Ken Oliver
The Just Trust
Los Angeles, CA USA
"Don’t let your circumstance define you. Define your circumstance."
Career Roadmap
Ken's work combines: Non-Profit Organizations, Politics, and Helping People
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Day In The Life
Skills &
Education
Advice for getting started
I recommend either going to college for a four-year degree or getting involved in entrepreneurship.
Here's the path I took:
High School
Certification
Legal Assistant/Paralegal
Merritt College
Certification
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workforce
USF Corporate Training and Professional Education
Life & Career Milestones
I've taken a lot of twists and turns
1.
I was sentenced to 52 years to life in prison after being pulled over as a passenger in a stolen vehicle because it was a third strike.
2.
I ultimately spent 24 years in prison—almost nine of those years in solitary confinement—and kept my sanity through that time by reading and educating myself.
3.
After I was released from prison, I got a job as a paralegal at a public interest law firm in the Bay Area of California.
4.
Shortly after being introduced to that work, I became a policy director for the organization through which I worked on causes like voting rights, child support reform, and sentencing reform.
5.
While the criminal justice reform work that’s being done is great, I realized we needed more people supporting the infrastructure needed for people to rebuild their lives after incarceration.
6.
I joined CROP and helped the organization create workforce opportunities and economic mobility for formerly incarcerated people.
7.
I was eventually recruited by Checkr to lead their corporate foundation and be the face of what fair chance hiring should look like.
8.
After almost three years at Checkr, I joined The Just Trust, where I drive criminal justice reform and support reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals.
Defining Moments
How I responded to discouragement
THE NOISE
Messages from Society in general:
Why should we care about helping formerly incarcerated people?
How I responded:
I get asked this question a lot and my response is that we can't afford not to. The recidivism rate is 70-80% over time in this country. What drives incarceration and recidivism is poverty. People who've done time for their crimes want to work and live like everyone else. When they're locked out of those opportunities, we see symptoms of poverty: homelessness, crime, drug use, etc. To eliminate this, we need to create space for people to learn skills to get jobs and find economic mobility.
Experiences and challenges that shaped me
I spent 24 years in prison but don't wear the stain of those years because I was driven by my belief that I am more than what people said I was. I was more than the cages and barbed wire, and I knew I was capable of more than people expected of me.