Semi-Annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Update | HUB Cycling: Bike Events, Education, Action in Metro Vancouver

As we embark on another year of advancing our mission to promote cycling as a sustainable and inclusive mode of transportation, it is with great enthusiasm and commitment that we present our semi-annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) update. This update reflects our ongoing efforts to create a more welcoming and representative space for all individuals, irrespective of their background, abilities, or experiences. We invite you to delve into the achievements, challenges, and future initiatives outlined in this update as we strive to make cycling a truly inclusive and empowering experience for everyone in our community.

Definition of Family

HUB Cycling regularly updates its Human Resources policies and applies new learning to become a more welcoming and inclusive workplace. Our recent update included a policy on the appropriate use of gender pronouns and a new definition of family for the bereavement policy. The definition of family was taken from The Vanier Institute of the Family. It is deliberately broad to ensure it captures all families and family experiences. It is a functional definition of family that focuses on relationships and roles – what families do, not what they look like. Click here to request a copy of our HUB’s HR Handbook.

HUB also continues to support organizations working to improve the lives of equity-deserving populations in our communities. Instead of giving staff material gifts during the Holiday Season, for the third year in a row, on behalf of its employees and board members, HUB Cycling donated to a local charity. Staff and board directors provided direction on which charity to contribute to. This year, $1,000 was donated to The Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. The mission of the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre (DEWC) is to provide a safe, non-judgmental environment for self-identifying women (cis, trans, 2S) from all walks of life who live and/or work in the Downtown Eastside.

Living Wage Employer

HUB Cycling strives to meet the living wage for families as a minimum for all staff and to provide transparency on pay scale steps and other forms of compensation. We continue to review salaries annually as part of the annual review between employees and their managers and benchmarked against similar roles in the Metro Vancouver non-profit sector.

To ensure that all new HUB Cycling staff has access to health care benefits, HUB Cycling now offers employer-paid extended health & dental package on day one of employment (includes dental, vision, prescription drugs, extended health, coverage for partners and dependents, health practitioners, travel, and access to an Employee Assistance Program, Life Insurance, and Accident & Serious Illness).

Diversity Survey and Ongoing Learning

This year, HUB Cycling conducted its first Diversity Survey for staff, Board, and Local Committee members. The results have helped us create a benchmark for the state of diversity within our organization. This includes demographic information such as race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other factors.

Overall, HUB has a similar demographic representation to the region in many categories but has higher percentages of people who identify with the dominant group in a few. We strive to make our workplace more diverse through inclusive hiring and selection practices and a welcoming environment.

After looking at potential barriers, the staff leadership team has developed a number of actions to be implemented, including creating a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee to include staff and board representation. The DEI committee will lead the work to help create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment within our organization.

To continue our ongoing learning and decolonizing work, this past summer, HUB Cycling staff participated in DEI workshops run by Achev covering the following topics:

Psychological Safety: Employees who feel psychologically safe at work experience higher levels of engagement in the workplace. It is core for leaders of organizations to cultivate a psychologically safe environment for employees to promote engagement in the workplace.
Unconscious Bias: Bias refers to the tendency to favor or discriminate against individuals or groups based on preconceived notions, stereotypes, or personal preferences. Bias can affect our perceptions, judgments, and decision-making processes, often leading to unfair treatment or unequal opportunities.
Microaggressions: Microaggressions are subtle, everyday verbal, nonverbal, or environmental slights, insults, or actions that communicate derogatory or negative messages towards individuals or groups based on their identity or background. They can manifest in the workplace with often unintended negative consequences.
Introduction to LGBTQIA2S+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, Two-Spirit) individuals: How can we create a safe and inclusive workplace by understanding the different identities and experiences of persons who identify as LGBTQIA2+.

Book Club and Inclusive Language

To better support English language learners in bike education programs and communicate with their families/guardians, we simplified the language in the letters sent home to families, which explains the bike education programs to parents and other family members. This improves legibility when parents use translation software to understand the letter.

We also set up an English Language Learning (ELL) Resources webpage with worksheets and videos to help English Language Learners and their families prepare for the program with cycling vocabulary. In addition, we provided a workshop for instructors on strategies for working with English Language Learners.

After reading Bob Joseph’s book 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act in 2022, our staff book club members participated in a reading of Bob’s book Indigenous Relations: Insights, Tips & Suggestions to Make Reconciliation a Reality. We highly recommend the book for those who want to take action on reconciliation. One commitment from the book club is building a well-researched resource on the ten First Nations in Metro Vancouver and ways our interests align.

Bike Education

Women in Metro Vancouver make half the cycling trips as men, even though they make more journeys overall. This year, HUB Cycling launched a new program to support women and female-identifying folk in their journey to be more comfortable riding bikes. Non-binary and trans-inclusive, the Women’s Summer Cycling Program supported skill development in a safe, community-oriented environment. Plans are underway to expand and improve this program in 2024.

Electric-assist bikes can allow people with physical limits, longer commutes, heavier loads, carrying children, and those facing hilly terrain to cycle more often. To get comfortable riding one, e-bikes were added to our fleet of course bikes at the Trout Lake StreetWise Cycling Education Centre this summer. E-bike test rides were also available at several community events in September.

HUB delivers bike education programs to over 100 schools in Metro Vancouver every year. Almost 9% of Metro Vancouver‘s population is Sikh, and Sikh children wearing patkas cannot wear a standard bike helmet. HUB Cycling provides up to three specially designed helmets to accommodate the needs of patka-wearing children.

To learn more about HUB Cycling's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, check out the HUB Cycling Equity Framework published earlier this year.