PATH Shifts Focus to Mission-Critical Programs and Services
Dear Friend of PATH,
I am going to get right to the point: PATH will no longer be administering races. There are many reasons, but the bottom line is that we are going to be focusing on our mission-critical programs and services moving forward. This does not necessarily mean that the runs won’t continue. They just won’t be administered by PATH.
Every Wednesday I walk a my dear friend and mentor. We often talk about how stewarding a nonprofit organization is a bit like a long distance relay run. Each leader runs as far as they can for their era of leadership, or leg of the race. Then they hand off the “baton” (or in my case, bike and laptop), to the next leader.
I am honored to lead PATH in the next leg of the journey.
PATH’s mission remains the same: to connect the people and places of Hawaii Island with bikeways and walkways. However, in this era, PATH is shifting to focus more of our institutional energies on improving our 2 direct service and island-wide programs (1. Bike and Pedestrian Education for adults/keiki 2. HIBIKE Bikeshare), championing safe multi-modal active transportation systems at the local and state level, and leaning into equity learning and practice.
Just a few of our recent successes include:
- Tripling HIBIKE Bikeshare usage in three years
- Winning the largest federal alternative transportation grant in Hawai’i County’s history
- Successfully partnering with Mass Transit to provide free HIBIKE rides for all Hele On riders
- Purchasing a new fleet of bikes for our popular Safe Routes to School Bike Education program
- Continuing to deliver high-qualify bike safety and pedestrian education classes to 4th graders in schools from Puna to Kohala (and everywhere in-between). We send out a van with volunteers and staff, 35 bikes, and helmets to give every student!
- Launching and growing Bike RX — a bike safety education class and ride for patients from community health centers
- Continuing to champion Vision Zero, Complete Streets, and multi-modal trails at the state and local level.
Thanks to the visionary leadership of previous executive directors Laura Dierenfield and Tina Clothier, PATH has become a respected, valued leader in the active transportation movement throughout Hawaii Island as a whole.
In late April, we will be welcoming our first development director to the PATH staff, and later this year we will begin strategic planning. It is a very exciting time for PATH. Thank you for your ongoing support.
With Aloha,
Jess Thompson, PATH Executive Director
