- Emerging Advocate of the Year award - In 2020 Michael’s early work was honored at the National Bike Summit by the League of American Bicyclists.
- Supporting victims of traffic violence and their families, often to help them channel personal tragedy into advocacy to prevent future injuries and deaths.
- Representing pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders in the halls of power and at the tables where decisions are made by serving on the KCMO Bike/Pedestrian Advisory Committee, the KCMO Vision Zero Task Force, Healthy Communities Wyandotte, the KC Regional Transit Alliance board, and multiple metro-wide bodies at the Mid-America Regional Council.
- Lobbying for better policies and more funding in Jefferson City, Topeka, and the U.S. Congress.
- Building grassroots capacity and power through ongoing Advocacy 101 training and our new Community Transportation Academy.
- Writing Complete Streets policies for communities throughout the Kansas City region and across Missouri; creating a Complete Streets template that is nationally recognized.
- Repealing KCMO’s jaywalking law, which criminalized walking and was disproportionately enforced against Black and Brown communities. That work resulted in a how-to guide created with the Safe Routes Partnership, and technical assistance for advocates in communities across the U.S. looking to make similar reforms.
Everyone at BikeWalkKC will miss Michael’s compassion, professionalism, his intense fear of spiders, stinging high fives, and so many corny Dad jokes. We wish Michael the very best in his future adventures!
