2025 marks the fifth year of Fair Chance Month, a recognition month that focuses on raising awareness of both the vast potential of—and challenges faced by— formerly incarcerated people.  

At Whiteboard Advisors, we’re working to open doors and advocate for investment in educational and workforce opportunities for a population that our friend Ken Oliver has dubbed “talent with records.” 

W/A Co-Founder and CEO Ben Wallerstein teamed up with SHRM’s Johnny Taylor to explore how employers in Birmingham, Alabama are addressing labor force challenges and reducing recidivism by gainfully employing formerly incarcerated individuals. Read the op-ed in Birmingham Business Journal.

I sat down with Lucretia Murphy, who leads Jobs for the Future’s Center for Justice & Economic Mobility, to learn more about their team’s efforts and get the latest on a rapidly-evolving policy landscape. Much of their work involves teaming up with employers to implement fair chance hiring practices and championing policies that remove workforce barriers for individuals with records, so they bring a unique and informed perspective.

In recent years, the Fair Chance hiring movement has gained momentum and, at times, moved into the mainstream discourse. What are the most significant priorities now for advocates? 

We can’t take progress for granted. A critical priority of ours is to build and maintain coalitions of diverse stakeholders to drive momentum for policy change at the federal and state levels, even as other national and state priorities arise. 

Our goal is to advocate for the humanity and dignity of people with records, including those who are currently incarcerated. When people are imprisoned, it’s easy for the public to forget them and lose sight of the mistreatment they endure. But prisons are, as Chief Justice Earl Warren said, “the people’s house” because people are imprisoned in the name of “the people.” To be the America that we want to be, we have to make sure that what is done in our name is rehabilitative, just, and enables people to transform their lives and contribute to the prosperity of their families and communities. 

This work is about ensuring that people have what they need to reintegrate into their families and communities successfully. This includes advocating for access to education and training—like Pell grants and admission policies at institutions—incentivizing employers to hire and promote people with records and championing policies that expand comprehensive supports like housing and access to benefits. Each of these efforts contributes to a holistic effort to support reentry for returning citizens.

In 2022, you launched the Center for Justice & Economic Development at Jobs for the Future. What has been your team’s theory of change and how have you helped to bring stakeholders outside of the criminal justice space on board?


We developed the Center for Justice & Economic Development (CJEA) to shift the focus on outcomes for people with records from recidivism to economic mobility. Beyond preventing recidivism, we want people with records to be employed in quality jobs and earn family-sustaining wages. These efforts align with JFF’s northstar goal of seeing 75M people who currently face barriers in the labor market in quality jobs by 2033.

Our team recognizes that people with records face complex challenges, so we developed a comprehensive strategy. This includes working to open access to and scale high-quality education and training programs, so people are workforce-ready, ensuring that employers are prepared to hire people from this talent pool, and promoting state and federal policies that normalize opportunity instead of perpetuating barriers. 

By framing this as an employment goal, we’ve brought stakeholders from the education and workforce sectors to the “justice” table. Economic prosperity is a justice issue, and we see our work as a bridge between these issues.

Your team recently announced a partnership with The JUMP Project, which largely centers on the goal of creating apprenticeship opportunities for formerly incarcerated individuals. Can you share more about this effort and what about the apprenticeship model feels most impactful in serving this population?

We are excited about the JUMP partnership! The Just Trust, led by Ken Oliver, has launched the Justice & Upward Mobility Project to represent the life and legacy of Larry Miller, who was able to move from prison to Chair the Nike Jordan Brand and President of the Portland Trailblazers. JUMP creates an opportunity structure for others to follow his path. We also want to create a policy and investment environment to grow apprenticeship opportunities for people with records.  JUMP, JFF will work with The Just Trust to create apprenticeships in sports, arts, and entertainment industries through our Center for Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning (CAWBL), while training participating employers in best practices for fair chance hiring and sponsoring apprenticeships. We will also develop a policy framework to promote investment and scale of apprenticeships for people with records  

Through JUMP, apprenticeships will be a pathway to new industries that are high-interest and high-demand opportunities.  Also, the apprenticeship models designed for JUMP will be for occupations that are transferable to other industries as well, so we see this as a vehicle for expanding the reach of apprenticeships and creating greater opportunities for people with records.

We’re seeing growing momentum across the country to expand educational access for currently and formerly incarcerated people. States like North Carolina, Colorado, and Washington are stepping up in meaningful ways—not only by developing comprehensive plans, but also by joining coalitions like Reentry 2030, a national initiative focused on transforming reentry outcomes through education, employment, and community support.

These states are demonstrating leadership by embedding education into their broader reentry strategies, but policy alone isn’t enough. Implementation is where the real work begins. That’s why CJEA partners with networks such as Unlock Higher Ed to develop collaborative policy agendas that emphasize implementation, funding, and sustainability. Together, we work on issues like digital equity, student loan remediation, banning the box for education, and pay equity. Our focus is on ensuring that good policy doesn’t just sit on paper but leads to real, lasting impact for people with lived experience of incarceration.

Employers play a critical role in advancing the Fair Chance movement—both by hiring individuals but also by helping to normalize the practice for others. In your team’s experience running employer cohorts to support those engaging in fair chance hiring, what strategies have been most successful in encouraging employers to hire formerly incarcerated workers and encourage others to do the same?

Employers aren’t just participants in the Fair Chance movement; they’re powerful multipliers. When they open doors for individuals with records, they don’t just change lives—they shift systems. And when they share how they did it, they give others permission and a blueprint to join, because no one wants to be the first in the fight.

From our experience leading employer cohorts across industries and states, we’ve found that it’s not enough to inspire. Employers need a framework they can act on. We’ve seen major breakthroughs when we combine storytelling with strategy, personal testimonies from employees, and case studies from employers, along with actionable steps on policy, hiring, and onboarding.

This work begins when we normalize the conversation about fair chance hiring and connect employers with others in the space who are doing this work. Employers are more likely to stay committed when they learn alongside others, solve real-time challenges, and see measurable outcomes. Hiring is step one, but culture is the game-changer. That’s why we focus on retention strategies, offering second chances within the workplace, and building community partnerships that support talent.