EARN & LEARN APPRENTICESHIP AT CATALYST

The Hustler Files with Lisa Reilly - Stories That Challenge What You Thought You Knew

Over the last couple of decades, tech companies and tech-minded entrepreneurs have been developing various ways to assist incarcerated and justice-involved individuals with job training both behind the wall and upon returning to the community. Checkr, a California-based background tech company, has been leading the charge for more employers, like those they work with, to become more socially responsible in the fair chance hiring movement by bridging the gap between employers, needing employees, and justice-involved individuals learning a trade and earning a living wage. To that means, Checkr has launched CATALYST, a 12-month, 2,000 hours, apprenticeship program to offer justice-involved individuals with real-life learning, in a variety of career pathways, and that includes a formal credential from the US Department of Labor, upon completion of their apprenticeship. CATALYST was piloted, in-house, at Checkr for a full year, before launching the roll-out with a handful of employers who believe in this valuable, often-overlooked talent pool. Checkr has committed o$1M over the next two years to expand CATALYST, and Christina Louie Dyer, Head of Corporate Social Responsibility has been tapped to oversee this life-changing initiative.