To educate, equip, and empower youth through music, technology and the arts
RYTMO provides a positive, creative, and professional environment for low-income/disenfranchised youth to express and develop their musical talents, attain greater personal achievement, and gain fundamental occupational skills for the music industry.
Through RYTMO, music provides a sense of achievement and helps to improve coordination, discipline, imagination, and self-confidence. It also has a therapeutic, calming, and ultimately, energizing effect. The creation of an original composition will build self-esteem, awaken creativity and fine-tune listening skills, additionally, an appreciation of teamwork has been shown to improve academic outcomes in other areas of study.
RYTMO provides a positive, creative, and professional environment for low-income/disenfranchised youth to express and develop their musical talents, attain greater personal achievement, and gain fundamental occupational skills for the music industry.
Music education has been proven to improve coordination, discipline, and imagination, and provide self-confidence and a sense of achievement.
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Mike’s extensive music background of over 50 years consists of being a songwriter, vocalist, artist manager, and music consultant. Over the course of his career, Mike has worked with: Little Richard, Lou Rawls, Brenton Wood, Rosie and the Originals, The Coasters, Bessie Griffin, Preston Epps, Jewel Akins, Donnie Brooks, Earl Palmer, Guitar Shorty and many others.
As a result of this extensive experience in the music industry, Mike has been interviewed and included in NAMM’s oral history library twice. Today, Mike is actively involved in many facets of the OC arts scene, including advocating for access to quality music education for low-income youth, and increased funding for music education. In 2025, Mike was inducted into the Anaheim Ducks “Hall of Heroes” for his impact on the community.
Mike is President of the RYTMO Board, he helped co-found in 2003, and is also its Executive Director. In these roles, Mike develops, maintains, and oversees relationships with community organizations, local media, and city agencies essential for RYTMO’s growth and development. In 2021, Mike led a team in creating a new RYTMO curriculum which is now copyright-protected and used by over 55,000 disenfranchised youth locally and internationally.
Mark is an award-winning composer for film, television, and advertising and the founder of Cutting Room Music. Mark has worked with some of entertainment’s leading directors on a variety of projects, including video games, full-feature and documentary films, websites, radio, television shows, commercials and advertising, and custom music production.
He has composed for Trending Crimes, American Pickers, Catfish, Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Snapped, Murder One, Microsoft Xbox, and Pixar. As RYTMO’s program director, Mark oversees the technology program and offers his expertise as a music consultant.
Carla is content specialist and singer/songwriter. She has worked in the editorial and music industries since graduating with a BA in Communications/Professional Writing and Editing from Monash University in Australia, where she began her career as a music and lifestyle journalist.
Carla later became an award-winning writer for faith-based publication Crosslight, covering topics that intersected politics, spirituality, and social justice. After relocating to the US, she earned an MA of Social Change and Development, with a focus on microeconomics and community development.
Along with her “side hustle” experience as a recording artist, Carla has taught vocal and songwriting workshops in Orange County, Jamaica, and Venezuela. She is passionate about how music and the broader arts can educate, heal, and empower people on a level that transcends traditional methods and brings this energy to RYTMO where she oversees the written content in newsletters, blog articles, and the curriculum.
Alicia Rodriguez is Co-Founder, Creative Director, and Brand Strategist at 7SG, Inc., a Southern California-based full-service creative agency established in 1999. With 20+ years at 7SG, she guides brand development from positioning and naming through design systems, campaign creative, and product-launch storytelling.
Alicia helps teams translate complex products into clear, compelling visuals and messages across both B2B and B2C channels. Her work has supported a wide range of clients, including automotive and tire leaders such as Sentury Tire USA, Delinte Tires, Landsail Tires, Chip Foose, Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels, Goodyear, American Racing, Mercedes-Benz Group AG brands (Jeep and Dodge), Nexen Tire, and others, as well as entrepreneurial start-ups in tech, health/beauty, restaurant, and nonprofit categories.
In her spare time, Alicia enjoys serving alongside her husband, Tim Rodriguez, who is the Pastor at New Beginning Church, keeping up with their two grown children, Elle and Kai, and restoring the family’s post-modern home in Orange, California, to its full potential.
Tim Rodriguez is the Co-Founder and President of 7SG, Inc., a full-service creative agency founded in Southern California in 1999. Through 7SG, Tim has supported brand development and digital marketing for leading automotive and lifestyle brands including Sentury Tire USA, Delinte Tires, Landsail Tires, Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels, Goodyear, American Racing, Mercedes-Benz Group AG brands (Jeep and Dodge), Nexen Tire, and Chip Foose.
In addition to leading 7SG, Tim serves as a full-time pastor at New Beginnings Church in Chino, an independent church focused on restoring broken lives and families through Jesus Christ. New Beginnings has faithfully served the Chino community for nearly 40 years and continues to thrive as a spiritual lighthouse in the region.
Additionally, Tim has served on RYTMO’s board for over 20 years as a pastor and spiritual advisor. A lifelong lover of music with a deep heart for underserved children, Tim’s involvement with RYTMO is a natural extension of his passion for supporting and uplifting young lives through creative and spiritual guidance.
RYTMO does not, by policy and/or practice, discriminate against a person and/or groups on the basis of race, color, religion, gender or gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, marital, family or veteran status, in compliance with all federal, state, and/or local laws.