Good Karma Bikes

Organization Mission & Overview
Good Karma Bikes (GKB) is a nonprofit social enterprise based in San José, California, that advances bicycle recycling as a sustainable transportation solution for local underserved communities. Through the provision of refurbished bicycles, mechanic education, and workforce development programs, GKB seeks to support its community, including unhoused and low-income individuals, by addressing transportation access and promoting environmental sustainability.

Situation
Although GKB had been successfully tracking outputs such as bikes distributed and clinics held, leadership recognized the need to measure deeper outcomes reflecting meaningful change in participants’ lives and communities.

Transitioning from output-focused to outcome-focused, however, posed cultural, technical, and capacity related challenges. Good Karma Bikes partnered with PennPAC to develop a system for measuring and tracking their outcomes in order to demonstrate stronger value to their stakeholders.

PennPAC’s Approach
PennPAC conducted a two-phase engagement with Good Karma Bikes:

• Phase One included stakeholder surveys and interviews, alongside a review of GKB’s existing data systems and practices.
• Phase Two included an in-person site visit followed by the development of outcome-focused metrics and a phased implementation roadmap

Throughout Good Karma Bikes and PennPAC’s partnership, PennPAC prioritized collaboration, transparency, and solutions aligned with the capacity and values of GKB.

Key Findings and Recommendations
PennPAC’s assessment identified strong impact across mobility, empowerment, education and youth development, health, environmental sustainability, and volunteer engagement, alongside challenges related to fragmented data systems and limited outcome tracking capacity. In response, PennPAC developed 13 outcome-focused metrics aligned to five impact themes and a phased implementation roadmap, emphasizing practical, capacity-aligned solutions such as short-term “quick wins,” data governance guidance, and prototype dashboards to support storytelling, fundraising, and decision-making.

Results
PennPAC’s work equipped Good Karma Bikes with a clear, actionable framework to quantify and communicate its impact, thereby strengthening external messaging, fundraising, and organizational learning.