When Mike Schugt walked into a Bitty & Beau's coffee shop in Georgia in mid-2023, he witnessed something that would change the course of his 35-year hospitality career.
The chain, which bills itself as "a human rights movement disguised as a coffee shop," employs more than 450 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across its 17 U.S. locations.
"The universe struck me down," recalled Schugt, a veteran hotel executive who has held roles with companies including Hyatt and Hilton. "I saw smiles on faces, and I saw the pride they had in working."
That moment led Schugt to launch INNclusivity, a nonprofit with a mission to connect adults with developmental disabilities to employment opportunities in hospitality.
Since its June 2023 founding, the Orlando-based organization has expanded partnerships across 14 properties in Orlando, Atlanta, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and San Francisco, with a German property slated to join later this year.
The rapid growth prompted Schugt to leave his role as president of Teneo Hospitality Group at the end of 2024 and work full-time on INNclusivity starting this past January.
Currently, Schugt funds the vast majority of INNclusivity's operations himself, while the organization awaits approval of 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.
INNclusivity, he said, aims to fill a much-needed gap for individuals with developmental disabilities as they transition out of school and enter adulthood. The organization works with adults across the broad range of developmental disabilities, including autism, Down syndrome and traumatic brain injury.
"There's lots of money and resources available up through high school, and even until they're 21 or 22," said Schugt, who also serves as INNclusivity's chief kindness officer.
"But after that, there aren't a lot of resources or things for these folks to do. I have the resources and 35 years in the hospitality industry, so I have a lot of relationships I can lean on."
INNclusivity founder Mike Schugt with Jimmy, who is learning how to make pizza at the Kimpton Monaco Pittsburgh. Photo Credit: INNclusivity
The program operates through a three-step process. Schugt works with vocational schools to deliver leadership presentations and then select candidates from those schools participate in half-day hotel "immersion" experiences featuring back-of-house tours and training in departments like laundry or kitchen operations.
Finally, interested candidates are matched with hotel partners and given a job, working alongside job coaches.
Current partner properties include the Gaylord Palms Resort Orlando, InterContinental Hotel New Orleans, Hilton New Orleans Airport, Hilton Atlanta, Hyatt Regency San Francisco and Kimpton Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh.
The organization has conducted leadership workshops for nearly 300 people and immersion experiences for more than 150 participants. While INNclusivity is still working on scaling its job placements, Schugt envisions it evolving into a "one-stop-shop" operation that is able to independently find candidates and guide them through the hiring process without relying solely on vocational schools.
To support this expansion, Schugt hired INNclusivity's first employee, a director of social services, earlier this summer.
The biggest obstacle to scaling the hiring program is transportation, Schugt said, with many adults with developmental disabilities lacking reliable options or dependent on shared-ride systems that make frequent stops, creating lengthy commutes.
"In downtown markets where there's accessibility with trains, like in San Francisco, it's not a problem. But in Atlanta or Orlando, it's a huge problem. I've been known to buy an Uber or two," said Schugt, who hopes to one day solve the issue with a dedicated shuttle or pickup service for workers.
For those who can overcome the transportation hurdle now, the impact of these jobs can be life-changing, he said, highlighting a worker in his mid-20s who had never been employed before securing a full-time kitchen position at the Hilton New Orleans Airport through the program.
"His mom called me up and said he's singing in the mornings for the first time," Schugt said. "These parents are always going to worry a lot about their grown children. But when they can work, that changes everything for those families."