Making second chances real
Since 2017, April has been celebrated as Second Chance Month in the United States. People who have been incarcerated or have past convictions face seemingly insurmountable barriers when they return to their families and communities and try to rebuild their lives. Second Chance Month offers a time for people, organisations, businesses and government leaders to work together to remove those barriers and promote equitable access to opportunities.
Over-reliance on the criminal legal system means that one in three US adults – over 70 million people – has a past conviction, and over 650,000 people return home from state and federal prisons each year. Ensuring they have a real second chance is one of the most powerful ways to advance public safety and strengthen our communities.
This year’s Second Chance Month has seen a flurry of activity that reflects the now massive breadth and depth of people and organisations working to change the criminal justice system and its impacts. It’s been exciting to see and support real change in the making. And there’s so much more work to do.
Below are a few ways in which businesses can get involved in this critical work.
Help build bridges to opportunity
Over the last year, Virgin Unite worked closely with three organisations that help people realise meaningful second chances.
Televerde Foundation works inside prisons to ensure incarcerated women have the support they need to get good-paying sales and customer support jobs when they return home. The average starting pay for their graduates' first job home is $41,000, a 98% salary increase compared to pre-incarceration wages.
The Ladies of Hope Ministries (LOHM) Pathways 4 Equity programme offers basic job skills training and certifications in English and Spanish, and an intensive professional development fellowship for women ready to pivot or take the next step in their career.
A Second U Foundation builds on people’s passion for fitness and nutrition, helping train and certify personal trainers and helping graduates find placements in gyms, or forge their paths toward launching their own fitness-focused businesses.
All three of these organisations do incredible work to support people who are system impacted. They also have roles for volunteers, and they’re pipelines for talent that could benefit many businesses.
Make business part of the solution
For business owners and recruiting managers, there are robust and growing networks and platforms to help find potential new hires and navigate any challenges along the way.
The Virgin Group is a founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition, which is a cross-sector group of leading corporations committed to expanding their second chance hiring and advancement practices.
Another option for businesses interested in second-chance hiring or criminal justice reform advocacy is the Workforce & Justice Alliance. Run by the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice, the Alliance supports members with second-chance hiring expertise and opportunities to speak up for positive change.
Put philanthropic capital to work
Virgin Unite regularly brings donors, business leaders, and activists together to help scale up high-impact programs and collaborate on advocacy opportunities. It has a growing network of partners working on issues that stretch from second-chance hiring, to ending extreme sentencing like the death penalty, to eliminating wealth-based detention. It is also part of other emerging donor communities, such as Galaxy Give’s new One for Justice, to share what it's learned through its work and partners, and to learn from others in the space.
Interested in supporting work to make second chances real and change the criminal justice system? Virgin Unite would love to hear from you. Get in touch to learn about upcoming philanthropic opportunities.