RAVENSWOOD — A new nonprofit automotive garage in Ravenswood is offering real-world experience to the next generation of female and nonbinary automotive technicians while making it less frustrating to get car maintenance done.
Mechanista, 4526 N. Ravenswood Ave., is based out of a single-story warehouse that was formerly a gym on a sleepy street along Ravenswood’s industrial corridor. The cavernous garage has lifts and various automotive tools typical of a shop focused on fixing cars.
But the vibe is more welcoming than what’s usually found at an automotive garage, said Mechanista board President Lisa Thompson.
“This is a garage that will appeal to female customers and will create apprenticeships for girls interested in learning more about the automotive industry,” Thompson said.
Only 2 percent of automotive technicians are women, which is one of the reasons Thompson wanted to launch Mechanista. She had experience running a previous nonprofit, Blue Sky Bakery in North Center, which provided transitional employment to at-risk youth ages 16-24, she said.
Thompson’s 16-year Blue Sky journey came to an end in 2022. She thought she was done with nonprofits, but then a “miserable experience” while getting her car fixed in December 2023 pulled her back in, she said.
Mechanista’s origin can also be traced to a conversation Thompson had with a friend about how frustrating it can be dealing with car mechanics, who are nearly always male, she said.
“Because you feel like you don’t really know if you’re being told the truth. It always feels opaque and confusing,” Thompson said. “And the waiting areas usually are not very pleasant. It’s someplace that you want to get in and out of as quickly as possible and not spend any time.”
This feeling — which she described as “the ick” — could be resolved by having more safe places for women and non-binary folks to work, learn and ask questions about automotive repair, Thompson said.
“It seems like it’s pretty much a very common experience. Not that there aren’t some good shops out there, some good mechanics. I know there are,” Thompson said. “But for people to have experiences — where they feel after they walk out like they may have gotten cheated, or misheard or not heard at all — it’s obviously a huge problem.”
Mechanista hosted a soft opening party in June and recently launched its website to start booking appointments for customers.
Mechanista is registered with the U.S. Department of Labor to offer female and nonbinary people, ages 16-24, hands-on and virtual reality training through paid, supportive apprenticeships, Thompson said.
“Something about the auto industry that I just found fascinating was that there is so much earning potential, and youth can get started right away,” Thompson said.
Mechanista’s apprentices will work under professionally trained automotive technician Molly Laemle, who will show them the ropes on everything from oil changes to tire alignments. The shop will focus on internal combustion vehicles for now, as electric vehicles require additional tools and infrastructure to service, Thompson and Laemle said.
“We’re working with an organization called Vehicles for Change that’s in Maryland and using their virtual reality software to actually train the students,” Thompson said. “They have really cool headsets and software, everything they’ve created for each component of repairing a car. We’re using that with our students, which is really innovative and cool.”
While waiting on their repairs, customers can enjoy two waiting areas with vintage furniture, one of which has a shelf dedicated to banned books, Thompson said.
“We want customers to have a great experience from start to finish. Part of that is having a quiet area and a changing area for babies,” Thompson said. “We want moms who are responsible for taking care of the kids and responsible for taking care of the car to feel like this is not a pain point in their day — that this is actually a pleasant break in their day.”
You can go to the group’s website for more information and appointments.
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