About Us
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Our Values
Traditional models are unable to adapt to the chaos and complexity of the effects of our modern consumer-lifestyle. Rising to solve the challenges of climate change, economic inequity and waste pollution requires a conscious change in the paradigms that led to this reality.
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Our Vision
We have the vision and capability to create an integrated sustainable transport model to address climate change and social equity, while expanding access, education and opportunity for all, especially the underserved community.
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About Tom
Thomas Holden, founder of Cyclized, spent 17 years in Tanzania running a Kilimanjaro trekking business, and co-founding a recycled bike enterprise. The company he ran was recognized by the United Nations for its leadership in sustainable business development, and his passion for bikes and sustainability has followed him to Oregon.
Our Values Matter
“Unless we learn how to bring nature’s regenerative and resilient models into our work and our communities, we will not thrive.”
Most bicycles are used for a few years until they hit the back of the garage. Most are forsaken long before their potential life-span is reached. Our society’s infatuation with replacing everything with new materials has resulted in a massive glut of stuff clogging up our lives and our landfills. New bikes and eBikes have a heavy impact, using all new materials with excessive non-recyclable packaging, and creating massive carbon outputs in manufacturing and transport.
Cyclized and its partner, Shift Community Cycles are tackling existing wasteful paradigms to create the most sustainable and useful pedal-transport options. We aim to create a multiplicity of good by meeting our planet’s biggest issues head-on!
Vision in Practice
We aim to tap the underutilized bikes in our community to build resilience, innovation and equity, solving multiple problems simultaneously. We see an integrated sustainable transport model to address climate change and social equity while expanding access, education and inclusion to pedal-transport in our community.
Strong partnerships are the key to any successful venture, and our collaboration with professional and responsible partners including Shift Community Cycles, allows us to focus and integrate high-value sustainable products, in a way that creates community resilience and pathways to social equity.
Our founder regularly dedicates his time to volunteer at Shift Community Cycles. Since it opened in Feb’22, Tom volunteered over 350 hours at Shift CC during 2022.
Experience in Action
Thomas Holden spent 17 years in Tanzania running a Kilimanjaro trekking business, Nature Discovery and co-founding a recycled bike enterprise called Arusha Bicycle Center (ABC).
In October 2018, Thomas presented his company’s success story at the at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, after winning the United Nations (UNCTAD) ‘Best Responsible Tourism Product Award.’
As much as Thomas enjoyed 17 years of racing through the African wilderness on a bicycle, the experiences that were been most meaningful to him were his work developing social equity. Working with the Kilimanjaro Porters Assistance Project, he helped to set the standards for ethical porter treatment standards that now are being practiced on a widespread level. His work co-founding the Arusha Bicycle Center (ABC Bicycle Center), has been a successful project to provide communities in Tanzania with bicycles for transport and repair facilities, while raising the level and participation of competitive cycling in Tanzania.
