We are often taught to endure pain quietly, stay composed, productive and be strong. So much so that that numbness we’re suppressing becomes normal and we forget that beyond that there is still life and possibility. For me this Pathway Post began from that space of tension. This month I reflected on how pain can become familiar and how systems can reinforce these cycles of harm. Leading me to explore what it means to reclaim agency, dignity and hope.
My conversations with our Center for Social Impact (CSI) strategy fellows, engagement with Defy Ventures Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs), and research on fair chance took me through one of the most transformative journeys. This month I learned that healing and reentry are not a linear process. I saw how systems can make people believe they are defined by their past but I also how empathy can interrupt that conditioning. Because shame can not live in the light and when we approach human beings with curiosity instead of judgement we further dispel it.
I hope my experiences and insights will bring you to that same place of openness and acceptance. I am beyond excited to present you with my findings that surfaced through listening, learning and allowing myself to fully feel.
This section shares insights from a community partner interview, connecting their perspective to the Pathway theme.
This month I partnered with Defy Ventures, an organization aiming to reduce recidivism rates through entrepreneurship, personal development and post-release support. I got to sit down with Gwen Martin and Gabby Erickson, both strategy fellows at the Center for Social Impact who have been working closely with the Defy team this semester. In our conversation we touched on systemic barriers to reentry, and why entrepreneurship is a powerful intervention.
Defy Ventures programming emphasizes self-improvement alongside their entrepreneurial training. This approach helps participants recognize their existing skills and potential for a better future. They do this through their “CEO of your new life program”. Their various delivery methods include business coaching, resume building, and a "Shark Tank"-style pitch competition. Both Gwen and Gabby emphasized that Defy’s Mission helps reframe how participants see themselves and their futures. As Gabby explained, Defy seeks to help participants “recognize skills that they have and apply them in a professional and legal context,” with the ultimate goal of helping people “defy the odds of recidivism.” Defy does not define participants by their criminal records, instead their participants are defined as Entrepreneurs in Training (EITs). This small change does so much by intentionally shifting the narrative toward potential, agency and growth.
Many of us see entrepreneurship as a high risk investment, and launching a business may not always bring an immediate profit. But the creativity, professionalism and self-agency developed through this future-oriented intervention method can immediately change someone's life. Gabby shared a great insight from a Defy Participant on this: “When you’re applying for a job, they’re looking at your past. Entrepreneurship, on the contrary, is about your future and your capacity to build something.” Helping participants reclaim that sense of agency that is oftentimes eroded by cycles and poverty and intergenerational incarceration. Because the truth of the matter is many individuals feel as if the choices they made, weren’t really choices at all. They were a means for survival. It is well known in our scope of work that a systems design determines its behavior. The US prison system is deeply rooted in the legacy of slavery, so it comes to no surprise just how diminutive and powerless it can make those from at risk populations feel.
In our discussion we also touched on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how it fits into the mission of Defy outside of fair chance hiring and entrepreneurship. Defy facilitates volunteer experiences that bring in CEOs, business leaders, and future business leaders into direct contact with EITs. These events are meant to help us develop empathy and disrupt stereotypes. Their hope is that we all “Stop seeing them (the EITs) as felons or criminals and start seeing them as humans again,” Gwen explained. This reminded me of another great saying we have in our office which is “relationships move at the speed of trust, and change moves at the speed of relationships.” Emphasizing that trust is the foundation for how fast relationships form and deepen, and once relationships are strong, real, lasting change can happen through them.
Lastly I asked both Gwen and Gabby to reflect on what keeps them invested in this work despite the systemic and emotional challenges posed. Gwen shared that volunteering with Defy was the turning point, she recalls participants telling her that Defy was the first program that made them feel hopeful and prepared for the future. Gabby reiterated this sentiment through what she described as the “despair-empowerment curve.” While injustice can be incredibly overwhelming. “Engaging the research and engaging with the issue IS ultimately a mode of contribution.” Together their insights taught me that meaningful and lasting social impact may not always look like fixing the entire system, but showing up consistently for the people navigating it.
