Celebrating Second Chance Month
April is nationally recognized as Fair Chance Month, and the Second Chance Business Coalition (SCBC) conference has traditionally served as an opportunity for member companies and leaders to come together. The Second Chance Business Coalition is a cross-sector coalition of large private-sector firms committed to expanding second chance hiring (also referred to as fair chance hiring) and advancement practices within their companies. Fair chance hiring is built on the premise that individuals with a criminal history have the right to be fairly assessed for a role they’re qualified to fill. Put another way, fair chance hiring means employers consider a candidate’s skills and qualifications rather than their criminal history.
KeHE Distributors® joined the SCBC in 2024, and the beginning of April, Harris Rollinger, Sr. Program Manager of Hidden Talent at KeHE, had the opportunity to attend the SCBC conference in Washington D.C. “Gatherings like these always leave me feeling more inspired and hopeful. I find myself energized from conversations with peers as we dream about what is possible for the future,” said Harris.
The conference was filled with a mix of panels from influential business leaders (the Chief Executive Officers of AT&T, Radius Recycling, and Kelly Services opened the conference), inspiring stories, and announcements of new technology to help advance the fair chance hiring movement. Below are Harris’ key takeaways from the conference.
Progress at KeHE Through Collaboration
“In the 18 months since piloting our Hidden Talent work, we’ve been able to accomplish a lot due in large part to our companies’ ability to ‘collaborate with courage’. While some companies struggle to effectively track their Hidden Talent metrics, KeHE has successfully partnered with our Legal & Compliance teams to create a Hidden Talent dashboard. We’ve been able to identify strong community organizations near several distribution centers in partnership with KeHE Cares® and connect local recruiters to each organization. The Talent Acquisition team’s willingness to innovate allowed us to identify workforce grants that KeHE can access. I was asked by a company at the conference that was in the early stages of their fair chance journey what has made our initiative so successful to date, and ‘collaboration’ was the word that I kept coming back to.”
Individuals with Records Continue to Face Stigma and Barriers to Employment
“While some progress has been made in reducing barriers to employment for individuals with records through efforts like Ban The Box and Pell Grant reinstatement, there are still more than 40,000 collateral consequences in the United States that can prohibit access to employment and limit their ability to rebuild a stable life. There are more than 70 million people (about 1 in 3) in the U.S. that have a criminal record – equating to the same percentage as those who have a college degree in this country – and many of these individuals are hungry to work.”
Technology Can Transform Fair Chance Hiring
“While at the conference, I had a chance to connect with companies like Rezme and HonestJobs. These companies are leveraging technology in unique ways to level the playing field for individuals with records – offering everything from state-of-the-art compliance software to one of the largest job boards for individuals with records across the country. This past year, KeHE launched a partnership with HonestJobs, which has allowed us to identify thousands of quality job seekers from across the country, playing a key role in expanding the number of fair chance hires. As these tech platforms scale, they will support justice-impacted job seekers, work with employers to identify workforce grants, and automate components of the compliance process that will make adopting fair chance hiring policies easier.”
The Importance of Community
“For me, there is nothing like being in a room of people who are all passionate about an issue and are gathering to work towards a larger goal. Something I learned during the pandemic is the feeling you experience when walking into a room and reconnecting with a familiar face or forming a new connection is hard to replicate on Zoom. Being at the Darden School in D.C. this past week, I was reminded how impactful being in a community can be, not only on the ability to collaborate but the general spirit as well. The experience of breaking bread with friends, colleagues, and collaborators while trying to tackle a seemingly intractable challenge is one that I always look forward to – especially if the bread comes through one of our warehouses.”