We recently connected with Ed Lynch and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ed, thanks for joining us today. Any thoughts around creating more inclusive workplaces?

Nearly 9 years ago Jose Bollanos came into Mychal’s Learning Place and told us that he “would never get a job because he has autism.” That type of stereotyping and prevalent misconception about people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities is what has lead to the incredible 85% unemployment rate faced by individuals with disabilities.

We are so proud to say Jose has been gainfully employed for 8 years now with Modernica, working a full time job and having a profound impact on the corporate culture itself. This is what Mychal’s Learning Place was created for, helping young adults with developmental disabilities develop the skills they need to find gainful employment, AND to show the community at large just how much this population is capable of doing. Our participants have goals of living an independent life, getting a paycheck, achieving their goals, and they should be given opportunities to do so. That’s why Mychal’s started with our own social enterprises, Mychal’s Bakery & Coffee and Mychal’s Print & Embroidery. These businesses are run like a for-profit business, giving our participants hands-on skills they need while also showing our community all that our participants are capable and able of doing.

Even more so, we hope that other corporations start to see the work that our participants are doing, hopefully they see the success of our social enterprise and now become more open to hiring a person with developmental disabilities. We are on a mission to change society’s preconceived notions about what a person with developmental disabilities can do.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was introduced to the disabilities community when I started volunteering for an organization called LA GOAL in 1988. I became the sports director and worked in the day program as a support staff member. This was 6 months prior to my daughter Mychal being born. This started my journey into the developmental disabilities world. At the time I didn’t understand why I was working with this community. It wasn’t until it became obvious that my daughter Mychal had a developmental disability that I knew this is exactly where I was meant to be.

As Mychal was approaching 2 years old doctors told us she had an undiagnosed neurological condition that over time would affect every aspect of function for her. During her time here I looked for programs that she could attend that would provide her with engaging opportunities and socialization in a safe and loving environment. I never found a program that could provide this for her. After Mychal passed away at 7 1/2 years old I started Mychal’s Learning Place as a way to create exactly what I had hoped and wanted for her.

On July 2nd will be celebrating our 22nd year running. What started off as an after school program at a church in Hawthorne has grown into so much more. We moved out of the church space in 2011 and soon after added an adult program that provides independent living skills training, job training and employment. In 2016 we converted our kitchen into a commercial bakery to provide job training that offered baked goods catering and soon added barista service which we continue to offer to local corporations as well as community events. In 2017 we started Mychal’s Prints and Embroidery, to provide much needed additional job training. Thanks to the success of this business, we had outgrown our space and in 2021 we purchased a property of our own in Redondo Beach and have been welcomed by the community. In August of 2021 we were given an opportunity to run a cafe out of the Torrance Memorial Specialty Center that continues to thrive.

The common thread with our social enterprises is that our participants are doing the work. In the bakery they are mixing, measuring, using the oven, packing, cleaning, all of it. The print shop is the same, our students are working on all aspects of garment printing and the same for running the cafe. I’m most proud of our participants who continue to show us how capable and able they are, they want the same opportunities that we have. There are so many individual stories that continue to remind me that we are on the right path and there is so much work to do for such a deserving group of individuals.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I was thinking of starting Mychals I approached an organization that I knew very well to see if they’d umbrella me while I was working on my official nonprofit paperwork as a way to help me raise much needed start-up funds through donations. After attending a couple board meetings they said that they didn’t want to take this on. This was very unsettling for me as I had a very long history with them. The pivot was to just move ahead on my own and trust that it will all work out.

Here we are 22 years later and I’m so grateful they said no. I think that mentality of seeing a need, and finding a way to accomplish it continues to permeate through everything we do at Mychal’s. Mychal’s doesn’t operate in a box. When we saw that there was a need to continue our work and education for young adults older than school age, we created an adult Path To Independence program. When we saw that corporate partners weren’t offering jobs and internships as quickly as we’d like to see, we started our own social enterprises. We are always looking for new opportunities that may come along that can support our participants. Another example of that was when we were looking for a new home for the print shop. We spent months trying to purchase this one property. When the owners changed their minds about selling we were in desperation mode. We quickly located a property in Redondo Beach and 2 months later moved in. I can say I’m glad the other property fell out as this location is much better, safer and easily accessible for our participants.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

How we funded the start up of Mychals was through individual donors, the Regional Center and David Bowie. Yes, that David Bowie. A very good friend of mine worked for David and I’d been fortunate enough to get to know him. I was given an opportunity to bring my daughter Mychal down to a filming of one of his music videos and he and his team treated her like a princess. At one point he stopped the production and took photos with Mychal, and to remind me of this magical moment, this photo still hangs in our Hawthorne location. He knew of my story and when I reached out to my friend to see if he could help, he responded “absolutely”. He donated a signed guitar to help with fundraising and his team designed our logo and put up our first website. The reason I share this story is because Mychal’s Learning Place wouldn’t be here without the support of so many people over the years. I would not have been able to get Mychals where it is today without the support of many. Eventually I see Mychal’s becoming self-sustaining through the successes of our social enterprises, and the individuals who work there.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.mychals.org
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/mychalslearningplace
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MychalsLearningPlace
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mychal’s-learning-place
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MychalsLearningPlace
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/mychals-printing-and-embroidery-redondo-beach-2?osq=mychal%27s+print+%26+embroidery

Image Credits
Courtesy of Mychal’s Learning Place.