This section summarizes readings and research related to a relevant topic within the student’s Pathway and connects them to larger patterns or themes.
This month I decided to look into how the above topics are at play in our labor market. Employment access is going to be one of the most prominent predictors of success after incarceration. But it still remains one of the most difficult systems for previously incarcerated individuals to navigate. This boils down to the act of immediately disregarding any and all applicants with a criminal record early in the recruiting process. Research shows that “Millions of workers are excluded from employment due to criminal background checks, even when their records are completely unrelated to job performance.” Avery (2024) also emphasizes that “employment background checks unfairly hold back millions of workers, disproportionately workers of color.” An already vulnerable population in two high recidivism feedback loops of intergenerational poverty and incarceration.
Knowing this now I can’t help but feel like criminal history screening works as a blanket exclusion and not a grounded or ethical job-related evaluation. This is especially harmful given that an estimated 70 million adults in the US have some form of criminal record. Without access to stable income, those leaving incarceration will face a higher risk of financial instability, and housing insecurity. Fair chance higher aims to disrupt this cycle by delaying background checks until the initial job offer, and emphasizing individualized assessment. But don’t be fooled, they are not seeking to eliminate accountability as that would be harmful to the candidate and company. Instead they ask that companies consider the nature of the offense, the time that has passed and the relevance to the role itself. I personally love this because I do believe that our past does not define us, it only serves as context for what we will become.
From a CSR perspective fair-chance hiring is more than just ethical, it is strategic and beneficial. Second-chance hiring immediately expands your talent pool and contributes to workforce resilience. At a time when many industries face persistent labor shortages. But despite the evidence being concrete, adoption of these practices still remains limited. Shrove (2024) explains that while federal tax credits exist for employers who hire individuals with criminal records, many organizations continue to avoid second-chance hiring due to perceived risk. In my research I found that The U.S. Chamber of Commerce supports this and how it reduces long term hiring and training costs because companies will experience higher retention rates and increased employee loyalty. This directly challenges and disarms the assumptions that criminal history predicts poor performance in the workplace.
These insights also highlight a very glaring CSR gap. Policies and incentives alone are not enough without first promoting cultural shifts in how organizations view previously incarcerated individuals. All together my findings paint a very detailed picture on how fair-chance hiring is a powerful way to add value to your business outside of tax incentives. Fair-chance hiring represents not just a reentry strategy, but a tangible expression of corporate social responsibility in action. My hope is that more companies will seek to adopt these practices. If you are unsure if this is something your company would like to implement, I invite you to join us in February for our next Defy Ventures volunteer event. You just might be surprised how mutually transformative these events are for both you and the EITs, I know it was for me.
This section highlights helpful tools or guides that support real-world application of the Pathway.
Honest Jobs is a job platform specifically designed for people with criminal records, connecting job seekers to employers who are open to fair-chance hiring. This resource is useful for individuals navigating reentry as well as employers looking to actively recruit from an underutilized talent pool without relying on traditional screening barriers.
Defy Ventures’ volunteer portal outlines concrete ways for individuals and organizations to support currently and formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs through mentorship, skills-based volunteering, and cohort support. Volunteers can participate in in-prison programs, mock pitch events, resume coaching, and professional development workshops that directly contribute to participants’ confidence, employability, and long-term reentry success.
This podcast episode features a candid conversation with John Jackson, an entrepreneur, speaker, and formerly incarcerated advocate who spent 18 years in prison before transforming his life through entrepreneurship and reentry programs. John shares how experiences with prison-based programs alongside his work with organizations like Defy Ventures helped him reclaim agency, break generational cycles of incarceration, and redefine his sense of purpose.
This section reflects on a firsthand or immersive experience related to the Pathway topic.
I remember first hearing about Defy Ventures after our Community Outreach Program Director, Emilee Mabrey met with them early in the semester. She mentioned that this organization was looking to work with us and within my pathway. Once I learned more about their mission I knew that this was an organization I wanted to be involved with. But I knew that my own biases and life experiences would inevitably come forward in the process, and that they did. You see, while I pride myself on being understanding and empathetic whenever possible, incarceration was something that I did not know how to connect with. A lot of the hardships my family faced around my younger years were directly linked to incarceration and my heart still felt heavy whenever I thought back to those days. But something unknown kept pushing me towards understanding, and forging a new connection to that population.
