It’s hard to imagine someone spending 24 years in prison, let alone 10 of those in solitary confinement, but 5 years after his release, he’s the Vice President of Social Responsibility at tech innovator CHECKR, and Executive Director of their corporate foundation, Checkr.org.  This is the journey of Ken Oliver.  In the broad landscape of fair chance hiring, Ken knows firsthand the barriers that face anyone who has been justice impacted. As Ken says, ‘it’s not just someone’s criminal record, but there are 44,000 other collateral consequences that can prevent a justice impacted person from finding a job’.  Ken has chosen to take up the flaming sword and use his powerful and passionate voice to educate corporate America, one company at a time, about the fair hiring practices associated with assessing justice impacted individuals when they are applying for a job.

The Hustler Files Ep. 59 - It Only Takes One Voice to Be the Change

Over the last couple of decades, tech companies and tech-minded entrepreneurs have been developing various ways to assist incarcerated and justice-involved individuals with job training both behind the wall and upon returning to the community.  Checkr, a California-based background tech company, has been leading the charge for more employers, like those they work with, to become more socially responsible in the fair chance hiring movement by bridging the gap between employers, needing employees, and justice-involved individuals learning a trade and earning a living wage.  To that means, Checkr has launched CATALYST, a 12-month, 2,000 hours, apprenticeship program to offer justice-involved individuals with real-life learning, in a variety of career pathways, and that includes a formal credential from the US Department of Labor, upon completion of their apprenticeship.  CATALYST was piloted, in-house, at Checkr for a full year, before launching the roll-out with a handful of employers who believe in this valuable, often-overlooked talent pool.  Checkr has committed o$1M over the next two years to expand CATALYST, and Christina Louie Dyer, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility has been tapped to oversee this life-changing initiative.

The Hustler Files Ep. 87 - Earn & Learn Apprenticeship at CATALYST

The title of this episode is aptly named for guest Aron Roy.  Like many justice-impacted individuals, Aron's journey means digging down deep to find the grit to transform and not return to their past life.  But Aron also has the courage to share what sent him to prison for almost a decade and the transformation that took place during those years.  Aron’s story is semi-unique in that he entered prison with a Bachelor’s Degree.  As Aron fully admits, he was a functioning addict, until he wasn’t.  His experience in the California prison system is eye-opening to hear about, but even more so was his realization that his future job prospects would be, at best, minimal.  Aron’s ‘ah-ha’ moment was profound, and a guiding light on his road to reentry.

The Hustler Files Ep. 94 - It Requires Courage to Transform

Podcasts from all of the local show on WHMP Radio in Northampton, MA. including Talk the Talk with Bill Newman and Buz Eisenberg, The Hustler Files, The Western Mass Business Show, and Panorama.

New tracks tagged #CHECKR,