Who We Are
Empowering individuals to access education, healthcare and economic opportunities through life-changing bicycles.

World Bicycle Relief is a catalyst for change, partnering with people in rural communities around the globe to realize their goals by expanding opportunities to access education, markets, health facilities and vital services with the tool they need to thrive.

Equipped with a purpose-designed Buffalo Bicycle from World Bicycle Relief, students, health workers and entrepreneurs in low-income regions create opportunities for themselves, their families and entire communities.

Our impact

OUR MISSION AND VISION

World Bicycle Relief mobilizes communities in rural regions around the world to thrive with life-changing bicycles.

By combining product development with community-led programming and social enterprise, students, community service providers, farmers and entrepreneurs can improve their access to education, healthcare and economic opportunities with a purpose-designed Buffalo Bicycle supported by an ecosystem of sustainable mobility.

Our long-term vision is to inspire all sectors to address the transportation needs for nearly 1 billion who need to get to school, work or healthcare. We will work with companies, governments, collaborators and competitors to scale the availability of quality bicycles, especially for women and girls.

How we work

Our Strategy

  • Continue to build an organization of excellence that values its team members.
  • Implement impactful, cost-effective, holistic bicycle mobility programs that are community-led and managed, based on an evidence-based approach and with gender intentionality.
  • Leverage rigorous impact data and stories to inspire and influence.
  • Innovate and create supply-chain for purpose-designed bicycles and components focused on value/quality proposition to the end-users.
  • Sell bicycles, spares and services—expanding retail presence and financial accessibility for consumers and value-added services for organizations.
  • Commit to continuous improvement through measurement, learning, innovation and communication.
SEE OUR 3-YEAR STRATEGY

Our Theory of Change

World Bicycle Relief partners with communities, especially women and girls, in rural areas to establish and manage a sustainable transportation ecosystem, to improve people’s access to critical poverty-reducing services and opportunities with gender integration.

Our Origins

World Bicycle Relief was founded in 2005 by F.K. Day and Leah Missbach Day in response to the Indian Ocean tsunami. As a founder of SRAM Corporation and a leader in product development, F.K.’s role offered a unique opportunity to problem-solve with cycling industry leaders. As a documentary photographer, Leah’s gift for sharing stories helped bring the devastation of those affected by the tsunami to light. Together, with support from SRAM and other industry leaders, F.K. and Leah launched World Bicycle Relief to provide bicycles for those in need. In partnership with aid organizations in Sri Lanka, we distributed more than 24,000 bicycles to displaced survivors, providing access to education, healthcare, and livelihoods while reconnecting entire communities.

Today, we’ve helped accelerate the journey out of poverty for more than 3.5 million people in 21 countries. 

Where we work
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
If you are impatient with the status quo. If you recognize that a child’s right to education or a woman’s right to healthcare doesn’t end where paved roads give way to rutted dirt paths. If you want to defeat chronic poverty and support rural communities in their efforts to overcome the challenge of access…