Kathleen Foley-Hughes has spent more than a decade turning school-based programs into paid work for adults with developmental disabilities through Ada’s Cafe. The Mitchell Park storefront, which grew out of vocational projects in Palo Alto schools, opened in 2014 and now runs as a social enterprise that blends retail service, catering and on-the-job training. This week Foley-Hughes was named a 2026 Lifetimes of Achievement honoree by Avenidas as she prepares to open a Los Altos outpost and explores a second Palo Alto location at First Presbyterian Church later in 2026.
Local honor puts a spotlight on inclusive hiring
The award was announced in February by Avenidas, which praised Foley-Hughes for building vocational pathways inside the Palo Alto Unified School District and for founding Ada’s as a workplace for adults of all abilities. Avenidas says the Lifetimes of Achievement celebration, scheduled for May 17, recognizes people whose long-term work "has made us stronger, more compassionate and connected." The honor helps frame Ada’s as a community institution right as it looks to grow beyond its Mitchell Park base.
Roots in school kitchens, growth to a storefront
Foley-Hughes first launched vocational cafés at Terman Middle School and Gunn High School, then turned that campus experience into a permanent site at Mitchell Park. Ada's Cafe lists 3700 Middlefield Road as its home and describes a mission of compassionate employment for adults with developmental disabilities. As reported by Palo Alto Online, the nonprofit now employs roughly 38 mission-based workers and about 50 people overall, and it has publicly signaled plans for a Los Altos location and a potential second Palo Alto outpost later in 2026. The model pairs customer-facing service with structured training so employees build workplace skills that can transfer into other jobs.
Training pipeline and community partnerships
Ada’s has leaned on local partners to broaden its training pipeline. AbilityPath has invested in upgrades to its Middlefield Road campus and a commercial kitchen that Ada’s plans to use for expanded catering and packaged goods production, according to AbilityPath. Earlier television coverage has also tracked Foley-Hughes’s long record of workforce development; KPIX/CBS Bay Area reported in 2019 that she had trained and employed many dozens of adults over more than a decade. That mix of kitchen space, training programs and small-scale production supports Ada’s plans to scale jam, granola and catering work while preserving a highly supportive workplace.
City backing and a tight bottom line
The City of Palo Alto has supported Ada’s with a lease arrangement at Mitchell Park. A 2022 city council packet includes an amendment extending the cafe’s community-center contract with modest rent terms, according to the City of Palo Alto. The nonprofit’s own materials describe a hybrid social-enterprise model that blends earned revenue, catering contracts and donor support, a mix that leaders say has helped Ada’s absorb rising rents and food costs. Keeping that balance intact will be critical as the organization opens new sites and increases production this year.
What’s next for Ada’s
Foley-Hughes says the coming months are about strengthening training pipelines and bringing on more mission-based hires as new sites open in Los Altos and northern Palo Alto. As she told Palo Alto Online, "That's who we are." For local patrons and employers, Ada’s steady growth doubles as a live experiment in how everyday businesses can treat inclusion as standard operating procedure rather than a one-off gesture.
