We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sharon Madison. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sharon below.

Alright, Sharon thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

We Ride 4 nonprofit is all about “sharing the love.” We’ve adopted our mission statement: WE RIDE TO GIVE! Our efforts not only give support to one another with the challenges we put in front of ourselves with our bikes, but also our membership is actively volunteering time and raising money so we can support the local nonprofits that focus on getting kids outdoors and on bikes or other activities so these children have the chance of developing healthier lifestyles by getting them off their computers and getting them outside.

We’ve partnered with the local nonprofit Lucky to Ride in Denver, whose mission is to have more kids become acquainted with the natural beauty of Colorado from the seat of a mountain bike. We helped them with their Family Mountain Bike Day, with over 100 kids attending. Our Tucson chapter has had a beautiful relationship with the Pueblo Road Warriors from Pueblo High School by getting them on workable bikes that some club members worked hard to refurbish. We did training rides on Saturdays to get some of the youth ready to ride in the largest biking event in Tucson, Tour de Tucson. We even had one boy go from beginner to finishing the century option in the event!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

After I was laid off from the nonprofit where I was in charge of building up the membership for the cycling side of its mission, I thought my world was coming to an end, along with the globe, because of the pandemic we all faced in 2020. Then, I realized I was handed an opportunity to start my own nonprofit with an added component—- to ride to give! Children bring me joy! And, now, building a nonprofit with the opportunity to support local nonprofits who help children was perfect, along with the camaraderie on almost 7 days-a-week rides was a dream come true. Seeing those smiles on the kids’ faces and seeing the smiles on members’ faces after a club ride brings me such joy. We Ride 4 has grown from zero to more than 300 members since 2020.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I had to go out on a limb and take money from my savings to see if I could have my dream job come to fruition by becoming executive director of my new nonprofit! I took the leap of faith. 3 years later, I have successfully built-up memberships, sponsors, and generous donations from club members and non-members who believe in our cause. The club has raised and donated $284,636 to support our local nonprofit partnerships, low-cost operations budget, and a small salary for my executive director role. Yes, I am glad I took the risk!

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

When I harness my thoughts and actions to make “it happen,” I know how to “turn lemons into lemonade” when everyday life throws me curveballs. The pandemic caused the other nonprofit to shut down my 6-year efforts of building up the cycling arm, where I put my whole heart and soul into its development. As I said, I was crushed by its closing, but my lemonade-making skills were put to the test once again. And I’m proud to say the best lemonade I’ve made yet. I was determined to create a new, even more, robust nonprofit than the previous one. We Ride 4 was born end of April 2020, with the new nonprofit serving dual purposes: to build wonderful camaraderie amongst the membership, but, just as importantly, to have the organization give back to the larger community by riding 4 a local nonprofit supporting kids’ healthy lifestyles by getting them involved in outdoor fun.

Contact Info:

• Website: weride4.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weridefor/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/weride4
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/we-ride-4
• Twitter: @Ride4We
• Other: My email is sharon@weride4.org