As we near the end of the year and the halfway mark in the school year, it’s a good time to reflect on all the partners, champions, and supporters without whom our work wouldn’t be possible.

Safe Routes champions

Transform’s Programs Team, which leads site coordination on the Alameda County Safe Routes to Schools Program, works to bring the freedom and fun of active and shared mobility to thousands of young people in Alameda County. Our work wouldn’t be possible without our amazing champions. Safe Routes champions are parents, teachers, principals, and school staff who help make events like Ruby Bridges Day and International Walk and Roll to School Day possible. They are volunteers who give their time to improve the health and wellness of their school community. Your dedication, enthusiasm, and joy keep us going.

Legislative heroes

In 2024, Transform partnered with Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo to sponsor the Transportation Accountability Act, AB 2086. The bill brings much-needed transparency to where California’s transportation dollars go. That information will strengthen Transform’s work to shift our spending from climate killing highway expansions to infrastructure for the green transportation future our state needs.

It’s not easy to get a bill through the legislature. There are many hurdles along the way and countless opportunities for a measure to fail. The steadfast support of the bill’s author, along with Transform’s tireless advocacy and our partners at the Greenlining Institute, got this measure signed into law. We salute Assemblymember Schiavo and all our elected officials who work to make California more climate-friendly and equitable.

Powerhouse partners

Transform’s work is all about partnerships, both in our on-the-ground programs and our policy initiatives. We work with other nonprofits, housing developers, and community members to bring meaningful change to Bay Area communities.

On the program side, our fantastic partners in Richmond’s Nystrom neighborhood, Betty Ann Gardens (First Community Housing) and Lion Creek Crossings (East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation) affordable housing developments have made the final year of Mobility Hubs a huge success. The residents who worked with us as Site Level Team Members extended the reach and effectiveness of the pilot, which brought green mobility options home to over a thousand people.

The organizations that provided on-the-ground coordination at sites have also been invaluable allies in moving the program forward. Thank you, Richmond Community Foundation, First Community Housing, and East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation. We’re grateful to have worked closely with the folks at California Air Resources Board, who administered our grant through the California Climate Investments, and the project team at staff Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Shared Use Mobility Center, who saw the Mobility Hubs pilot through from conception to implementation.

As we wrap up this project, we share our achievements with all our amazing partners who put so much time and energy into distributing free bus passes, connecting residents with Lyft ride credits, distributing bikes, and getting EV car sharing up and running. 

Our policy team’s work is much stronger and richer for our collaborations. We partner with too many groups and individuals to name here, but we’ve worked closely with one group on a priority campaign: Voices for Public Transportation (VPT). Transform helped found VPT, which is a coalition of advocacy, labor, and transit rider groups and individuals. VPT has been a strong voice in developing a regional transportation funding measure that can ensure the future of the Bay Area’s regional transportation network and begin the process of transit transformation. We are far from achieving our goal, but we continue our campaign for a robust and equitable funding measure with the members of VPT.

Our SPOT SJ work to reform parking and land use in downtown San Jose is a collaborative effort. We work with community groups, other nonprofits, building management, and business owners, and funding from the Knight Foundation makes this ambitious project possible. We look forward to exciting new developments in 2025, thanks to the rich, intersectional partnerships that make this project effective.

An amazing staff and board

Our committed team at Transform makes showing up for work delightful. This year, we welcomed new board members and staffers and, working with our board and many other partners, completed our new strategic plan. The plan is a roadmap for our terrific board and staff, who continue to deepen and expand Transform’s vision of a world where people of all incomes thrive, safe from climate chaos. 

Another integral part of our team is our supporters: Everyone who signed a petition, called an elected official, sent an email to an elected official, or donated to further our mission. We couldn’t do it without you.

Wishing all our Transformers a wonderful holiday!