Monica Smith-Callahan recalls her first public speaking experience at age 5 at Antioch Baptist Church in the Varina community where she grew up.

“They asked me to get up and recite a Bible verse,” she says, wearing her trademark smile. “They wouldn’t let you say no. “I spoke there many times after that,” she says of the church that she calls “my foundation for everything that I do.”

The church was the early training ground for the engaging 38-year-old who now speaks to dozens of civic associations, governing bodies and business groups as the community engagement director for Richmond 2015.

Ms. Smith-Callahan is the lone African-American and only female among seven full-time employees in the group putting on the UCI Road World Championships bike races Sept. 19 through 27 in Richmond.

She delights in being the predominant public face of the biking championships that remain a largely white-dominated sport that attracts a mostly white audience.

“In a city with a majority African-American community, as an African-American mother and a native of this town that has gone from being known as the ‘Capital of the Confederacy’ to now being this hip, cool community, it’s a huge honor for me to engage with the community about the races,” she says.

Ms. Smith-Callahan has been on a whirlwind tour of the city and surrounding counties since she began her duties in July 2012.

She estimates that since January, she has spoken at more than 150 community meetings. Without skipping a beat, she answers questions and addresses concerns. She also is in charge of recruiting volunteers to work the event and will oversee more than 6,000 volunteers from 28 countries when the races start.

“It’s an enormous amount of pressure working on an event of this magnitude, making sure everything hits the floor just right.

“Being a type A personality, being very organized by nature, I’m already putting a lot of pressure on myself. But I love doing this and I know I’m going to make it to the finish line.”

Ms. Smith-Callahan said she knew little of competitive bike racing when she started the job. “I knew who Lance Armstrong was and the Tour de France.”

Though African-Americans won’t see a lot of riders of color in the field, she encourages the black community to support the races.

“Why not come out and experience this?” she asks. “It’s a once in a generation event that will not come back to Richmond.

“We have to be realistic with our children,” she continues. “Not everybody’s going to become an NBA or NFL player. We need to expose our children to a new sport that has superior athletes that is literally coming past our backyards. You can’t just dismiss it and say we’re not into cycling. This is a major international event that the entire community should come out and enjoy.”

We’re off to the races with this week’s Personality, Monica Smith-Callahan:

Date and place of birth: 1977 in Richmond.

Current home: Henrico County.

Education: Bachelor’s degree from George Mason University; master’s degree from Strayer University.

Family: Husband, Calvin, and two children, Ayden, 8, and Evan, 5.

Background: I attended Varina High School and was a cheerleader and class president. I was chief of staff at U-Turn Sports Academy for 15 months prior to taking this job and worked at Comcast for nine years prior to that.

Are you a bike rider: Yes. I ride on weekends with my children.

When did you start riding: As a child. My dad, Lloyd Smith, was a physical education teacher in Richmond. Learning to ride a bike was a rite of passage.

What did you do to prepare for the bike races: I went to three big races, the USA Pro Challenge in 2012 in Denver, the UCI Road World Championships in Florence, Italy, in 2013 and the UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain, last year.

What message would you relay to the public about the bike races in Richmond: The community has to come together and accept the fact that it’s coming. They also need to learn as much as possible about the races in order to fully enjoy them and be able to get around town while the races are here.

What misconceptions are there about the races: First, that people won’t be able to get around and will be landlocked. Most races will start after the end of traditional rush hour and end before the business day ends.

Second, that there will be 450,000 people getting off boats, planes and trains from around the world to come to watch the races. We’re counting on a large part of the local community to be counted in that number. The number of people watching each day will have ebbs and flows, with the greatest number of people expected on weekends.

What has been the greatest challenge for you and your colleagues in planning for this: That there hasn’t been a world championship held in the United States in 30 years. There’s no playbook to open up and say this is the magic formula for success. The last world bike race in this country was in Colorado Springs, Colo., in 1986.

What local riders can we cheer for: Ben King from Richmond, who now lives in Charlottesville, Joe Dombrowski from Marshall and Andrea Dvorak from Charlottesville.

Favorite late-night snack: A slice of cake or a cookie with a tall glass of milk, but I deny myself constantly because I know I will have to work hard the next day to burn those calories.

The one thing people do not know about me is: I’m an open book.

Some fun facts about me are: I married my high school sweetheart. I’m a middle child. And I’m a pugilist — I enjoy a great boxing match.

Hobbies: I don’t have time for hobbies right now, but the one thing that I make sure I have time for is exercise. I run 4 miles most days before work and I attend an exercise class with a group of ladies that I have been exercising with for more than 15 years.

Three words that best describe me: Caretaker, indomitable and blessed.

Book I’m currently reading: “Go Tell It on the Mountain” by James Baldwin.

Favorite movie: A tie between “The Color Purple” and “Pretty Woman.”

My next goal is: To be gainfully employed after my race duties end sometime in October.