Hello, Mobycon!

I’ve made a big career move! After packing up and returning my WSP things a few weeks ago, in mid-April I had my first day at Mobycon.

Mobycon is a Dutch-based consultancy focused on advancing sustainable mobility. They expanded to North America (headquartered in Ottawa) 10 years ago, where their focus has been translating Dutch street design best practices into the local context and working with local municipalities to move away from car-dependent mobility networks.

Why the move? It certainly wasn’t an impulsive decision as I was very happy at WSP. But after chatting with a half dozen current and past employees the choice became clear:

• Learning from the Dutch. This one’s pretty obvious – I’ve been Dutch-inspired for many years now and have a whole category of posts on this blog dedicated to that topic. In this job I’ll be working with Dutch practitioners daily – a pretty unique experience.
• Working for a small company with a compelling vision. I’m excited by the fact that everyone working here seems very inspired and connected to the company’s vision, and that the mandate is purely focused on achieving it.
• A chance to unleash my entrepreneurial side. I’m constantly coming up with new ideas and looking for ways to implement them, and the company is set up well to support this.
• Develop my change management skills. Mobycon does a lot of coaching, training, and workshops, all aimed to help spark communities who are “Dutch-curious” to think differently about how they plan and design cities. I’m really excited to be a part of leading these and develop the art of persuasion.

Mobycon’s vision? Helping create less car-dependent communities. I’ve already heard from people familiar with the company who’ve said “they do bike stuff, right?”, to which my answer is “yes, and much more”. My blog is largely inspired by my experience of living without a car and my journey to understand car dependency. Reducing car dependency takes much, much more than tacking on a bike lane to an existing road. It requires rethinking how we plan networks and communities, integrating safety into everything we do, and creating places where people outside of cars feel comfortable and respected.

As I write this post, I’m also preparing to start my third week. There are some really exciting projects for me to get started on right away, and I’m already cooking up new ways to leverage some of my expertise to create new projects and opportunities. I’ll continue to be based in Ottawa, working at their coworking space downtown (yes, there is a slide), but will be travelling across Canada and the US for workshops and conferences.

When I started at Alta in 2019, I told everyone I was starting my “dream job”. Today it feels no different – every day I feel like I’m living my best professional life, making lasting change on our communities through my projects and initiatives.

Talk soon!