Cal Walks Board and Staff discussing the new direction for the organization.

You may have already noticed a few changes on our new website, but we’re still super excited to officially share our new look with you! We’ve made it easier than ever for you to stay connected to the latest updates on active transportation policy and legislation and have pooled together our staff’s expertise into a handy Resource Library, including a dedicated guide to Navigating the Active Transportation Program (ATP).

Beyond a simple visual refresh, we also wanted to take this opportunity to share with you our new vision, core values, and guiding principles that are key for achieving the transformative change we wish to see in our transportation system. As Cal Walks continues to grow and push groundbreaking policies, our staff and Board of Directors have been engaged in strategic reflection over the past year on how best we can achieve our mission to be the statewide voice for pedestrian safety & healthy, walkable communities for people of all ages & abilities.

Pooling together our collective experiences as people of color, immigrants, queer and gender non-conforming folx, first-generation Americans, people with disabilities, and as allies, we’ve crafted a far-reaching vision for change centered on the concept of Movement Power: by intentionally coming together across agencies, industries, and movements to work alongside communities, we can advance an intersectional agenda for change that will not only create safe, just, and inclusive streets and public spaces where everyone can move under their own power but also actively shifts decision-making power to communities most affected by those decisions.

To stay centered in the ever-changing world of advocacy, we have also identified three Core Values:

Justice
We work to identify structural barriers that prevent all people from living their lives free of oppression and actively work to stop current, prevent future, and repair and heal historic oppression of vulnerable communities—including but not limited to indigenous peoples, communities of color, women, low-income communities, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ communities. We believe that those who have been harmed by oppressive systems and those most impacted by planning and political decisions should direct the development and implementation of solutions, and we work to engage people in this way. We believe that we must also honor our indigenous communities on whose ancestral land we live through respectful and meaningful engagement that moves beyond ceremony and acknowledgement.
Community Leadership
We work to actively connect to and engage communities as leaders of change who drive decision-making processes in genuine ways that are based on their own expertise. We see and treat local communities as legitimate experts in their own lived experiences. We co-empower, co-create, and co-operate with communities.
Partnership + Collaboration
We work to cultivate a broad spectrum of authentic and deep relationships in order to maximize energy and results. We see ourselves as connectors and collaborators—recognizing that collective impact will achieve far more than any of us could do alone.

Each of these statements is the result of intense conversations, critical dialogue, and thoughtful revision by Cal Walks staff and Board. While statements can be powerful, we fully recognize that they can be meaningless when they are not translated into actions. Over the next few months, Cal Walks will be working to translate our aspirations into an overarching Theory of Change to guide our work, as well as an actionable Strategic Plan to keep us on track.

As our organization continues to evolve, we are committed to listening to your ideas, feedback, and thoughts—don’t be shy about what you think we need to be doing to actualize these statements or about what we should we not be doing. We want to hear from you!

New Look, Same Commitment to Safe, Just, and Inclusive Streets