ABOUT US
ABOUT THE FOUNDATION
The Conor Lynch Foundation, a non-profit 501(C)(3) corporation, has been established to support new and existing programs that raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving and promote the safety of runners, pedestrians, cyclists and young drivers. Distracted driving includes texting, eating, using your phone, changing your radio station or interacting with passengers while driving; anything that takes your eyes off the road, challenges your cognitive abilities and slows reaction times, is a distraction and a danger. Your donations help support diversified road safety programs and events such as safety fairs and the Annual 5K Run/Walk In Honor Of Conor. All donations are used to ensure that no family suffers a loss like this again and as a community get closer to Super Safe Streets for everyone.
ABOUT CONOR LYNCH
On October 19, 2010, while training with his high school cross country team, Conor Lynch was killed by a distracted, unlicensed, hit-and-run driver. He was 16 years old. The woman who killed him was 18 years old. Coincidentally, this tragedy occurred during National Teen Safe Driving Week.
Born August 19, 1994 in Los Angeles, Conor was the eldest son of Mark Lynch, partner of Cypress LLP in Los Angeles and Jeri Dye Lynch, CEO and President of Pinecrest Schools, a family owned multi-campus chain of private schools with locations in Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Conor attended Pinecrest Schools in Van Nuys from 18 months to 8th grade, and was a junior at Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks at the time of his passing. He is remembered by teachers and classmates as an excellent student, team player and friend. In summers past he had been a camp counselor, lifeguard and swim instructor for Pinecrest Schools where the younger children fondly remember him as “Coach Conor”. He also worked at the Sherman Oaks Little League snack bar, which has been renamed in his honor. He enjoyed working with children and they in turn looked up to him as a role model and “big brother.”
Not just a runner, Conor was a triathlete as well as an accomplished skier, surfer and basketball player. As a child, he was a Cub Scout and played AYSO soccer, club basketball and Sherman Oaks Little League Baseball. He also played tackle football with the South Valley Raiders and freshman football at Notre Dame High School. He competed in the Hansen Dam Triathlon and the Pacific Triathlon. Just two days before his passing, he and a friend biked from Sherman Oaks to Santa Monica, as he often liked to do.
A creative person with unique and thoughtful ideas, Conor was never afraid to express his opinion. He loved to travel and had already seen more of the world than most people see in a lifetime. To all who knew him, Conor was an avid learner with the grades to prove it. He enjoyed learning about different cultures, geography and people and was a peer Spanish tutor in high school. He was inquisitive and articulate and had a wonderful dry sense of humor. He loved The History Channel and enjoyed arguing conspiracy theories with his brothers.
In addition to his parents, Conor is survived by his younger brothers Riley and Parker who remember him as the finest and most protective big brother they could have had. He will be forever missed by his grandparents, numerous aunts, uncles and cousins. He is also remembered by the close knit “families” of Pinecrest Schools, Notre Dame High School, the Mission League of Southern California High Schools and the entire cross country running community who have reached out to Conor’s family from all over the country.
Although Conor is gone too soon, we are comforted by the knowledge that he lived life to the absolute fullest, and that his passing has touched – and will continue to influence - thousands of people.
ABOUT JERI DYE LYNCH
Advocate, Speaker, Consultant, Spokesperson, Mother
President, Conor Lynch Foundation 2011-present
Co-Chair, Southern California Families for Safe Streets
Pedestrian Advisory Committee-CD4 Appointment
President, Pinecone Development 2006-present
Lawyer, California State Bar 1986-present
Jeri Dye Lynch, president and founder of the Conor Lynch Foundation, became a pedestrian and driver safety advocate in 2010 after her 16 year old son, Conor, was killed by a distracted, non-licensed, hit-and-run driver on October 19, while he was crossing the street on his way to the park for cross country training for Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks. Conor 16 was tragically killed by an 18 year-old during National Teen Driver Safety Week - something that Jeri had never heard of until then. Since Conor’s untimely death, Jeri has advocated locally, as well as nationally to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving and the importance of pedestrian safety and safe streets in general. Jeri, on behalf of CLF, has also participated internationally. Conor’s official video, (produced in both English and Spanish) a story about the day Conor was killed, was included in the international road safety film festivals in Brazil at the capitol (November 2015) and in Geneva at the United Nations (February 2017). Jeri presents that PSA at middle schools and high schools and other venues throughout the year.
The original mission of CLF is broad: to support new and existing programs that raise awareness and promote the safety of runners, pedestrians, cyclists and young drivers. CLF partners and collaborates with many groups promoting street safety. In 2019, Jeri was appointed by Councilmember Ryu of District 4 and Mayor Garcetti to the Los Angeles Pedestrian Advisory Committee. The PAC is a citizen advisory committee appointed by the Los Angeles City Council and Mayor, the purpose of which is to advise the City of Los Angeles on important mobility issues that impact people walking. Jeri participates in the Steering Committee for LA Walks and the Advisory Committee for We Save Lives. Jeri is also a member and co-chair of SoCal Families for Safe Streets and is currently co-lead. Jeri’s ongoing efforts to promote safety awareness include: the PSA about Conor’s Story, teen driver safety fairs, school assemblies and her labor of love, the Annual 5K Run/Walk/Expo In Honor of Conor, which took place during National Teen Driver Safety Week for 7 years. Jeri also speaks at events and presents at conferences, most recently at the Vision Zero Conference 2019 in New York. Jeri is currently working on a new national PSA and organizing the 10th Annual Run/Walk/Expo in Honor of Conor set for October 2020.
In addition to CLF projects mentioned above, Jeri also supports, both monetarily and in-kind, many other diverse programs, including for example, such organizations as: Shane’s Inspiration; Families for Safe Streets (National and Southern California chapters); Safe Moves; Los Angeles Walks; Vision Zero; Finish the Ride; Keep Kids Alive, Drive 25; National Organizations for Youth Safety; In One Instant; Impact Teen Drivers; We Save Lives, and, Walk San Francisco as well as collaborating with various chapters of Families for Safe Streets including Northern California; Austin, Texas; and, Portland, Oregon. In March 2014 Jeri was recognized on the Assembly Floor of the City of Los Angeles as the 46th Assembly District Woman of the Year and in March of 2015 she was an honored recipient of the 25th Anniversary 2015 Pioneer Woman of the Year award by the City of Los Angeles. She has been nominated numerous times for the Fernando Award (Jeri is the Susan Lucci of the Fernando Award)
Jeri is a graduate of USC and Southwestern law school and was a practicing litigator from 1986 until 2001 when she started running one of her families schools, Pinecrest Schools, Van Nuys, CA. Jeri still maintains her law license. After her father’s untimely death in 2006, Jeri took over as the president of Pinecrest Schools with multiple locations in Los Angeles and Ventura County. Under Jeri’s leadership, Pinecrest was the recipient of many awards one of which was the Captains of Industry Award from the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce in 2015. Jeri is currently the president of Pinecone Development, her family-owned property land management company. Jeri also serves on the Executive Board of Directors for Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, and was past president of the Greater San Fernando Valley Chamber.
In addition to Conor, Jeri is the mother of two sons Riley (25) and Parker (23). Jeri loves to travel internationally and is an avid walker and hiker having just recently returned from a 2-week hike to Everest Base Camp in Nepal and a trip to China.
Jeri was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley and currently lives in Sherman Oaks (where she has lived for 30 years) with her 2 cavapoos Nacho and Bosco.