This July, our staff and volunteers have put the “work” in Working Bikes! It’s been a hot month, but hopefully it’s cool enough for everyone to join us at our General Meeting, set for August 7th, 2024. Please join us at the shop starting at 6 PM for food, drinks, and good company — please feel free to bring a dish, something to drink, and maybe a friend you’d like to bring into the WB fold. We’ll begin the General Meeting promptly at 6:30 PM and try to hit all the points on the agenda linked below and have everything wrapped up by 8:00 PM.

We’ll be joined by Working Bikes partners local and global to start the meeting. Cycles for Farmers – Kampala, Uganda will be with us to give a presentation, and we will also be hearing from some of our interns, including Maureice Hearon from Urban Alliance on time at the Bike Box. We’ll have reports from our Committees and updates on operations, including our upcoming 25th Anniversary Party. All are welcome! Please join us at the warehouse if you’re in town, or remotely if you’re not feeling well or can’t make it in person.

Zoom Meeting Link
June 2024 General Meeting Minutes
August 2024 General Meeting Agenda

We’re in full swing for the season at Working Bikes! The dock is full at the end of May, but should be cleared out the first few days of June to give us plenty of space to stretch out at our next General Meeting, set for June 5th, 2024. Please join us at the shop starting at 6 PM for food, drinks, and good company — please feel free to bring a dish, something to drink, and maybe a friend you’d like to bring into the WB fold. We’ll begin the General Meeting promptly at 6:30 PM and try to hit all the points on the agenda linked below and have everything wrapped up by 8:00 PM.

We’ll be joined by Working Bikes partners local and global to start the meeting. Pha’tal Perkins, founder and driving force behind Think Outside da Block, our partner in the Englewood Community will be on hand to let us know what TODB has been up to since the last Roll N Peace ride and what we can do to support the June 14th Roll N Peace 11. And our friend Keith Sproule, ED of Abercrombie and Kent Philanthropy, will give us an update on the status of the AKP projects fueled by bikes shipped from our loading dock here in Chicago, including details on the newly established shop on the Kisoro side of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. We’ll have reports from our Committees and work on our Strategic Plan. All are welcome! Please join us at the warehouse if you’re in town, or remotely if you’re not feeling well or can’t make it in person.

Zoom Meeting Link
April 2024 General Meeting, Draft Minutes
June 2024 General Meeting Agenda

We’re entering the high season here at Working Bikes, with busy weekends scheduled from now through… our 25th Anniversary Party on 10/5/24? Our third container of the year left our International Headquarters here at 24th Place and Western just yesterday, March 19th, 2024, so we should have plenty of room to stretch out when we get together on Wednesday, April 3rd, for our April General Meeting at 6:30 PM. Please join us at the shop starting at 6 PM for food, drinks, and good company — please feel free to bring a dish, something to drink, and maybe a friend you’d like to bring into the WB fold two Wednesday’s from now. We’ll begin the General Meeting promptly at 6:30 PM and try to hit all the points on the agenda linked below and have everything wrapped up by 8:30 PM.

We didn’t have time to discuss the highlights from our 2023 Annual Report at our February Meeting, but we’ll remedy that in April. We may also be joined by our amazing friend Alejandro Manga Tinoco who studies the impact of bicycles and bike movements across the globe, has introduced Working Bikes to partners in Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, and is currently in Namibia (!) We’ll also be voting on a new slate of Board members, composed by our newly constituted Nominating Committee and approved by our Board at its March meeting, and going over our aspirations for 2024. And, of course, we’ll have reports from our Committees and work on our Strategic Plan. All are welcome! Please join us at the warehouse if you’re in town, or remotely if you’re not feeling well or can’t make it in person.

Zoom Meeting Link
February 2024 Annual Meeting, Draft Minutes
April 2024 General Meeting Agenda

After a slow start to the year and a deep freeze of Chicagoland, things are bustling again around Working Bikes. We’ve got a load underway for bike kitchens across Southern Mexico, a container to be loaded for Sierra Leone set to arrive on Tuesday, February 6th, and our Annual Meeting coming up on Wednesday, February 7th, at 6:30 PM. Please join us at the shop starting at 6 PM for food, drinks, and good company — please feel free to bring a dish, something to drink, and maybe a friend you’d like to bring into the WB fold next Wednesday. We’ll begin the Annual Meeting promtly at 6:30 PM and try to hit all the points on the agenda linked below and have everything wrapped up by 8:30 PM.

We’ll be joined in person by Sam Davis, lead of the Heartland Alliance READI Program that has helped keep our shop lively Monday through Thursday, 11-3, through most of 2023. We’ll also hear from Samuel Terán, one of the lead organizers of Foro Mundial de la Bicicleta 12, who is currently en route to Chicago in a semi rig and will be somewhere in between Chicago and Chiapas with a container of 500+ bikes from the WB basement come February 7th. We’ll also be voting on a new slate of Board members, Officers, and going over our accomplishments from 2023 and aspirations for 2024. And, of course, we’ll have reports from our Committees and work on our Strategic Plan. All are welcome! Please join us at the warehouse if you’re in town, or remotely if you’re not feeling well or can’t make it in person.

