Training New Yorkers for Good Paying Jobs of the Future: Governor Hochul Announces More Than $15.5 Million Awarded Through the Office of Strategic Workforce Development

Governor Kathy Hochul announced the New York State Office of Strategic Workforce Development has awarded more than $15.5 million in additional grants to support five projects across Upstate New York. Funding will help CEO to expand its successful construction pre-apprenticeship training for justice-impacted New Yorkers, increasing capacity in Buffalo, and ...

Ozone Park cleanup initiative kicks off

State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Woodhaven) and Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) met with the Center for Employment Opportunities last week to participate in its community cleanup initiative.

NY would pay ex-inmates $2,550 after prison under bill to aid transition, curb recidivism

New York could give former inmates up to $2,550 after they leave prison under a pending bill meant to help them pay for food and rent while they seek jobs and stability. Advocacy groups backing the bill plan to rally at the Capitol in Albany on Monday to push for ...

Statement from CEO, Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), The Fortune Society, Osborne Association, and Fines & Fees Justice Center (FFJC) on the 2024-2025 New York State Budget Including an Increase in the Amount of Money People Leave Prison With

“We applaud Governor Kathy Hochul, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie for including an increase in ‘Gate Money’ in the 2024-2025 New York State Budget. By doing so, it is clear that they have heard us and agree that $40 is not enough, and New Yorkers ...

A Background Check Doesn’t Show Who You Are Today

Dion always had a job growing up in New York. Since starting work at the age of 13, Dion had been a golf caddy, a waiter, and a manager at his uncle’s drycleaning business. After completing his associate's degree, Dion was ready to set his sights on a more exciting ...

A New Way to Help New Yorkers Adjust to Life After Prison

Under a newly proposed bill by a former incarcerated state lawmaker, New Yorkers released from prison could receive $2,500 in direct cash payments over a year, if it becomes law.

CM Joann Ariola leads effort to keep streets in southeast Queens clean

Council Member Joann Ariola aims to keep the streets clean in her southeast Queens district with the help of city agencies and an employment program looking to improve the area.

Center for Employment Opportunities opens their doors for formerly incarcerated people

She says she continued to pay for her crime after she was released - that is until a parole officer told her about the Center for Employment Opportunities, or CEO.

“I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life.” Finding a calling after incarceration

Michael Holder credits the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) with helping him find his professional calling and achieve job security. CEO provides employment services including community support, job-readiness training, and job placement and retention assistance—to individuals recently released from incarceration.

A New Chapter: Sha-Ken's Advocacy Leads to Landmark Legislation

Sha-Ken recently realized a dream he never imagined was possible: he helped pass New York state legislation that will positively impact people with past justice-involvement like his. It’s been a journey for him to get to this point. Sha-Ken, who is from Brooklyn, first became involved with CEO several years ...

Episode 142: Dr. Genevieve Rimer and Samra Haider - Center for Employment Opportunities

Joshua B. Hoe talks to Dr. Genevieve Rimer and Samra Haider about CEO's commitment to reimagining America's criminal justice system. Listen Now!

Donations to the Center for Employment Opportunities Support People Returning from Prison

Everyone has the potential to build a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities. Card rewards and other donations help the Center for Employment Opportunities give more people that chance.

The Unemployment Gap Between Black and White New Yorkers Is Widening

The gulf between Black and white unemployment rates in New York City is now the widest it has been this century, exceeding even the largest gap during the Great Recession, according to a new report.

Opinion: Background checks and blanket hiring exclusions don’t reduce risk – they limit opportunities

Hiring restrictions, including background checks, prevent qualified job applicants from securing employment. For a work-obsessed nation in the midst of a labor shortage, we still go to great lengths to prevent people with past criminal convictions who want to work from accessing a job.

The Power of Reentry: Returning Strong

At every turn, people returning to their communities after incarceration are told to be realistic, to do all they can, to be prepared for disappointment, and to set minimal expectations. But what if we could replace these lowered expectations with the equity and opportunity everyone should have access to? What ...

