The inaugural “Charting a Path Forward with Business Schools and Corporations,” a new annual conference exploring labor market trends and the benefits of second-chance employment, was held April 3 in David Geffen Hall.
The event convened business and government leaders, faculty, administrators, scholars from other business schools, and individuals impacted by incarceration for a discussion about the business case for second-chance hiring.
Co-organized by the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise at CBS and Justice Through Code, the Business Roundtable, and the Second Chance Business Coalition, and co-chaired by JPMorgan Chase and Eaton Corporation, the conference highlighted examples of the work of government and business leaders in providing individuals with criminal records with pathways to sustainable employment.
Panelists—including Oklahoma Governor J. Kevin Stitt; Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg; and human resource heads at JPMorgan Chase & Co., NBCUniversal, and Schnitzer Steel—explained the benefits and best practices of second-chance hiring. Conference attendees also heard from individuals with criminal records who’ve graduated from Columbia’s Justice Through Code program and now work as software engineers at companies including The Walt Disney Com- pany and Amazon Web Services.
In future years, the conference location will rotate among partnering business schools.