The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), and its Go Human Program, along with California Walks (CalWalks), have developed the Community Safety Ambassador Training Program (Ambassador Program) for Imperial, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties. The program is operated by CalWalks with funding from SCAG and the California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS).
About The Program
The Ambassador Program is a community engagement and leadership development opportunity working with 20 community members per county to complete a training program to build capacity and improve walking and biking safety. The program seeks to strengthen collaboration with local community spaces and stakeholders to make Imperial, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties safer and more pleasant places to navigate on foot or on wheels.
The Ambassador Program is a paid training opportunity that consists of educational and engagement strategies to improve safety through virtual interactive workshops. All successful Ambassadors will earn $500 for participating and supporting facilitation in virtual Training Sessions and accompanying Workshops, as well as co-developing and executing an Activation project. All program activities will be hosted remotely through an online platform, and not in-person due to COVID-19. Ambassadors will be compensated upon completion of the Ambassador Program, including youth.
Training Coverage
- How to conduct walk and bike assessments
- How to create and support community walking or biking efforts
- How to identify safe places to walk and bike
- How to talk to your city & county about infrastructure changes
- How to collect and where to see crash data for your community
- How to advocate for sidewalks and other safety improvements
Potential Activation Projects
- Community safety conversations
- Community surveys
- Walk or bike assessment, pending local COVID-19 public health guidelines
- Distribution of educational safety materials
- Campaign to engage city or county staff, neighbors, or other stakeholders
Ambassador Toolkit
Get Inspired! Community Safety Ambassadors Toolkit Now Available.
Over 48 Community Safety Ambassadors from Imperial, San Bernardino and Ventura Counties completed over 30 hours of workshops and trainings this summer. This paid community engagement and leadership development program aimed to build capacity of local leaders and bridge relationships with local governments to improve walking and biking safety.
Ambassadors implemented 40+ activities and events to support traffic safety and community engagement in their local communities. Activities and events included community garden activities in Ontario, bicycle safety education in Ventura, temporary demonstration planning in El Centro and Calexico, and more!
Learn more about the program and activations in the Ambassador Toolkit. Also available in Spanish.
Contact
For more information contact Dorothy Le Suchkova, SCAG Senior Regional Planner, at (213) 236-1932 or suchkova@scag.ca.gov. For questions or help filling out the application, contact Edgar at edgar@calwalks.org or by phone at (714) 715-6130. Assistance is also available in Spanish.