Activists vow to protect bail reform and close Rikers Island at Manhattan rally

On the last day of Black History Month, around 40 protestors gathered outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s Manhattan office, demanding the governor lay off her proposed bail reform rollback. Simultaneously, they also called for the permanent closure of Rikers Island.

Black Resilience

Black History Month is a time to honor and celebrate Black resilience. Resilience is generally defined as “the ability to withstand or recover quickly from difficulties.” This definition seems lacking. It does not fully encompass what I mean by Black resilience. Black resilience is more than fortitude in the face ...

Inclusive hiring: New LinkedIn partnership helps job seekers with criminal backgrounds

Genevieve Rimer's journey from incarceration to becoming a college-educated social worker illustrates that there is life after prison. And thanks to a new digital educational program that she’s leading at LinkedIn, Rimer hopes to prepare thousands of Americans with felony convictions for employment, a major step toward new opportunities and ...

Why I Teamed Up with LinkedIn to Create a Resource for Job-Seekers with a Criminal Record

Going to court while incarcerated is one of the most nerve-wracking experiences; you lie awake throughout the night because the anxiety of the unknown permeates your thoughts. Early in the morning, while the rest of the world is fast asleep, you hear your name through the loud intercom, and the ...

Truist Foundation Awards Center for Employment Opportunities $1M

Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), the nation’s largest provider of comprehensive employment services to people returning from jail or prison, has received a $1 million grant from Truist Foundation.

Researchers Partner with CEO’s Participant Advisory Council to Learn How to Improve Feedback

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) provides employment services and other supports to individuals who have recently returned home from incarceration. CEO believes that organizations that listen to their participants and incorporate their voices into program decisions are better able to provide accessible and effective services.

Meet Chris Watler, CEO's New Executive Vice President

I am thrilled to announce that Christopher Watler has been appointed to the newly created position of Executive Vice President (EVP) of CEO. This promotion is a recognition of Chris's leadership at CEO for over six years, along with some new responsibilities added to his portfolio.

Nonprofits fill void in training people of color

Nonprofits are working to prepare young people of color, those formerly incarcerated and tribal college students for career growth, especially in fields where they remain underrepresented.

CEO’s Impact! 2022: What We Did Together

What an incredible year it’s been at the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO)! We are so grateful for your support. Check out CEO’s Impact! 2022 to learn more about what we achieved together this year: Connected 6700 people to paid employment opportunities. In April, CEO expanded into Pontiac, Michigan, and ...

Google Offers Digital Skills Training to Thousands of Formerly Incarcerated Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) Participants

CEO has integrated Grow With Google initiative into job readiness training to create economic mobility for participants in 31 cities across the country

Will you be an advocate for inclusive hiring at your workplace?

Inclusive hiring helps maximize access to talent for employers while ensuring that past convictions do not prevent qualified people from joining the workforce. It is easy to feel powerless with the constant stream of bad news in the world. However, a simple and meaningful way to make positive change in ...

City & State 2022 Nonprofit Power 100

Nonprofit organizations play an invaluable and yet overlooked role in New York. These organizations, with rare exceptions, are led by idealistic executives who toil day after day to make New York a better place.

Making time for leadership

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) recently held its September Leadership Retreat. Over 140 leaders from CEO’s 12 states and 30 offices converged on lower Manhattan in New York City. It was the first time we had all been together since before the pandemic. Over three days we celebrated, learned ...

Preventing reimprisonment of formerly incarcerated individuals starts with higher-paying jobs

First posted on NYN Media on August 3, 2022. Image credit: Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images

Preventing reimprisonment of formerly incarcerated individuals starts with higher-paying jobs

The city should work with unions and re-entry providers to create work opportunities that facilitate and track long-term success.

New York Times: For People Just Leaving Prison, a Novel Kind of Support: Cash

Joining a raft of initiatives aimed at helping the formerly incarcerated, a program gives money to defray expenses they face, including court fines and rent.

CEO Statement on Committee Passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2022

How the Returning Citizen Stimulus and CEO Help the Formerly Incarcerated

CEO's Director of Social Enterprise Derick Bowers appeared on Roland Martin Unfiltered to discuss the Returning Citizen Stimulus and CEO's program model. (Clip begins at 1:21:43)

Employers must rethink how they treat talent with criminal record

This article was originally published on HR.com Imagine what it is like to look for work with a past felony conviction. Every time you are applying for a job, the burden of your conviction weighs on you. You worry about having to explain your conviction to a hiring manager -- ...