In preparation for this first event I got to undergo various training prepared by the brilliant Gwen Martin from our Center for Social Impact. These training sessions opened my eyes to the system at play and just how unfair and unethical it all is. I started to see the connections in the lives of my family members who had been previously incarcerated. I felt incredibly ashamed for all the judgement I had carried in my heart towards them before this realization. This system was rooted in the legacy of slavery so of course my communities were the ones still being targeted by it to this day. Their choices were made out of a place of desperation not joy. It was never for selfish reasons, it was to protect the people loved, all they wanted to do was provide for those in their care. But when you’re treated as other, and common pathways toward stability are not easily accessible, you’re oftentimes left with no other choice. But this was just the beginning for me. The lasting change happened at the volunteer event many weeks later.
Flashforward and the big day was here, it was time to finally engage with the EITs face to face. Even though I had done the work to address my personal biases, I had yet to address the imposter syndrome that was lurking in the dark corners of my mind. I thought to myself “I’m just a college student, what entrepreneurial expertise can I bring to the table.” If volunteering for Defy has so much as crossed your mind you may have experienced something similar too. While these thoughts can be tedious to deal with they don’t have the power to be inhibiting, especially not in the environment created by the Leadership and EITs at Defy Ventures.
Right off the bat we were warmly greeted by the EITs with a highly energetic and uplifting spirit tunnel as we rushed into the open floor gym high fives a blazin! As I looked around me I saw a multitude of infectious smiles. It was hard to suppress the joy felt in that very moment! That same current of joy, hope and gratitude carried us through the entire day. I got to sit down with EIT’s and together we developed their elevator pitches, reviewed their resumes, and even helped them along in the business ideation process. Every single EIT that I spoke to took these matters seriously and I saw them light up with passion in the same way that my Woodbury School of Business counterparts do when it comes to our business endeavors. Many of the participants had extensive qualifications, boasting bachelor and associates degrees with impressive GPAs and extracurricular achievements.
At that moment I saw myself as no different from them. We bonded over shared interest and our anticipation for graduation in the spring. One of the participants shared that they had first become incarcerated as a teen. They never got to experience things that we have sometimes come to consider small and common check boxes like a high school graduation. But through Defy Ventures, she will have the opportunity to see herself in graduation regalia, mind you as the first to ever do it in her family and celebrate her accomplishments next spring. As a first-generation student I know how impactful these “first” are. They bring so much closure not just emotionally but cyclically. We are breaking intergenerational cycles of poverty and yes I say We! I strongly believe that Defy’s programming equips every single EIT with the necessary tools to become successful entrepreneurs.
I went home that day feeling inspired and with a renewed sense of purpose. Through the empathy building exercises conducted that day, I let go of the guilt, I let go of all previous judgement, and I was able to forgive my family members for the harm they never intended to cause. It’s funny because as a volunteer we go in with the mindset that we are there to help them when in actuality they were the ones that helped me. I am so incredibly grateful that organizations like Defy are helping incarcerated individuals “Defy the odds”. If you’d like to experience this for yourself, please refer back to the pathways resources.
Call to Action
This section offers closing reflections and invites readers to consider how they can apply the insights in their own lives and communities.
As the holidays are among us I would like to remind you that giving comes in many forms. Logan Beckstead, our Philanthropy Fellow makes this clear when sharing: “Philanthropy is more than charity it’s a love of humanity. It’s the act of expressing this love through generosity and charitable efforts to improve the well-being of all living things, by giving money, time, or talent.” Business professionals, students and everyday citizens can contribute to long lasting change by investing your time and talents. Whether that be through volunteering with Defy Ventures, advocating for fair-chance hiring within your workplace, or simply challenging your own assumptions. Each of these actions can help disrupt incarceration cycles and move us towards solutions that restore dignity, agency and hope. Where will you start?
