At the 2025 Grantmakers for Education (GFE) Conference, a national convening of leading education funders and systems-change advocates, UNITE-LA’s Dexter Freeman, vice president, National Business Coalitions, moderated a powerful panel on advancing credential access for justice-impacted individuals. Hosted by the ACCE Foundation and supported by Lumina Foundation, the session spotlighted the Greater Memphis Chamber’s cross-sector work to expand second-chance hiring and build career pathways that connect justice-impacted individuals to family-sustaining employment. The conversation emphasized the chamber’s role in aligning education and training programs with employer needs while addressing long-standing systemic barriers to workforce reentry.

Panelists included Sondra Howell, senior vice president, Workforce Development, Greater Memphis Chamber; Alfred Haynes, learning and development leader, Georgia-Pacific’s Memphis Cellulose Plant; and Joseph King, a participant in Tennessee’s Community Reentry Reinvestment program who earned a forklift credential and successfully transitioned into employment. Their reflections underscored the value of cross-sector collaboration in designing equitable and navigable credentialing pathways. Sondra emphasized that when building strategies to serve justice-impacted individuals, it's essential to reflect on who makes up the broader community and ensure those voices are part of the solution. Alfred offered an employer’s lens, highlighting that successful second-chance hiring requires not only strong training infrastructure but also intentional support structures to help individuals thrive in the workplace. Joseph’s lived experience brought these themes to life, illustrating how credentialing can be a bridge to stability and opportunity. Dexter guided the discussion toward actionable insights and shared strategies, elevating the critical role philanthropy can play in strengthening local intermediaries and fostering systems-level coordination to unlock economic mobility for justice-impacted learners.