Eliot Jackson Launches Grow Cycling Foundation

WE PROMOTE EDUCATION, ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT INCREASE DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN CYCLING.

The brainchild of Eliot Jackson and Katie Holden, Grow Cycling Foundation serves to promote education, access and opportunities that advance diversity and inclusion in cycling.

Grow Cycling Foundation was created in light of the 2020 George Floyd protests and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement. In recognition that the cycling world is not immune to a culture of exclusivity and racism, the founders felt a need to help focus the call to action within their own community.

Grow Cycling Foundation was established to create new avenues for inclusive community building and career development in the cycling industry as well as to empower existing programs working to tear down the barriers to entry in cycling for marginalized communities. With ears on the ground in these communities, Grow Cycling Foundation serves to provide the education, access, and opportunities that directly address the barriers they face. To sustainably and inclusively grow the industry, authentic foundations of diversity must be built from within.

Investing in areas that create sustainable paths for cycling as a lifelong passion, Grow Cycling Foundation leverages four overlapping pillars: Education, Opportunity, Community & Access, to create solutions that provide entry points at various steps of a cyclist’s journey.

With a dynamic, five-year plan in place, the first initiative of Grow Cycling Foundation is to build a pumptrack in Los Angeles, CA. Grow aims to inspire career paths and involve the local community by using this space for world-class events, community building and programs that teach various cycling industry skills.

If you’d like to support Grow Cycling Foundation, please consider donating. The foundation is organized as a nonprofit corporation and is a 501c3 public foundation partner. All donations are 100% tax deductible.

Grow Cycling FAQ

Is Grow Cycling just to help build inclusion for people of color or will you help other marginalized groups as well?

Historically, people of color have been largely underserved in the outdoor industry, so we are starting there with the understanding that the same systems of power that exclude people of color, exclude other marginalized groups as well. Our ultimate goal is for the world of cycling to be representative of the world around us, full of all genders, colors, and backgrounds.

How much of my donation goes to Grow Cycling initiatives?

We aren’t taking salaries or any wages to do this. Currently, everyone working at Grow Cycling Foundation is a volunteer. Aside from platform hosting fees and administrative costs, 100% of your donations go directly to Grow Cycling initiatives and are tax-deductible.

Our dream is that Grow Cycling grows large enough to have global reach which may, in the future, require full-time, salaried staff. If this happens we commit to being fully transparent with our donors and community about where their donations are going.

If I can’t donate, how can I help?

• Spread the word to your cycling friends and communities – tweet, repost, share or pin
• Tell your employer about us and ask them to share the story and get involved
• Commit to spending time educating yourself on inequalities of access to your sport or industry
• Show empathy daily and be intentional about inviting new people into your cycling circles
• Be empowered to speak up when you notice homogeneity in your companies or social circles. Ask why that might be and how you can open the doors to different groups of people

Learn more at growcyclingfoundation.org.