SFTR Staff News:

 

Welcome, Vinita Goyal!

We're very excited to announce our new Interim Executive Director. We first met Vinita Goyal when working together on progressive revenue measures for transportation in the Bay Area.

At the time, Vinita was Program Manager for Housing and Transportation at Silicon Valley Community Fund. Vinita has long been a thought leader in innovative and sustainable transportation - her deep passion for equitable transit for all is a clear fit for our work.

"Coming through this pandemic is a crucial time for San Francisco Transit Riders and community partners to reinforce confidence, energy, and rigor to continue efforts in improving transit options throughout the city," says Vinita. "I am excited to join San Francisco Transit Riders and our partners in reimagining what the engagement and facilitation of community leadership can look like." 

Vinita has spent the last decade focusing on equitable development issues for marginalized communities, and is passionate about addressing root causes of systemic disparities. For transportation, that can mean prioritizing suburban commuters on highways that pollute poorer neighborhoods in urban areas, and it can mean deprioritizing transit in a way that heavily impacts travel for transit-dependent people. 

"Knowing Vinita through our work together on regional transit issues, I feel very fortunate that San Francisco Transit Riders is gaining the direct benefit of her expertise and perspective," says co-chair Thea Selby. "We are thrilled that Vinita will be guiding our work as we seek our permanent Executive Director."

Welcome, Vinita!

 

Congratulations, B-Rod!

B-Rod was brought on board in the earliest days of the pandemic as a very part-time community organizer. We sought to build our on-street outreach at exactly the time when everyone was suddenly not on the streets. B-Rod has perservered through, building important relationships in communities most impacted by transit service cuts.

We are so happy B-Rod stuck with us, and that we can now bring them on as our first full time community organizer! We look forward to expanding our community organizing efforts and impacts with their enthusiasm and leadership. So glad to have you, B-Rod!

 

Eric Chan is Moving On

We are very sorry to say goodbye to Eric Chan, our part-time community organizer for the past three and a half years. Eric laid the foundation for our community organizing philosophy and strategy, and built several training and education programs. Eric also led our Ride Audit efforts as well as collaborations with a variety of community partners to reach riders across the city.

"I am deeply grateful to have had the opportunity to contribute to SFTR, especially with laying the foundation for our community organizing work," says Eric. "It has been a joy to create, to experiment, and to hear riders' stories and mobilize them to fight for a transit-first city. Transit advocacy, particularly at the intersections of racial, climate, and environmental justice, will always remain close to my heart."

Eric is taking a full-time role at the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, an environmental justice organization grounded in Asian immigrant and refugee populations that fight for healthy and clean environments where their communities can live and thrive.

We're happy to hear Eric is moving back to San Francisco from Oakland and plans to support our efforts as a volunteer! 

We are so thankful for all Eric has done for transit riders, so glad to know him, and we wish him the very best in all his future endeavors.

Eric at Excelsior Sunday Streets in 2018

 
 


P.O. Box 193341, San Francisco, California  94119 [email protected]

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