Ken Oliver

About Ken

• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• I joined CROP and helped the organization create workforce opportunities and economic mobility for formerly incarcerated people.
• I was eventually recruited by Checkr to lead their corporate foundation and be the face of what fair chance hiring should look like.
• After almost three years at Checkr, I joined The Just Trust, where I drive criminal justice reform and support reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals.