Barriers to Breakthroughs: How Second Chances Are Driving Success

This discussion explores how second chance employment unlocks talent, strengthens businesses, and drives economic growth. Panelists will share insights on how employers are expanding opportunity, improving retention, and contributing to workforce resilience.

This panel brings together policymakers to explore how public policy can expand employment pathways for individuals with a record.

Bias and misperception remain major barriers for job seekers with a record, even as data and research tell a different story. In this discussion, leading researchers unpack the evidence on second chance employment and explore how data-driven storytelling can shift mindsets, unlock untapped talent and drive economic growth.

Washington, DC has emerged as an example of what bold, coordinated reentry policy can look like in practice. With innovative initiatives underway, the District is translating commitment into action and the results are instructive for cities and communities across the country. This panel brings together a nationally recognized advocate and a Georgetown Pivot Program alum now driving policy from inside the Mayor's office to examine what's working, what barriers remain and what second chances done right look like.

The skilled trades are opening new career pathways for individuals who need a second chance. When businesses and community partners invest in apprenticeships and trade-based training, they create sustainable economic opportunities for people too often left behind while filling critical workforce gaps. This panel explores how skill-based models are strengthening pipelines, improving retention and delivering real impact for businesses and communities.

Two Attorneys General from opposite sides of the aisle join this conversation to explore what that consensus looks like in practice and how chief law enforcement officers can be champions for reentry and public safety. This conversation examines how states are advancing second chance policy through enforcement priorities, diversion programs and reentry initiatives, and what it takes to maintain bipartisan support.

Second chance employment often succeeds or stalls with HR leadership. This discussion focuses on how human resources leaders translate organizational commitment into hiring practice, from shaping internal policies and securing executive alignment to navigating compliance, onboarding, retention and culture. Panelists will share what it takes to build and sustain a second chance hiring strategy, along with practical lessons for embedding it into talent operations.

This conversation brings together Pivot Program alumni to share their experiences navigating reentry, entering the workforce and building careers that defy the assumptions too often attached to a record. Grounded in lived experience, this panel makes the compelling case that talent with records represents one of the most overlooked sources of workforce potential in the country.

Across Arizona, Delaware and Pennsylvania, cross-sector partnerships are helping shape stronger pathways to second chance employment. This conversation will highlight how employers, workforce leaders and service providers are aligning hiring needs with wrap-around support, upskilling and reskilling strategies to drive better outcomes for workers and businesses alike. Panelists will share lessons from the field on what makes local ecosystems work and what other communities can learn from these efforts.

The Justice and Upward Mobility Project (JUMP) and the National Basketball Association are creating pathways for first and second chance youth to grow into professionals, change-makers and future leaders. Panelists will share stories that challenge stereotypes, illuminate barriers and shift perceptions of leadership potential. The conversation will also consider how JUMP offers a model for employers seeking to embed second chance talent into a broader people strategy focused on meaningful career pathways.

Highlighting the perspective of a notable entertainer, athlete, or influencer, this panel will explore what it takes to challenge misperceptions and shift public perception and culture to advance second chance employment opportunities at scale.