50 Fund Playmaker: James T. Gardner, PhD and Good Karma Bikes

Our 34th 50 Fund Playmaker is Good Karma Bikes, an organization that transforms lives through the medium of bicycles. Through their innovative model, they transform lives of disenfranchised and at-risk youth while improving the environment. Their Playmaker grant will fund the rehabilitation of bicycles by former foster children and other youth adults ages 18-24 to be given to younger foster and at-risk children. Through this program, aged-out foster care youth secure critical life skills and learn the value of altruistic action. This grant will enable foster youth currently on the wait-list to participate as well as provide bicycles over the holiday season to hundreds of youth. Good Karma Bikes recognized their CEO James T. Gardner, PhD, who began helping homeless people in downtown San Jose fix their bicycles on the weekends back in 2008. Discovering an enormous need, Dr. Gardner began to teach homeless people how to repair their bikes themselves, and they in turn taught others. From there, he started Good Karma Bikes to reach out to aged-out foster youth and give them a greater chance at a path towards greater education. "Dr. Gardner found that by training unskilled homeless youth at scale, they were provided with not only a reliable means of transportation but also a transformative experience that impacted how they viewed themselves and their futures," said Cindy Ahola, vice president of operations at Good Karma Bikes. www.sfbaysuperbowl.com