Fitting the benefits of bicycling into an existing mission is different than asking a community group to set aside their ongoing efforts to support your project. What are some common goals shared by your group and the people you want to target? (Health, social support, economic empowerment, children’s safety, spiritual beliefs?)

Who are the leaders in this community? How can you approach them respect-fully and engage them on this issue? How can they help you engage the rest of the community?

Are you comfortable talking about cultural barriers?

Have you taken the time to learn the cultural norms of this particular commu-nity? Have you followed the adage: “Seek to understand, then be understood”?

What are this community’s needs, challenges and priorities? Will bicycles help members of this community address these issues? If so, how?

What are the obstacles keeping members of this community from riding bicy-cles? What resources and assistance can you, as bike advocates, provide to help community members overcome these obstacles?

What challenges does the community face that can’t (realistically) be improved by the bicycle advocacy community, and how can bicycle advocates respect those limitations?

What would you do if the feedback your group gathered through community outreach called for something other than a bike lane or other infrastructure project?

Given the circumstances unique to this specific community, what is a realistic goal for your organization (or program) to set for increasing bicycle use or community engagement?

Overall, is your organization’s messaging and marketing representative of a broad or narrow segment of the bicycling population in your community?

WOMEN BIKECue Sheet

Engaging Underrepresented

Communities Key Questions for

Bike Advocates

National Women’s Bicycling Forum WWW.BIKELEAGUE.ORG/WOMENBIKE