Dave’s Killer Bread Challenges Stigma of Criminal Backgrounds, Launches Second Chance Project to Collect First-Hand Experiences with Employment
Prisoner to employee. Employee to manager. Manager to leader. For the formerly incarcerated, the ability to realize leadership potential often starts with just getting hired. Yet 50 percent of applicants with a criminal background never get a call back from hiring managers. To help challenge perceptions and shed light on the power of employment, Dave’s Killer Bread (DKB) has launched SecondChanceProject.com. The website will be a place where people with criminal backgrounds can give voice to the transformative impact of having a job, as well as others who believe in Second Chance Employment to express their support of the movement.
Dave’s Killer Bread, where one in three employee-partners in its Oregon bakery has a criminal background, is an advocate for Second Chance Employment working to break down barriers and inspire other businesses to open their doors to a new workforce.
“I’ve seen first-hand the ability of people – my co-workers – to turn their lives around with a second chance,” said Dan Letchinger, vice president of marketing. “Second Chance Employment is baked into our DNA, and now we’re working to go beyond our bakery walls and give voice to others and show the world the positive lasting change that second chances can have.”
A first of its kind endeavor, the story collection website was created in partnership with The Last Mile, a Technology Accelerator inside San Quentin State Prison that provides inmates with advanced training and work opportunities to hone their skills to prepare for workforce re-entry. Once programmers graduate from the in-prison computer coding program, they have marketable job skills to aid them in gainful employment as web developers rather than returning to a life of crime.
“We know that employment can be the difference between becoming a success story and returning to crime,” said Beverly Parenti, co-founder and executive director of The Last Mile. “The Second Chance Project aims to change the stigma around those with a criminal record and demonstrate that Second Chance Employment is powerful, one voice at a time. This is why we’re honored to be a part of this project. Because together we can make a difference.”
TLM Works, the web development shop in San Quentin comprised of coders trained by The Last Mile, completed the SecondChanceProject.com in accordance with detailed creative direction. The project was supervised by Tulio Cardozo, a founding class alumni of The Last Mile and former San Quentin inmate who is the first person to be granted permission to reenter San Quentin as a credentialed employee and technical manager. The Last Mile graduates Marcellino (“Lino”) Ornelas and William (“Murph”) Murphy, Jr. led project web development. Both men are currently serving sentences in San Quentin and aspire to careers in coding upon release.
About Dave’s Killer Bread
Feeding consumers’ love of whole grains and rocking the bread aisle comes naturally to Dave’s Killer BreadTM, the best-selling organic sliced bread in the U.S. The flagship organic bread for Flowers Foods (NYSE:FLO), Dave’s Killer Bread pioneered the organic seeded bread category and offers 19 varieties of whole grain organic bakery products with widespread distribution across the U.S. and Canada. All its products are Certified USDA organic and Non-GMO Project Verified. First introduced at Portland Farmers Market in 2005, Dave’s Killer Bread’s deep commitment to the power of second chances is helping transform lives and lead to positive, lasting change for its employee partners, one of three who have a criminal background. Based on the belief that business has the power to create meaningful, lasting change, Dave’s Killer Bread is dedicated to inspiring other businesses to become Second Chance Employers. Learn more at: http://www.daveskillerbread.com/.
About The Last Mile
The Last Mile is a Technology Accelerator, in partnership with California Prison Industry Authority, inside San Quentin prison that prepares incarcerated individuals for successful reentry through business and technology training. We believe that jobs are the key to breaking the cycle of incarceration. Our mission is to provide marketable skills that lead to employment. Our in and out program provides career training in prison with mentorship and job placement upon release. Learn more at: https://thelastmile.org/
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