GoodWheels is a start-up nonprofit under the fiscal sponsorship of Vehicles for Change, a Maryland-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
We’re on a mission to bring the benefits of Electric Vehicles to low income communities.
We believe EVs can drive upward economic mobility by saving low-income households money, while also opening higher-wage career paths for low-wage workers.
We’re starting by refurbishing end-of-life Nissan LEAFs to make them affordable and practical for low-income households stuck driving old and unreliable gasoline cars that cost them more to fuel and maintain.
Over time, we seek to demonstrate that gasoline-to-electric conversions can not only produce affordable EV’s for low-income households, but also create higher wage jobs for workers in those very same communities. All while, replacing gasoline vehicles that would otherwise stay on the road, worsening climate change for years to come.
Learn more about our work today to refurbish EVs and our vision for a future in which we can scale gasoline-to-electric vehicle conversions.
Meet the Team
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FounderWill Villota is an award-winning brand strategist and storyteller whose career spans Fortune 500 companies, innovative nonprofits, and venture-funded startups.
He has led major economic mobility and workforce campaigns for Opportunity@Work and UnidosUS, including the nationally recognized Tear the Paper Ceiling campaign, which has helped inspire 30+ states to drop bachelor’s degree requirements for public-sector jobs. Will coined the term STARs—Skilled Through Alternative Routes—to describe the more than 70 million workers without a bachelor’s degree who have in-demand skills, a framework now embraced by leading companies, media outlets, and public figures.
Earlier in his career, he created campaigns that shifted national conversations, from elevating clean energy jobs and immersive climate storytelling to driving rapid growth at MotoSport and supporting adidas’s FIFA Women’s World Cup efforts. He began his career on Madison Avenue, developing national advertising campaigns for clients such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble.
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Co-Founder
Greg Dierkers is a strategic policy leader with more than 15 years of experience advancing clean energy, sustainable transportation, and climate action nationwide.
He has shaped state and national strategies through partnerships with governors, regulators, utilities, and community stakeholders, including leading a major National Governors Association initiative that spurred clean energy action in 15 states. Greg helped develop the first climate action plans for California and New York and has supported electric vehicle programs across the Mid-Atlantic.
A longtime collaborator with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities program and National Labs, he also designed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s first environmental justice engagement process to bring community voices into transportation planning.
Board of Directors
Eric Brody
Principal, Shift Advantage
Greg Dierkers
Co-Founder, GoodWheels
Will Villota
Founder, GoodWheels
Advisors
Papia Debroy
Chief Impact Officer, Opportunity@Work
Komal Kirtikar
Hertz (consultant), Former Lyft, Former Bain
Chris Kramer
Clean Energy Finance Consultant
Cristina Lopez
Chief Operating Officer, Greater Baltimore Committee
Molly Rath
Former City of Baltimore Mayor’s Office
Marcy Rood
Principal Environmental Transportation Analyst,
Argonne National Laboratory
Chuck Routhier
Principal, Chuck Routhier Office
Ava Richardson
Jack Mason
