Career Path Of A Co-Founder And CEO At Improve Your Tomorrow
Michael's career path was fueled by a desire to change communities where "tremendous talent" lacked opportunity, leading to a senior year internship at the public defender's office that dissuaded them from law but opened the door to the Sacramento Semester Internship Program and the Capital Fellowship Program, experiences that proved "life changing" as they learned about the legislative process. This ultimately led Michael and their best friend to create a nonprofit in 2013, Improve Your Tomorrow, dedicated to helping young men of color get "to and through college," an organization that has since grown to serve over 5,000 young men across the country.
Nonprofit, Legislative Process, College Access, Mentorship, Community Development
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Michael Lynch
Co-Founder and CEO
Improve Your Tomorrow
Cal Poly Humboldt
Sacramento State - Masters of Public Policy and Administration
Business Management & Admin
Nonprofit, Foundations & Grantmaking
Business Strategy
Scholarship Recipient, Pell Grant Recipient, Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, Student Athlete, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. Early desire to impact community: Motivated by the challenges faced by his community, he sought a career that would enable him to create positive change.
2. Exploration through internships: He gained valuable insights through internships, including one at the public defender's office (which helped him realize he didn't want to be an attorney) and the Sacramento Semester Internship Program, which introduced him to the legislative process.
3. Founding a nonprofit: In 2013, he co-founded a nonprofit organization focused on supporting young men of color in accessing and completing college, which has grown significantly since its inception.
Transcript
Could you walk me through your career path, starting with your experiences in college? Do you have any internships or jobs you had before your current role?
My career path did not go where I originally thought it would. I grew up in communities with tremendous talent but not many opportunities to thrive.
In college, I knew I wanted to help change my community. I saw too many people being left behind or living in challenging circumstances.
After college, I worked and played football, so I didn't have many chances for outside jobs. However, during my senior year, I interned at the public defender's office in Humboldt County, thinking I wanted to be an attorney.
That internship made me realize I didn't want to be an attorney, at least not in the public defender space. Shortly after college, I was accepted into the Sacramento Semester Internship Program at the state capitol.
This experience taught me about the legislative process, which I really enjoyed. From there, I got accepted into the Capital Fellowship Program, also in the California state capitol.
That fellowship was life-changing. It allowed me to work on bills, see them turn into laws, and understand the political process. It gave me a greater capacity to figure out what I wanted to do in life.
After the fellowship, I worked on staff for a state senator and a student assembly member. Then, in 2013, my best friend and I created a nonprofit organization to help young men of color get to and through college.
This organization started with 17 young men in 2013. I left the state capitol in 2016 to work on the nonprofit full-time as its third employee. Now, we serve over 5,000 young men in 19 cities across the country and employ 300 people to address the issue of getting more young men of color to and through college.
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