April is Second Chance Month, dedicated to encouraging employers to hire formerly incarcerated people. More than 80 million Americans have a criminal record, creating barriers to employment and limiting their opportunities for expanded economic opportunity.
During “The Business Case for Second Chance Employment: Charting a Path Forward with Business Schools and Corporations,” leaders from some of America’s largest employers discussed why they developed second chance programs to close this gap, how they have implemented them and how academia and government can support these efforts.
The event was organized by Business Roundtable, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Eaton, the Second Chance Business Coalition, the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at Columbia Business School, and Justice Through Code at Columbia University.
Watch the event here.
CfJ's Justice Through Code founder Aedan Macdonald was featured in a write up of the event by SHRM:
"When Aedan Macdonald left federal prison in 2019, he was looking to start a new life.
With a garbage bag filled with government-issued sweatpants and a T-shirt, Macdonald moved from California, where he was incarcerated for four years for selling marijuana, to New York City to continue an educational program that he started while in prison.
But when he began applying for jobs, employers rarely gave him a chance.
'I searched endlessly for jobs, only to have job offers rescinded once employers learned of my criminal record,' Macdonald said."
Read more here
