Subscribe to Our Monthly Newsletter
On Wednesday morning around 10am, I set up a demo table for Emerge Career at the Fortune Society's 5th Annual Tech Fair. By the afternoon, I had over 20 business cards in my pocket, 10 warm intros, and was on stage speaking to hundreds of participants.
That's not something I planned. In fact, I asked many times for an opportunity to speak about the amazing work we are doing and was kindly told there wasn't enough space.
But I stayed patient, and optimistic. I felt confident that once people saw and heard about our work, they'd want to get involved and help spread the word, and the work. And I was right. The room recognized what this work is doing across the country.
This year's fair, themed "Using Tech to Rebuild Lives," brought together justice-involved New Yorkers, reentry professionals, and government leaders at John Jay College's Institute for Justice and Opportunity. The energy in that room asked one question louder than any panel ever could: What does a real career pathway look like after incarceration? At Emerge Career, our answer is opportunities in the skilled trades. HVAC technicians. CDL drivers. EV technicians. Diesel mechanics. Electricians. These are careers that AI isn't replacing anytime soon, and in most cases careers where employers are competing more and more aggressively for talent because the demand for labor for exceeds the existing supply.
Our graduates, all of whom are justice-involved, are entering the workforce at $80,000+ starting salaries. Read that again. Over $80,000 for someone with justice involvement is life changing. Not just a safety net, but a foundation. That's on par with a Yale graduate from last year.
None of this happens in a vacuum. It happens because Emerge works with our government partners to build the infrastructure that makes it possible. Agencies like the NYC Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and the Sacramento Employment and Training Agency don't just check a workforce development box, they change the entire reentry equation. They create the conditions for someone to walk out of incarceration and into a career, not just a job.
That shift, from placement to pathway, is what transforms a program into a movement. To the agencies, workforce development boards, and government offices championing this kind of work: you deserve more public recognition than you receive, but here's some from our recent grads in the meantime. What you are doing is quietly transformative, for individuals, for employers, and for the cities we all share. The reception Emerge Career received at the Tech Fair was a reminder that the ecosystem is ready. Employers are ready. The talent is ready. What we need now is more programs like this, and more partners with the vision and commitment to fund them. I'm proud to be part of it.
Special thanks to The Fortune Society and John Jay College's Institute for Justice and Opportunity for creating a space where this work can speak for itself. And to the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation, Tech:NYC, the NYS Digital Equity Network, and the NYC Alliance for Digital Equity for making the event possible.
%20Medium.jpeg)
.png)