Zoom Meeting Link
December 2023 General Meeting, Draft Minutes
February 2024 Annual Meeting Agenda

Winter has come, but the bikes are still rolling at the Working Bikes Warehouse. We took October off from meetings to celebrate our 24th Anniversary, but we’ll gather one last time in 2023 to discuss all things Working Bikes. Please join us next Wednesday, December 6th, when the shop closes at 6 PM for a potluck. We’ll begin the December General Meeting at 6:30 PM and try to have everything wrapped up by 8 PM. Feel free to bring something tasty, be it solid or liquid, to share with the folks in attendance. Bonus points awarded if your contribution makes the remote attendees (who can join via the Zoom link below) jealous.

We’ll meet the head of Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy’s Ugandan projects, Dennis Nyambworo, IN PERSON for the first time and get an update on the Bwindi Women Bicycle Enterprise and the new shop in the works on the other side of the Impenetrable Forest. We’ll also have our amazing UIC Interns, DaiGi and Spencer, share their results from a semester of data gathering, digesting, and reporting. And, of course, we’ll have reports from our Committees and updates on our operations. All are welcome! Please join us at the warehouse if you’re in town, or remotely if you’re not feeling well or can’t make it and would like to be part of the conversation.

Zoom Meeting Link
August 2023 General Meeting, Draft Minutes
December 2023 General Meeting Agenda

We’re hoping the heat breaks a little for our gathering next week; it is sweltering in the warehouse right now! The Working Bikes team — staff, volunteers, and interns — are hard at work nonetheless, and our new ice machine has been put to the test. We’re looking forward to keeping the ice flowing and gathering for some cold drinks and good company Wednesday, August 2nd, at 6:30 PM for our next General Meeting. As usual, everyone is welcome before the meeting for a potluck — please feel free to bring a dish or drinks to share — and we’ll get started with official business at 6:30 PM. This month, we’ll be joined by Sebastians on two continents — our own intern, Sebastian Ramirez, will share some of his work following up with Cycle of Power recipients, while Sebastian Pope will give us an update on the Chipego shop in Zambia all the way from Zambia! Please join us at the warehouse if you’re in town, or remotely at the link below if you can’t make it in and would like to be part of the conversation

Zoom Meeting Link
June 2023 General Meeting, Draft Minutes
August 2023 General Meeting Agenda

Fresh off a visit from our partner in Sierra Leone, Karim, aka Stylish, we are in full swing at Working Bikes! We’ve got one community ride and massive donation under our belt, a new partnership with READI that’s bringing a ton of energy to the shop through the week, new regular instruction sessions in Brandon’s, and a ton of volunteer wrenches and container packers that are getting bikes out to the folks who need them. We’ll gather to talk about it all and plan more for the future, both in person and virtually, next Wednesday, June 6th, for a hybrid meeting. All are cordially invited to attend in person anytime after 6:00pm. Bring a dish or some drinks to share if you like, and though we’ve lifted our mask and vaccine mandate policy, we still want to keep our community healthy — please hang back if you’re feeling at all ill. We’ll be starting the meeting and activating the Zoom link (see below) promptly at 6:30pm. We’ll be joined by our partner Dave Simmons, head of Ride Illinois, to talk about their work and a project we’re partnering on, and just in case you didn’t get the chance to interact with Stylish when he was in town, we’ll have him remote, from DC (only 1 time zone away) to talk about all that he accomplishes in Sierra Leone AND reflect on his recent visit to Chicago. We look forward to seeing you there!

Zoom Meeting Link
April 2023 General Meeting, Draft Minutes
June 2023 General Meeting Agenda

The activity is starting to pick up around Working Bikes, with spring collection season and nice riding weather just around the corner. That’s not to say we’ve had an inactive winter — we’ve been busy with strategic planning, mechanic training, organizing, and keeping bikes rolling! We’ve got a lot to discuss as we talk about what’s been accomplished and what lies ahead for Working Bikes. We’ll get together in person and virtually next Wednesday, April 5th, for a hybrid meeting — the first since we’ve lifted our mask mandate in the shop and vaccine requirements for volunteers (though both are still welcome and encouraged!). Folks are cordially invited to attend in person anytime after 6:00pm. Bring a dish or some drinks to share if you like, and please hang back if you’re feeling at all ill. We’ll be starting the meeting and activating the Zoom link (see below) promptly at 6:30pm. This time, we’ll be joined by North Lawndale’s own Derek Brown, founder of Boxing Out Negativity (and leader of Bike Out Negativity coming up in May) and our friend Jesus Mariela, Director of cycling programming at CESTA, our partner in El Salvador. We look forward to seeing you there!

Zoom Meeting Link
February 2023 Annual Meeting, Draft Minutes
April 2023 General Meeting Agenda

Winter temperatures are finally arriving for 2023, but we’ll be relatively cozy in the Working Bikes warehouse! Join Working Bikes for our 2023 Annual Meeting to talk about the year that was, elect a slate of Board Members, discuss current projects both local and international, and get ready to spread bicycle love in the year to come. We’ll get together in person and virtually next Wednesday, February 1st, at a hybrid meeting. Folks who are vaccinated and masked are cordially invited to attend in person anytime after 6:00pm. Food and drinks are welcome, though masks are still necessary in the warehouse when not eating or drinking and we’ll be more spread out than in pre-Covid times. We’ll be starting the meeting and activating the Zoom link (see below) promptly at 6:30pm. We’ll have our friends from the SAFE Ambassadors talk about their work, will be sharing updates on our strategic planning process, and will be talking all things Working Bikes. We look forward to seeing you there!

Zoom Meeting Link
December, 2022 Draft Minutes
Agenda