CEO Profile: A conversation with Chris Watler

This profile was originally published by the Legal Action CenterQ+A with Christopher Watler, Chief External Affairs Officer at CEO Can you describe CEO's work in supporting people directly impacted by the criminal legal system? CEO is the largest provider of transitional job opportunities for people returning to the community from ...

REVOKED: Just When Things Were Getting Better, I Lost My SNAP Benefits

Jefferson was only 17 years old when he left Rikers Island correctional facility. Upon his release, he lived in a homeless shelter with his children, a situation that lasted for nearly six months. Jefferson’s cousin, an independent contractor, would hire him for construction work whenever there were openings on his ...

How $24M in Cash Grants Provided a Lifeline for Returning Citizens During Pandemic

Photo by Elentir via Flickr

Meet Samra Haider, CEO's New President

We are pleased to announce that Samra Haider has been promoted to the newly created position of President at CEO. This promotion is a recognition of the leadership that Samra has displayed for many years, stewarding the organization through two strategic plans and growth into 12 states across the country ...

$24 Million Returning Citizens Stimulus from Center for Employment Opportunities Benefits Thousands Released From Prisons and Jails During COVID-19

I Had Patience, But More Importantly, I Had a Game Plan to Become a Successful Entrepreneur

Ever since he was young, Terrance had always considered himself a business-savvy individual. Hoping to one day open his own customizable t-shirt shop, he set out to educate himself on how to run a small business. While incarcerated in upstate New York, Terrance enrolled in college courses, majoring in Entrepreneurship ...

Inspired by a Commitment to Community and Centering Impacted Voices

“A jail is a lockdown, but prison is a community,” says Charles, citing the work of famed prison reform advocate, penologist, and longtime warden of Sing Sing Correctional Facility, Lewis E. Lawes. Over the 40 years of his incarceration, Sing Sing was just one of the many institutions where Charles ...

Opinion: Key Fixes for New York’s Broken Parole System Await the Governor’s Signature

It wasn’t the eight months of military-style, intense shock incarceration that finally broke me; it was my parole officer. After my incarceration at Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility for non-violent offenders in Brocton, New York, I quickly realized I was living in constant fear of reincarceration. My parole officer had ...

To Boost Hiring, New York Makes Case for a ‘Clean Slate’

For many Americans, criminal records stand as stubborn barriers to employment and housing. Several states are now advancing efforts to automatically seal and expunge those records.

Fair Chance Conversations: The Economics of Inclusive Hiring with Jeff Korzenik

Google Partners with Nonprofits on Skills Training for Formerly Incarcerated People

Google will join New York-based groups The Ladies of Hope Ministries, Center for Employment Opportunities, Defy Ventures and The Fortune Society to help improve job prospects for people with criminal records, a group that's unemployed at 5x the national average.

Benefits of Inclusive Hiring: Watch CEO’s Recent Corporate Roundtable

Draxel Shares the Life-changing Impact of the CEO Program

Charandip’s Journey: From Incarceration to a Union Job

“Without CEO’s training and job search support, I would not have the union job I currently do. Last year, I was living in a shelter and now I have the security of a good job, my own place, and even savings!”

Effectively Reaching Young Adult Job Seekers with Prior Justice Involvement

#MLKDay Series 2021: Ayanna Teesdale

Ayanna TeesdaleDirector of Payroll CEO New York City

#MLKDay Series 2021: Keito Gray

Keito GraySenior Manager, Bronx OperationsCEO New York City

#MLKDay Series 2021: Wallace St. Clair

Wallace St. ClairSenior Site SupervisorCEO New York City

The Positive Mind Radio Show Interview on Mental Health

The Positive Mind Show on 99.5FM in New York City spoke with Christopher Watler, CEO’s Chief External Affairs Officer and Alexandra Poolt, CEO’s Manager of Supportive Services regarding the organization's mental health initiatives.