Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Redford

Hi Elizabeth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

I am a former classroom special education teacher who founded a nonprofit bakery. Our bakery serves as a vocational training center for young adults with developmental disabilities.

My connection to this work first started as a kid. One of my best friends in elementary school was born Deaf and lived in both a hearing family and hearing community. I saw her navigate an educational environment that wasn’t always set up for her academic success. I was later diagnosed in middle school with a learning disability and then experienced this same challenge for myself. These experiences led me to ultimately pursue my master’s in education from the College of William and Mary, focusing on Special Education.

I began my career in a traditional self-contained special education classroom. While I loved my students and school community, I was thrilled when I was recruited to create a supported employment program for a large corporation in Richmond. That led me to the subfield of transition services, which focuses on life after high school for the disability community.

I went on to co-found a nonprofit, the Next Move Program, that provided job training and vocational education – spinning off the efforts from within that corporation to serve our larger region. Under my role at Next Move Program, I then went on to found Tablespoons Baking – the bakery (which started as a farmers’ market stand) has now largely taken over the nonprofit and is the primary way in which we carry out our mission each day. We provide internships to high school students with developmental disabilities and serve as a supported employment site. The students receive class credit for their participation and we serve as a satellite public high school experience.

Also, as a child, I was an avid baker! That part of my story has also come full circle. I picked baking because there was a part of the process that each of my students could do. Not only did it provide vocational opportunities, but it also provided social and independent living skills too.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

There were so many challenges over the years. And there will continue to be more. Starting a business, let alone essentially two nonprofit programs, is difficult. There are more “no’s” in a day than “yes’s.” I think having a mission bigger than yourself and surrounding yourself with others who are also committed to that mission helps you continue to push forward.

The biggest hurdle was in 2020 when I was trying to prepare the bakery to open during a global pandemic as the only full-time employee on our team. I took it each day at a time and called in all the favors – but eventually, we found our way through. Because the space opened during the pandemic, we also had the benefit of not being too set in a particular way of doing anything. That same spirit and adaptability is core to being a special education teacher too.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Tablespoons Bakery ?

Tablespoons Bakery is a vocational culinary training program through the non-profit Next Move Program, that provides internship experiences and employment opportunities for young adults with developmental disabilities. Launched in 2017 with the support of the Virginia Department of Education, our baking program serves about 50 young adults annually and strives to combat the 70% unemployment rate for their group in the state of Virginia.

Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?

We’ve seen so many shifts in the last few years connected to e-commerce trends and social media. So many local or regional food and beverage brands have been able to become national players through social media. We would love that opportunity to grow and share our mission on a larger scale. We’ve spent time investing in our website, capacity to fill and ship online orders, and social media presence. One of my favorite regular social media series we do is our “Fake Baking Show” – it shows the joy of being in our kitchen, fun recipes, and how to implement accommodations in a kitchen setting.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.tablespoonsbakery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tablespoonsbakery
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tablespoonsbakery/