Seeds of Resilience: Reflections on Bikes, Outreach & Community

Active Transportation and Outreach Fellow, Isabel Vivanco reflects on the first few months of her service term. Pulling out a few key takeaways from her experiences so far, she speaks to the importance of bikes and the power of community engagement.

I am lucky to split my time between two host sites – the Bicycle Coalition of Maine (BCM) and the Community Engagement team internal to the Greater Portland Council of Governments (GPCOG). Both sites have given me valuable insight into regional planning, transportation planning, and the world of non-profit outreach. Within the Resilience Corps, our work is focused on increasing capacity. With two host sites, I get to do this twofold and see truly what resilience planning looks like in various local contexts.

If I had to pick one word to describe the kind of capacity I am building ­­— or perhaps a word that would make it at least two or three times in my elevator pitch about my current service term — it would be outreach. So far, I have supported a host of projects: from dipping my toes into social media posts (this is significant, since I’m not on social media in my personal life), to coordinating newsletters, creating educational materials, and planning community meetings.  

As we’re nearing the halfway point of our service term, I’ve been reflecting on some of my takeaways thus far. Some have been specific and personal, the kind of skills I can articulate on a resume or in a job interview – like recognizing that I have great attention to detail, I enjoy a diversity of tasks, that I am lightyears away from any kind of Excel proficiency, I value Canva in a way I could never have foreseen, and I struggle to say no to new projects. Other takeaways are naturally broader, arising out of the kind of work that is grounded in community. 

First, as it is Bike Month, the importance of bikes in generating community has been top of mind — and work! Celebrated in May each year, Bike Month is a whole thirty-one days dedicated to the celebration and promotion of bikes. I have taken a particular joy in my outreach work for Bike Month and Bike-to-Work Day (05/15/2026) both professionally (by creating and sticking to a thorough outreach plan) and personally (by encouraging everyone I know to ride their bikes more).

The outreach I’ve done for Bike Month and my own joyful participation in events like National Ride a Bike Day or Bike to Work Week has led me to the conclusion that, perhaps, a central purpose of my life is to both promote random celebrations and to share the joy of biking with eager enthusiasm. In all seriousness though, not only have I found great value working in a field in which I am deeply mission-aligned, but the events and outreach of Bike Month go to show that fun is only the tip of the iceberg when you center bikes. It's the way that bikes can build community that truly stands out. 

Take BCM’s Bike-to-Work Day event. In the weeks leading up to our event, I was especially proud and excited to promote it. I take great pride in being a bike commuter. At this point, I would even consider it part of my identity. (At the Bicycle Coalition of Maine, we call it “living the mission.”) However, riding down to the Back Cove Parking lot at 7 am, already drenched and battered by the wind, I did not have much hope for a high turnout. And yet, blustery winds and relentless rain did not fully extinguish the festivities. Ruggedness is often a point of pride for many bike commuters, and a little rain will not deter the committed. In reality, it was more than just “a little rain,” yet a handful of riders showed up, soaked yet eager (and relieved) to join the community of active transportation enthusiasts huddled under rain-sodden tents. Mingling over coffee and donuts, we talked about everything from bike routes and bike gear, to quilting, compost, and career trajectories. I truly felt part of the Portland biking community, and having led the outreach for the event beforehand, it gave me much joy to be there amongst other bikers.

Bike-to-Work Day Event hosted by the Bicycle Coalition of Maine

The Bicycle Coalition of Maine brings many different communities together – resolute bike commuters, avid bike/pedestrian advocates, off road riding enthusiasts, e-bikers, and anti-e-bikers, just to name a few. Working with BCM has provided the critical reminder that the biking community is not a monolith, something that BCM is quick to acknowledge in the many realms of their work. However, there is something special about an organization that can bring such a multifaceted community under one umbrella (or a dripping tent in the pouring rain on Bike-to-Work Day). Bike Month and its subsequent events and engagement were a lovely reminder that the outreach I was doing was not just about my own joy, but about the relationships that can come together in these kinds of events. Biking generates fun, but also builds a resilient community in a powerful, tangible way.

Turning away from biking for the moment, here we reach a second takeaway – the value of community engagement. In my work at GPCOG, I have learned about the immense power of community engagement and education. Education is something else I do a lot of. Whether it is targeted to raise awareness about specific projects or to create educational content to support other work, education and outreach go hand in hand. 

Part of the beauty of community engagement work is that there is as much to take as there is to give. I am constantly learning. As a relatively new resident of Portland, having an AmeriCorps placement that enmeshes me so thoroughly in localized communities is a gift - one that has accelerated my own Maine integration. I understand more about how the systems surrounding me work, how the city operates, and how communities evolve. I love listening to how people move through spaces and interact with the places around them. With each new community planning event, I am enveloped further. 

Entering the planning and engagement space, I’ve seen how any planning process needs to accommodate a balance of voices; between those with local expertise who inhabit these systems and places each day and those who can zoom out and offer different perspectives and possibilities. Community engagement is not just a box to be checked in various planning efforts, it is critical. Critical is also the way that outreach and community engagement events often strengthen the community that is engaged, by bringing people together who share something, yet who might not otherwise interact very often. This takes me to a final reflection: on the means of resilience.  

Resilience is dynamic. It’s the ability to adapt, recover, and bounce back after disaster, stress or change. It requires innovation, creativity and collaboration. An engaged community is a resilient community. The seeds of resilience and change are found in relationships and shared values. Mutual trust breeds innovation and transformation. Good community engagement requires meeting people where they’re at (often literally), amplifying the often overlooked voices, and addressing the barriers people face to participate. When done inclusively and engagingly, it can effectively harness local knowledge for collaborative solutions. People can come away with a shared sense of ownership, even in disagreement.

Whether these are cyclists who brave the downpour to bike to work or folks who are willing and eager to put stickers on a map to share their areas of concern in their hometown, the pursuit of larger change is suddenly within reach and the work is richer in value when you remember it goes beyond yourself. 

About Isabel

Isabel grew up in Burlington, Vermont and recently graduated from Smith College with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and a minor in Landscape Studies. She is enthusiastic about intentional placemaking that incorporates outreach and connects people to green spaces, public parks, and the communities around them. Many of her previous work experiences have been oriented towards community engagement and inclusive practices with a throughline of local government work. She is excited for her role as a Resilience Corp Fellow to work with the Bicycle Coalition of Maine and the community engagement team within GPCOG to learn more about urban planning, creating safe streets, promoting inclusive outreach and participating in meaningful, community-building work. Isabel has been living active transportation her whole life, taking special pride in being a year-round pedestrian, bike commuter and public transit rider. Beyond walking and biking, Isabel enjoys running, cross country skiing, puzzling (crossword, jigsaw, sudoku and the like), delving into new books and spending time with friends.