In early April, UNITE-LA participated in a panel discussion with partners from Jobs for the Future (JFF) at the national conference for Correctional Education Association (CEA).

The session was titled, “Activating the Ecosystem: Creating Pathways to Quality Jobs for Workers with Records.” It focused on bringing together several of JFF’s partners working from different vantage points within the ecosystem for a conversation about how we can activate stakeholders from across the ecosystem – including Career Technical Education program leaders, chambers of commerce, employers and alumni with lived experience – in our efforts to build bridges from education to quality employment for workers with records. UNITE-LA’s Dexter Freeman, Senior Director of Education Business Coalitions, shared perspective based on UNITE-LA’s experience working across many stakeholders in support of building equitable pathways to economic mobility for systems-impacted individuals.