FVMBA, a volunteer run non-profit organization advocating for the protection of mountain biking trails and their establishment, teams up with Penny Deck who is joining the team as Operations Manager. 

Date: July 12, 2019

The FVMBA has come a long way since its formation as a small yet feisty group of volunteers advocating for the protection of mountain biking trails and their establishment within the Fraser Valley. While we are still feisty, and still carrying on the advocacy effort today, we have also grown as an organization both in terms of membership and leadership.

With our growth, it was only three years ago we found the need to hire our Executive Manager, Terri-Lynn Gifford, to manage administrative and organizational tasks of the FVMBA in order to achieve our goals and alleviate day-to-day pressures from the volunteer Board of Directors.

Fast forward three years, and we have again found the need for more assistance in our day-to-day operations as a result of our wide geographic area, fostering new relationships with First Nations and other stakeholders, and navigating governmental regulations, permitting and the like, in order to ensure we do things in a good way.

With these relationships, opportunities and challenges in mind, we created our second staff position — the Operations Manager, who is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the day-to-day operations associated with trail maintenance, trail establishment and reporting procedures in order to further fulfill our goals.

So, who is Penny Deck, the new Operations Manager of the FVMBA?

Penny combines her long-standing experience as a trail builder, instructor and board member for non-profit organizations with a passion for people and mountain biking. She has been mountain biking for over 20 years, including racing recreationally in cross-country (XC), downhill (DH), and enduro events; and, is a certified mountain bike coach with 18 years of experience.

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She has over ten years of volunteer service as a board member, serving with other non-profit organizations, including our friends at the North Shore Mountain Bike Association (NSMBA), North Shore Ride, and the Burnaby Mountain Bike Association (BMBA). As a result, she has significant experience liaising with land managers, trail builders, and the general community as she also spent seven years giving back to the North Shore trails as a volunteer builder with the NSMBA.

Penny has also spent three years as a part-time employee with the NSMBA as Trail Academy Lead, developing curriculum in sustainable trail care and delivering classroom and practical instruction in established best practices for trail maintenance, rock work, wood structures, and trail design. She is also credited with developing the NSMBA Youth Trail Stewards Program aimed at partnering with schools and engaging youth in learning about sustainable trails while providing them the opportunity to care for the trails through youth trail days.

With her many years of experience and passion for the mountain biking community, we are excited to have Penny join our team at the FVMBA. With both Terri-Lynn and Penny managing our Executive and Operational tasks, respectively, we are proud to have strong women leading the charge towards our next chapter.

Without further ado, please join us in welcoming Penny Deck on board!

Sincerely,

FVMBA Board of Directors