We’re saddened to report the loss of a Leadership Academy graduate and staffer from member organization BikeSGV. Below, the tribute published by BikeSGV on their blog:
Brian Velez was a people person, a lifelong Baldwin Park resident with an artistic mind, a passion for community work, and an affinity for horses. The BikeSGV team had the great fortune of getting to know him after his sister Diane Velez began volunteering with us, and he found himself with some free time upon completing Public Affairs work for the Foothill Gold Line Azusa Extension. In short order Brian graduated from part-time volunteer to full-time staff, serving as the BikeSGV’s lead Outreach Coordinator, along-side his sister Diane Velez, BikeSGV’s Safe Routes to School Coordinator.
Brian’s contributions to our small team cannot be understated. He played a major role in making 626 Golden Streets a success, leading community engagement for a record-setting event involving 8 communities that had never hosted a ‘ciclovia’ before. Born to parents from Bogota, Colombia – home of the first ciclovia over 40 years ago – Brian educated countless San Gabriel Valley residents about the concept of ‘open streets’ and why they should care about active transportation. Brian was also the creative mind behind many of the event’s novel activations, including the participation of the 501st Legion, the Star Wars cosplay group who were immensely popular at the South Pasadena hub (among other things, he was a Star Wars fan). His only regret from the project was not convincing any local horse riders or marching bands to participate in the festivities.
In January 2017 Streetsblog LA asked BikeSGV for references for an SGV-based person with the skill set to conduct community interviews and cover local transportation news. BikeSGV’s leadership immediately recommended Brian, who was soon brought on board as a correspondent for ‘SGV Connect’ podcast. During his short tenure with Streetsblog LA Brian covered stories on President Trump and the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, Duarte’s first bike lanes, and horses as a means of transportation in the SGV, a topic he pitched and had a personal interest in. The latter episode hit a nerve with the listening audience, becoming the most popular Streetsblog podcast to date, inspiring a follow up piece by the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
Brian became a nationally certified bicycle safety instructor in March 2017, helping teach and lead bicycle safety classes for local youth and adults. He was leading community engagement for a 5-city SGV regional pedestrian and bike master plan, and similar programs in 3 more SGV cities. He wasn’t just dreaming, he was doing, a lot, to better communities like Baldwin Park. Young trees at the Jeff Seymour Family Center in El Monte benefited from his care and watering. He also mentored students in, and was a graduate of, the San Gabriel Mountains Forever Leadership Academy Program.
