BikeWalkKC’s policy and advocacy team welcomes Community Organizer Avery Jones. Avery is passionate about racial justice and social equity, and she has centered her education and career around making Kansas City better for all residents. She sees a brighter future where everyone is thriving, and she wholeheartedly believes that together, we can achieve it.
According to Avery, the first step to organizing is listening to people’s stories and ideas. Besides formal meetings, she also loves listening to social media storytimes about nearly any topic. “It has made me think a lot about what it takes to gather stories in your life,” she says. Avery likes to help people find common ground in the stories of their lives and their visions for the future, and then transform them into actionable realities through advocacy, art, programming, protest, and community engagement.
“It's very rewarding to take desires and frustrations you've harbored alone into a community that carries them into action alongside you.”
In her position at BikeWalkKC, Avery will lead efforts to identify and organize residents and community partners on KCMO’s East Side and Historic Northeast to advocate for policies, plans, and projects that will help to address long-standing health disparities. She will also support our efforts with the Transportation for All Coalition, a 2024 project to convene agencies and nonprofits that serve people experiencing transportation insecurity.
As an organizer, Avery appreciates the balance between tearing down harmful systems and building new ones. She works with Decarcerate KC to get people the care and resources they need and replace incarceration with restorative justice, and she sees her role at BikeWalkKC as part of that transformative support. “Equitable transportation access changes and saves lives,” she says.
“I’m navigating Kansas City without a car, very often in settings where the lack of one limits aspects of my life. BikeWalkKC’s work is about so much more than promoting biking and walking simply because some people like it.”
Whether alone or with friends, Avery’s favorite place to imagine a happier, healthier, more equitable Kansas City is Loose Park. Public spaces like parks don’t demand productivity and don’t charge a fee for the inspiration she draws from the trees and flowers, wildlife, and people. “My North Star has become that life is definitely not a linear pursuit, but it can be a well-storied one.”
Welcome to BikeWalkKC, Avery!