2024 Impact Report

At the She Sends Foundation, we are proud to champion the dreams of aspiring female mountain bikers by providing vital financial support.

We recognize that breaking into — and staying competitive in — this sport often comes with steep financial challenges.

That’s why we’re here: to help remove barriers, uplift aspiring athletes, and create more opportunities for them to thrive.

She Sends Foundation x NICA GRiT

The She Sends funding supported 157 NICA GRiT [Girls Riding Together] outreach, retention, or coach development events at the team and league level!

Beyond the individuals whom we reached through these events, the grants helped us bring attention to the need for and impact of having a GRiT coach lead on every single NICA team.

These are the coaches who are responsible for leading GRiT recruitment and retention efforts at the team level, which is critical to helping NICA scale quickly and bring more girls into the sport. To date, 1,176 coaches have completed the online GRiT CEU, which is designed to give coaches the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to recruit and retain more women and girls.

As a result of all of this, NICA has increased female student-athlete participation by close to 1% this year, bringing our average participation to 24.2% nationwide. In the leagues that have the most well-developed GRiT programs, we now see as much as 35% female student-athletes.

  • 2,500 girls and women reached at NICA GRiT events

  • 1,176 coaches have completed the online GRiT CEU

  • 24.2% female student-athlete participation

She Sends Foundation x Little Bellas

Little Bellas hosted a half-day camp in 2024 for 16 girls in the Zuni Pueblo community.

This initiative brought cycling to an area with limited access to recreational opportunities and engaged local girls in a week-long, empowering experience on bikes. In addition to providing direct programming,

Funding Enabled:

  • Training for local mentors to support future programming

  • Travel and training for staff facilitators

  • Healthy snacks and essential supplies

  • Bike maintenance and logistics support

The result was not just a fun and active week—it laid a foundation for ongoing community engagement and leadership, amplifying the long-term impact of this investment.

She Sends Foundation x NorCal League GRiT

In 2024 NorCal League and the Nevada North League held an all-girls, 3-day mountain bike camp in Truckee, CA, for 6th - 12th graders.

  • The camp served 64 girls, 33 of whom were from the NorCal League and 32 from the Nevada North League.

  • The NorCal League gave 9 scholarships to student-athletes to attend this camp; 7 of these at 100% and two at 50%.

  • 20 female coaches and three staff supported it.

In 2024 the NorCal League’s GRiT program mentored 21 female student-athlete ambassadors to support its mission to get more girls on bikes.

  • 5 of these ambassadors identify with the LGBTQAI+ community and four with the BIPOC community.

  • 9 ambassador events were held, directly impacting 180 girls.

  • 11 ambassadors organized and hosted the first-ever NorCal GRiT ambassadorship event that reached 100 girls and indirectly reached about 1,800 people in total.

She Sends Foundation x Grasshopper
x Monarch Mentor Program

In 2024, the NorCal League’s GRiT program mentored 21 female student-athlete ambassadors to support its mission to get more girls on bikes.

Entering its 3rd year in 2025, the Low Gap Hopper U-19 Mentor Program built confidence in the next generation of female cyclists by providing comprehensive support for high school-aged riders in their first gravel race that is held annually in late January at the Grasshopper Adventure Series’ Low Gap event in Ukiah, California.

This innovative program for U19 girls & non-binary riders is not just about comping race fees; it’s about one-on-one mentorship that breaks down many of the barriers and stigmas that have prevented young women from taking on events like this.

By pairing young athletes with gravel seasoned adult mentors, this 1:1 opportunity with an elite cyclist gives participating young women the confidence to face their concerns and gives them the best chance at a positive experience that will see them attending a similar cycling event in the future.

As one participant stated, “seeing other girls my age here makes me feel really good. If they can do it, I can do it, too. It’s important to see other people like me out there.”

With support from the She Sends Foundation, Kate Courtney’s direct involvement and Monarch Cycling’s leadership, participation tripled in size from its first to second year and then had 31 mentees in 2025!

In 2024, the program had riders travel from as far as Utah and Montana to participate, and while the increase in numbers is impressive, we are most encouraged by the positive feedback received from all riders and the parents of participating families.

Thank you to all our donors and volunteers.

We’d like to thank each of our 2024 grantees for their incredible work in breaking down barriers and expanding opportunities for women and girls to ride. Their hard work is at the heart of building a stronger, more inclusive cycling community.

Interested in getting involved with The She Sends Foundation?
We’d love to hear from you! Email us shesendsit@gmail.com