Smart Growth America is excited to share the roster of passionate individuals joining our first-ever cohort for Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance (TA). These 15 individuals will build skills around data and storytelling to advance their efforts for safer streets.
One of the greatest strengths of our cornerstone report Dangerous by Design is its power to fuel on-the-ground change. To amplify our impact, Smart Growth America has selected 15 local champions to participate in our first-ever Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance program. During the three-month program, participants will improve their ability to leverage data around traffic safety, incorporate data into local actions and story-telling, and increase support for safer streets for all road users. These individuals represent the passion, dedication, and hard work being done by thousands of champions across the U.S. to advance traffic safety.
We received almost 70 applications to participate, demonstrating the interest in the program and energy in advancing pedestrian safety writ large. The participants we selected represent the diverse backgrounds in the pedestrian safety movement, working at advocacy organizations, public agencies, and as elected officials. They tell the story of communities, big and small, who fight every day to create better places for people to walk, bike, and roll. We are eager to share their stories and to work with them to implement the lessons found in Dangerous by Design.
“We are so excited to come together with this inspiring cohort of champions for pedestrian safety,” said Heidi Simon, Director of Thriving Communities at Smart Growth America. “Through this program, we look forward to sharing the real-life experience of using dangerous roads across the country and to uplifting the inspirational efforts of our cohort to make communities safer for everyone, no matter how they get around.”
Beginning this March, participants will take part in a series of virtual sessions led by SGA staff and expert partners to hone their skills to effectively advocate for traffic safety. At the culmination of the program, the cohort will complete a project to advance a traffic safety initiative in their own community. In addition to the virtual sessions, participants will work with SGA staff to capture on-the-ground stories and personal experiences that will be included in Dangerous by Design 2024, scheduled for release this summer.
Meet the 2024 Cohort
- George L. Mason, Huntsville, Alabama
- Reese M. Brewer, Fort Smith, Arkansas
- Hannah Moulton Belec, Tempe, Arizona
- Warren Wells, Marin County, California
- Laura Hardwicke, Orlando, Florida
- Jenn Kagiwada, Hilo, Hawaii
- Monique Brown, New Orleans, Louisiana
- Nolan Bergstrom, Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Justin Seaton, St. Louis, Missouri
- Christopher Ramirez, Albuquerque, New Mexico
- James Dietz, Rochester, New York
- Kimberly Riepl, Bismarck, North Dakota
- Jackson McNeil, Memphis, Tennessee
- Natalie Lubsen, Seattle, Washington
- Marybeth McGinnis, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
In the coming months, as participants dive head-first into the TA program, we look forward to documenting what they learn and the impacts of their efforts to make streets safer for everyone.
Smart Growth America’s Dangerous by Design Technical Assistance program is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention under cooperative agreement OT18-1802 supporting the Active People, Healthy NationSM Initiative, a national initiative led by the CDC to help 27 million Americans become more physically active by 2027. Learn more.