Many nonprofits (and businesses) have unnecessary barriers when it comes to hiring formerly incarcerated people. This harms not only those individuals looking for work, but also the nonprofits themselves. Today’s guest, Terrell Blount, joins us to discuss what your nonprofit can do to make your recruitment and retention practices more inclusive and equitable, including for those who were once incarcerated.
Listen to the Episode Here!
Links
Terrell’s Website
FICGN’s Website
Podcast: Ep 185: 6 Ways Your Nonprofit Can Be More Trans-Inclusive with Andy Marra
Podcast: Ep 167: DEI: Leading By Example with Germeen Guillaume
Timestamps
(01:58) Terrell’s story
(09:20) The role of education in incarceration
(12:40) How to make your nonprofit’s hiring and promotion practices more equitable
(27:00) How to recruit and retain formerly incarcerated people
People are what stand between you and a job.
People are going to see my record without seeing me.
Just because an organization institutes a policy, doesn’t mean that the people who implement it can set aside their own biases.
Formerly incarcerated people are 8x less likely to complete a college degree than someone who hasn’t come in contact with the legal system.
Half of the 2.2 million people incarcerated hold a high school diploma or GED. And 25% of them have no educational credential at all.
The education piece is the most important piece.
Someone who is looking for work is doing the right thing. Why are we creating barriers because of our assumptions of formerly incarcerated people?
We create barriers to hiring formerly incarcerated people because of our own assumptions of them.