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THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Highlighting leading practices, policies, and approaches in reentry workforce.

NEXT SESSION – December 16, 2025

The Future of Work & The Justice-Impacted Job Seeker

The U.S. labor market is undergoing a profound shift. Workforce shortages, demographic changes, and employer demand are reshaping the future of work. For the reentry workforce field, these trends raise urgent questions about talent pipelines and how best to support justice-involved job seekers striving to build stable careers.

This session will explore:

  • Labor market realities: What today’s employment data reveals about workforce demand and opportunity gaps
  • Demographic headwinds: How population decline and shifting participation rates are defining employer needs
  • Implications for the reentry workforce field: What providers and employers can do now to adapt, innovate, and ensure justice-impacted job seekers are not left behind.
Speaker: Jeffrey Korzenik, Chief Economist at Fifth Third Bank and author of Untapped Talent, providing a data-driven look at today’s labor market and what it means for justice-impacted job seekers.

Thought Leadership Series Webinar

  • The Future of Work & The Justice-Impacted Job Seeker

  • Tuesday December 16th

    1:00 – 2:00 EST

Previous Thought Leadership Sessions

Session 17: Behind the Background Check

August 29, 2025 Background checks are often misunderstood, creating barriers for justice-involved job seekers. In this webinar, experts share key insights, job seekers’ rights, and practical guidance to help practitioners interpret reports and better advocate for their clients.

Session 16: Employer Perspectives on Education and Training

June 6th, 2025. Strong partnerships between community-based organizations and employers are essential to creating quality career pathways for justice-impacted individuals. In this webinar, fair chance employers share what they look for and offer insights to strengthen training models and support successful hiring.

Session 15: Increasing Access to Quality Jobs

March 7, 2025. Reentry workforce practitioners aim to connect justice-impacted job seekers to quality jobs that drive upward mobility. This webinar explores how to identify quality jobs, measure job outcomes, and implement strategies to improve placements and community impact.

Session 14: Optimizing Fair Chance Employer Relationships

December 6th, 2024. Learn strategies to create and sustain effective employer relationships, secure company buy-in, address turnover challenges, and implement feedback loops for continuous improvement. Gain actionable insights to strengthen fair chance hiring practices and make a lasting community impact.

Session 13: Navigating Barriers to Occupational Licensing

September 6th, 2024 In this webinar, two former regulators and a reentry workforce practitioner shared insights on distinguishing real vs. perceived barriers and discussed practical steps providers can take to collaborate with regulators and open more opportunities for justice-impacted job seekers.

Session 12: Education, Healthcare, and the Justice-Impacted Workforce

June 7th, 2024. Explore how the expanded Federal Pell Grant Program and Medicaid in 2023 are creating new opportunities for incarcerated individuals. Experts will share insights and strategies to navigate these changes.

Session 11: The Role of the Federal Government

March 8th, 2024. NRWC strives to improve connections between reentry stakeholders and federal agencies. Federal representatives shared programs for justice-involved and explored partnership opportunities for community organizations.

Session 10: Employment Pathway in the Health System

December 1st, 2023. During this webinar, we explored how Lifespan, Rhode Island’s largest employer and healthcare system, developed Pathway to Employment (PTE). This innovative work-based learning program equips individuals affected by the criminal legal system with the skills and connections needed to secure employment in this rapidly expanding industry.

Session 9: Holistic Reentry Models

June 9th, 2023. In this webinar, we will hear from practitioners who will share the benefits of taking a person-centered approach, how this impacts the overall outcomes for their participants. We will also hear from individuals directly impacted by the criminal legal system, and their experiences receiving reentry workforce services.

Session 8: Understanding the Implications of Background Checks

March 31st, 2023. In this panel, you will hear from experts who will share the basics about background checks, how to assess candidates, and resources & tools to ensure your organization is complying with employment law around background checks.

Session 7: Solutions to Collateral Consequences

December 9th, 2022. The panelist take a critical look at recent policies and practices that are being implemented across the country to break down barriers to success for people with criminal records.

Session 6: Why Fair Chance Hiring

June 3, 2022. Three companies that practice Second (Fair) Chance hiring. They share what motivates them to take this approach, the unique benefits, and challenges they encounter in championing fair chances.

Session 5: Economic Mobility for People Impacted by the Justice System

Explore strategies and approaches that have proven to help people who have been impacted by the justice system to get on a path towards economic mobility.

Session 4: Effective Employer Engagement

December 3, 2021. Effective strategies for building transformative relationships with employers that result in career and economic mobility for people impacted by the justice system.

Session 3: Collaborating for Impact

September 17, 2021. Three organizations taking different approaches to collaborate and mobilize stakeholders, and the impact of the collective effort on their communities.

Session 2: Youth Leadership Council

June 4, 2021. Successful youth leadership council for reentry programming.

Session 1: Community Reinvestment

April 23, 2021. A focus on Colorado’s success in redirecting public safety resources to community.

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