary review for content and word count. Once the articles are a reasonable length and flow together in an interesting way, the editor passes a word document with all articles included on to WalkBoston board member Nina Garfinkle at Garfinkle Design.
  3. You’re not all on your own as an editor! Nina drops all the articles into the WalkBoston newsletter branded format and circulates the newsletter to you and our crack editing team from the Communications Committee. This team does all the detailed line editing and helps us create a perfect product. Nina inputs each edit directly from the group into the formatted draft. Once the newsletter is as clean as possible, Nina sends the draft to WalkBoston’s staff for final edits and information on upcoming events.
  4. When this is complete, the office runs a mailing list and the newsletter is out the door! Brendan converts the articles to posts for the website so they go live a week or so after the newsletter hits mailboxes, making sure the articles receive additional visibility.

As you can see, this is not a job that requires spectacular editing skills as much as it needs organization, communication and an interest in putting out exciting newsletters that help spread the WalkBoston mission. Interested? Questions? Ideas? Get in touch!

Communication Committee Members:
Nina Garfinkle, Communications Chair
Hillary Borcherding, outgoing Newsletter Editor (who is helping with the transition, but stepping down as she has recently moved to Vermont!)
Joyce DiBona
Don Eunson
Shay Karime
Brendan Kearney, WalkBoston staff
Ken Krause