Hidden Gems: Meet Gary Mack and Lybroan James of MILO

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gary Mack and Lybroan James.

Hi Gary and Lybroan, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
MILO was created on a chance intersection between two longtime friends (Gary Mack & Lybroan James) that lost touch over the years that reconnected on an afternoon walk in their neighborhood during the pandemic only to discover they lived ten houses away from each other. Mack & James pooled our resources and decided to solve a massive issue in education that affects students of color.

My Co-Founder, Lybroan James & I would love to share our work, strategies & actionable solutions that address reduction in learning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the alarming reduced learning rates for students of color. Our efforts are directly pointed at inequities in education – 3.9 million teachers in America (80% white women) that find themselves for the first time in education history as “first year teachers in online & hybrid environments” & the 57 million students (nearly 70% POC) that are affected by this.

SINCE OUR LAUNCH MILO is in 28 states in the U.S., impacting 110 school districts

MILO has earned $600,000 revenue and expects to exceed $2 million dollars in revenue by the end of the year 2021.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our number ONE struggle: We started MILO in the middle of the pandemic. The crisis confronting the American Education system was overwhelming. 3.9 Million educators found themselves first year teachers in online & hybrid learning environments. This was further amplified by the reduced levels of learning for the 57 Million students that resulted in 7-8 months of loss. The numbers were unbelievably accelerated among students of color to 11-14 months.

Our number TWO struggle: Educators were not supported. MILO had to quickly create communities of practice for educators for find support from one another.

MILO is solving this huge PROBLEM in education!

MILO has 3 SOLUTIONS to this PROBLEM:

1. Our MILO TEACHER TRAINING PROGRAM
a. We train teachers how to be effective in hybrid learning environments with a focus on culture and equity.

2. COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE
a. At MILO we’ve created a community of teachers that collaborate nationwide, providing best practices and support to each other in continuous learning efforts.

3. MILO ADMINISTRATIVE PROGRAM
a. We provide assessment & observation tools to education administrators to lead and support teachers during this transition to hybrid learning with a focus on equity.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
MILO is a Los Angeles-based disruptive EdTech platform that provides training, services and assessment tools on a subscription basis designed to help education professionals close learning gaps for underserved students by creating communities and culturally affirming learning environments through equity, innovation and engagement.

MILO looked at the nationwide trend that each school is spending $18,000 a year per teacher on professional development. That is a $70 billion dollar a year industry and that is MILO’s focus.

Our goal is train 15% of those 3.9 million teachers. That will be 600,000 effectively trained teachers, generating $1.9 billion dollars in revenue for MILO.

To date, we have trained nearly 700 teachers in our training program.

What would you say have been one of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
Collaboration is the key to our success. The MILO startup had to quickly find strategic & financial partnerships that aligned with our values and mission. MILO quickly established relationships with Deloitte, Salesforce & Cisco. Since the November 2020 launch, MILO is in 28 states – highest concentration in NYC, over 110 school districts and positively affected over 300,000 students.

Contact Info:

• Email: info@miloedu.com
• Website: https://www.miloedu.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/welikemilo/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/welikemilo