Sandra Lynch: Targeting the Stereotypes

Sandra Lynch takes her battle against stereotypes of black men and women seriously.

Using her company, S K Lynch Communications, Lynch, 39, works to demonstrate that blacks can succeed in Orange County, where she and her family moved from Ohio seven years ago in search of opportunity.

In 2 1/2 years, Lynch has worked her way up from working temporary clerical jobs to handling 40 clients as owner of her communications company.

Now she is working on improving the way society views black men.

In a glossy, 1990 calendar, Lynch showcased 14 county men whose personal or professional lives she and a committee of eight other women considered exemplary.

The Black Male Role Model calendars gained national exposure and sent a message to a society that, she said, considers black men an “endangered species.”

It all began when a luncheon speaker addressing the Black Business Alliance of Orange County challenged the black business community to help reverse the depressing statistics about black men, such as the high percentage arrested before age 25.

Lynch formed a committee of female friends and business associates, who selected the 14 outstanding men. They were as diverse as a geologist, a student at Stanford University and a high school dropout and a recovering alcoholic, both of whom now own their own companies.

“Did we show the community that there is not a lack of male role models? Yes,” Lynch said. “We showed that in Orange County, we have 14 black role models. When you consider that we’re only 2% of the population in Orange County, that’s not bad. And there’s more.”

The project, she said, had personal importance.

“If you look at statistics, I have a one-in-four chance of one of my sons ending up in jail,” said Lynch, the mother of four boys, ages 7 to 14.

Lynch is working on next year’s calendar, which will showcase 12 men across the country.

S K Lynch Communications, which she operates from her home in Orange, handles communications, reports and letters for clients worldwide. Her partner is also her housemate.

It has been a long road, said Lynch, who was temporarily homeless several years ago after her divorce. Eventually she got a job through a temporary placement agency and worked for the county for a while. Finally, she set out on her own.

Ultimately, she said, she hopes to help other women who find themselves on the outskirts of society.

It’s a road, she said, that made her a better person.

“I’m glad I’ve traveled the path I’ve trod, because without those trials, you never know where your faith is.”