Andrea Coleman

Andrea Coleman is chief executive officer of Riders and has guided the financial/funding and advocacy development of Riders from its inception, including establishing the entrepreneurial income streams and innovative fundraising initiatives that have enabled organisational growth. She has also been responsible for ensuring the good profile, reputation and security of the organisation.

Andrea used her long experience and knowledge of the motorcycling community to devise an innovative fundraising strategy to support the development of Riders field programmes. Fundraising methods included the creation of a helmet-parking bus, competitors’ memorabilia auctions and large-scale participatory events to build the unrestricted funding necessary for the organisation’s survival and development.

She guided the financial and funding development of Riders. Its first major award was Lottery funding for the Riders training facility in Zimbabwe. Riders was designated ‘Charity of the Year’ by Charity Finance Magazine in 2001. In 2002 it won funding in the World Bank Development Marketplace competition and in 2004 Andrea won the Sage business award in partnership with the Daily Telegraph for business leader of the year.

Andrea’s creative input and people-focused approach has been integral to the development of the field programmes and she continues to work closely with husband and co-founder Barry and the operations team to oversee the programmes. She established Riders as a fund-raising operation in the USA and in 2008 opened an office in Chicago, Illinois.

In 2004 Barry and Andrea were inducted into the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship (sister organization of the World Economic Forum). In 2006 they were also named as recipients of one of the Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship and as Ernst & Young UK Social Entrepreneurs of the Year.

In this video Riders' co-founder and CEO, Andrea Coleman, explains the impact that a single motorcycle can have on a health system in Africa and the importance of keeping that motorcycle well maintained: