History

CEO San Diego opened in November 2011 to break the cycle of reincarceration and stem the persistence of poverty by addressing the immediate and long-term income needs of San Diego's formerly incarcerated population. Our program is designed to develop and promote self-sufficiency through job readiness training, employment experience, cognitive-behavioral interventions, vocational certifications, assistance with all aspects of the employment application process, and retention services once employed with businesses in the community.

CEO San Diego is the largest non-profit employer of justice-involved individuals within the region, providing nearly 400 unique individuals with income earning transitional jobs immediately upon enrollment into our program. This is accomplished by our wonderful staff of 33 individuals on an annual budget of approximately $7 million.

Impact in San Diego County

Our re-entry employment services are part of a larger eort toward responsible and inclusive development, as CEO is ultimately working to improve our environment and economies of the cities we serve. During our most recent fiscal year (July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020), CEO has had the following impact within San Diego County.

• 358 formerly incarcerated individuals enrolled in CEO’s evidence-based programming.
• $1.55 million in wages paid to formerly incarcerated individuals through our transitional work crews
• 45,000 bags of litter and debris removed from our community’s streets, highways, and open spaces.
• 154 individuals placed in jobs within the community

CEO San Diego Leadership Team

ROB SMITH
Site Director

Rob Smith is the Site Director of our San Diego office, overseeing all aspects of the Social Enterprise and our vocational services. Rob has 20 years experience as a nonprofit leader, specifically focused in underserved communities. He is also a lived experience expert in understanding the challenges of extreme poverty, domestic violence, sexual assault, drug addiction and incarceration from early childhood until his release from state prison in 2000 that was the existence of his life. Overseeing the CEO office in San Diego Robert has been able to combine the best of both his worlds; his relentless hustle and grind mentality has propelled San Diego’s office to the second largest site next to NYC; his deep understanding of and ability to partner/broker between justice involved communities and public systems has contributed to expanding San Diego CEO’s footprint across the local region.

CLAIRE BROWN
Social Enterprise Operations Manager

Claire Brown is the Manager of Social Enterprise Operations at CEO San Diego. Her team of 25 full-time staff provide transitional work opportunities to hundreds of program participants annually through partnerships with Caltrans and the City of San Diego Environmental Services Department. She has worked in the criminal justice space with the Orleans Public Defenders, done microenterprise consulting with Fund 17, and supported social enterprise incubation with the Deshpande Foundation India. In her spare time she enjoys exploring the outdoors and tending to her plant babies. She holds a BA in Political Science and Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship from Tulane University.

MARY HARMER
Program Manager

Mary Harmer is the Program Manager at CEO San Diego. She supports the team’s effective delivery of vocational services offered to participants. She joined CEO San Diego in 2014 as an intern and served four years in the role of retention specialist, supporting participants to maintain employment in the community for one year. Mary also serves as an advocate for CEO participants in the San Diego Homeless Court Program. Mary has over ten years of experience as a non profit professional, and prior to CEO she was the marketing and events coordinator at The Salvation Army of Greater Philadelphia. Mary holds a BA in History from Messiah College and a MA in Peace and Justice Studies from the University of San Diego.

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Our Partners

As we look to the future, we remain committed to our mission of providing immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services for justice-involved individuals. We are proud of our growing impact in San Diego County and proud to partner with dedicated community partners in the pursuit of a stronger, cleaner, and safer community. We sincerely thank the following community organizations and foundations for their financial contributions* and/or partnerships in support of our mission.