By Andy Gordon, Executive Director
It’s been a whirlwind of learning and connection since joining the Sharing Wheels team in December. This experience has truly reinforced a core belief: a lasting nonprofit must be able to successfully blend the practices of business with the heart of a community. Witnessing firsthand the passion and dedication of our staff and the warmth of the community we serve has been incredibly inspiring. I can already see why Sharing Wheels has thrived for twenty-two years, and I’m excited to contribute to its continued success.
In my first few months, Sharing Wheels transitioned directors, went through year end tasks like budgeting and filing, reorganized our digital and physical office spaces, launched our new Youth Bike Club, and kicked off our 2025 season of Mobile Bike Repair. Looking forward, our plan is to continue to build program momentum for 2025 while mobilizing several new volunteer teams aimed at growing operational areas of the business such as fundraising, community development, and outreach. With a growth of income and person power, I’m confident we will be able to tackle moving Sharing Wheels to a new location.
I want to take a moment to acknowledge the incredible support I’ve gotten from Christy Cowley, our director-emeritus, over the last few months. Any successes I can tout would ultimately not be possible without her help and teaching. I am also immensely thankful for the help and guidance I have received from our board of directors, whose volunteer efforts are essential to our mission. Together we’ve used this transition to update some of our operations. We’ve upgraded office technology, streamlined our financial processes, and enhanced our donor management — all of which strengthen our ability to serve the community.
This month, after long hours of planning and preparation we held our inaugural session of the Sharing Wheels Youth Bike Club. Led by new youth program manager Kristen Kosidowski, our first cohort of six middle schoolers learned biking basics and had a great time doing it. It was an all-hands project launching this and during the first session our entire staff could feel the impact we will be making with this program. Our second, spring cohort is already fully booked and excited to take part in the club.
Not to be outshined, Ed took his new duties managing our myriad shop programs in stride while also finding time to support the launch of the youth program. We are now scheduled for more than thirty Mobile Bike Repair visits in 2025. Larry, Ron, and other awesome volunteers recently took MBR to Mukilteo and Mountlake Terrace. In between, Ed and Sharing Wheels volunteers ran a booth at the annual Seattle Bike Swap.
Eric has been running the shop more often to support Ed getting regular office time. In addition, he took on more hours when Andrew was on leave for a large portion of January, enjoying some much-deserved recovery time. Andrew is back now and the two of them have been impactful both in the shop as stellar mechanics and in our youth club as engaging, secondary instructors.
In personal news, I have a bike! It’s rusty and every part on it seems to be fused solid but I’m pretty proud of it. I have been volunteering in the shop when I can to meet more community members. There Andrew, Eric, and many helpful volunteer mechanics have been teaching me the basics of cassettes, derailleurs, and other drive train components. It’s been suggested several times that I join the Youth Bike Club cohort. Undaunted, my goal is to get this bike running, learn commuter safety, and then bike ‘n bus from my home in Mountlake Terrace to Sharing Wheels. Preferably during the warmer months.
Thanks for reading! I’m always open to your feedback and assistance, preferably over a cup of coffee.
-Andy