Meet Bret Lieberman | Executive Director of Yes I Can Unity Through Music and Education Non Profit Organization

We had the good fortune of connecting with Bret Lieberman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Bret, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I would say the most important factor behind the success of Yes I Can Unity through Music & Education is being able to see the bigger picture, having a vision from the start, the innovative out of the box thinking, diversity in our staff, collaboration, partnerships, resilience, grit, the ability to network, and maybe most importantly the motivation behind “why” we offer our services and why our non profit was created in the first place.

There is a 90% unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities who are talented, and can bring something to the table but are not given the same opportunities as others when it comes to employment. We realized that this is going to become an even bigger problem, if we do not change this percentage now, we will have a bigger homeless issue moving forward and the negative stereotypes of people with disabilities will just continue.

YIC offers free career exploration, customized training and employment services to young adult creatives with disabilities to assist them in finding and securing employment careers within the entertainment industry. Each YIC participant receives comprehensive training in 21st Century Career skills taught by YIC’s Masters level educators covering 10 critical skills; adaptability, analysis/solution mindset, collaboration, communication, digital fluency, empathy, entrepreneurial mindset, resilience, self-awareness, and social diversity/awareness.

YIC assists participants in turning their passions into their paychecks and acts as a catalyst to help pursue in-demand skilled entertainment careers. Typical careers pursued by our students include music production, sound design, screenwriting, animation, visual special effects, voiceover, digital media, graphic design, video games design, craft services, and TV & Film production/pre/post production.

Through partnerships, students get the technical training needed to be successful in the jobs they are pursuing. YIC offers weekly industry guest speakers, networking sessions with professionals working in various fields in the entertainment industry. Professionals offer real advice, provide mentorships, offer internships and help the students get a better understanding of the demands and job duties of each career. Once students complete the training, they are offered the opportunity to practice the skills learned throughout the program through YIC Paid Internship Program (PIP), gaining work experience through internships with entertainment employers, Participants and employers are matched based on the employer’s need and each students’ skills, abilities, strengths and career path of interest.

For more information please visit www.yicunity.org

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
– Yes I Can Unity Through Music and Education is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Santa Clarita, California. Funded by the North Los Angeles County Regional Center (NLACRC) and the Westside Regional Center (WRC), YIC provides free customized training and employment services to creatives with disabilities who have been found eligible for regional center funding to assist them in acquiring the skills needed to secure careers within the entertainment industry.

Los Angeles, California, has the highest concentration of entertainment workers in the country, and is considered the epicenter of the multi-billion dollar U.S. entertainment industry. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations will grow faster than the average for all occupations. Although jobs in entertainment are plentiful in Los Angeles, We identified the lack of programs available for creatives with disabilities to be able to pursue careers within the field of entertainment. The Institute on Disability reports over a half a million working age people with disabilities live in the Los Angeles metro area. The employment rate of Angelenos with disabilities is only 22.8 percent, compared to 63.1 percent of Angelenos without disabilities.

These are the type of facts that motivate and show the need of services YIC offers. There are challenges daily, but what would be the fun if the work that we do was just easy. There have been many lessons learned along the way, we just work hard on not repeating the mistakes, making sure to learn from the mistakes we have made along the road to success.

One of the partnerships that I would love to highlight is our partnership with the 1500 Sound Academy. We have joined forces to open doors for creatives with disabilities. Between our teams working together, we are working to meet the disability inclusion hiring needs of entertainment industry employers.

1500 Sound Academy, a state-of-the art music school that offers comprehensive courses in music production, mixing, songwriting, musicianship, business management, entrepreneurship, and artist branding to aspiring professionals, have partnered to provide creatives with disabilities the opportunity to learn music production skills in an innovative and fully inclusive learning environment. The academy offers certification through the Music & Industry Fundamentals Program, 1500 Sound Academy has featured some of the biggest music guest lecturers with world-renowned artists: Kendrick Lamar, Bruno Mars, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Master P, Snoop Dogg, to name a few. Brand partners include: Yes I Can, Dolby, Fender, Roland, Zildjian, Vizio, YouTube, Victrola and NFL Media

YIC and 1500 Sound Academy have joined forces to open doors for the disabled, and are committed to driving necessary and long-overdue changes in the music industry for all underrepresented communities. Through the YIC paid internship program, participants receive music production skills training to enable them to pursue careers within the entertainment industry. With these partnerships, YIC is able to reimburse entertainment employers payroll expenses for interns up to 1,040 hours for each intern placed to cover all internship costs, including wages, payroll, and employer mandated costs, such as taxes and insurance.

We are so grateful for the opportunity to join forces, work and collaborate with the 1500 Sound Academy. We are all innovators in our approach to education, and to better prepare yo”ung adults for careers in the music industry, all while leveling out the playing field for those who have limited access to jobs in the entertainment industry, From our first meeting, we addressed the problem of those with disabilities who have unique creative abilities being under-represented in the workforce and came together as a team to change these statistics.” People with disabilities represent one of the largest minority groups seeking employment in today’s marketplace.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
YIC is located in Santa Clarita, so we are known for Magic Mountain, that is a must for thrill seekers. But if I had to take someone for a good time, I would travel down to the LA area and make sure to stop at Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles. Take a trip down the Sunset Strip, check out a music event. You never know who you are going to run into down in LA, but people watching is a must. Lots of food and drink options in LA, you can not go wrong!! Fast food wise, anyone not from CA should make sure to stop at In N Out for a double double burger, well done fries and neopolitan shake, fire!!!!!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many people to thank for my success in life, I always think about my dad who is up in heaven for his guidance, direction and impact he had on my life. He was the one who taught me about following my passions and turning them into a paycheck, a mantra that I have adopted and put into play with the work that I do in Yes I Can. He was also a believer in not having to choose on one set career path, he explained that you should never put all your eggs in one basket. over my entire career I have been blessed to blend my love of the arts, music, and education. I have been a special education teacher, music festival producer and executive director of a non profit organization all at the same time.

Along with my father, having amazing family support, the right woman by my side to help keep me grounded and focused is truly important. My biggest motivator right now is my 3 year old daughter Rebel, having a child makes your realize how important it is to work hard, grind each day and leave a legacy behind. I also want to give a shout out to my partner in Yes I Can Unity Kirsten Fitzpatrick who is the Deputy Director and also the other part of the magic and vision of YIC. We brainstormed in her kitchen one evening, how we wanted to tackle the issue of unemployment for young adults in the workforce, within a year we were fully funded by the Los Angeles Regional Center, two years later all of the goals and partnerships we discussed and wanted came to fruition. The sky is the limit when you have talented people on your side, as long as we continue to communicate, collaborate, we will leave a legacy as the work that we are doing is bigger than ourselves.

Website: www.yicunity.org

Instagram: @yic_unity

Linkedin: Yes I Can (YIC) Unity Through Music & Education Inc

Twitter: @yicunity

Facebook: @yicunity.org