commissary.club

June 15 2021

Fellow Travelers Jeff Grant & Craig Stanland will be guests on Tha Yard Weekly Hangout, Thurs., June 17, 2021, 8 pm ET, 5 pm PT

Jeff Grant Blog, Recent/Upcoming Events & Appearances 70millionjobs.com, blank canvas, commissary.club, craig stanland, criminal justice reform, Federal prison, incarceration, JEFF GRANT, prisonist.org, progressive prison ministries, richard bronson, second chance, white collar, white collar week, white-collar crime

Reinvention doesn’t happen overnight. But if you want to learn where to start, meet Craig Stanland and Jeff Grant, powerhouses of new beginnings:

📖 Craig Stanland served 2 years in prison, and upon release, was 100% dedicated to transforming himself (and helping others do the same) – now a coach and bestselling author, he specializes in working with people whose lives have fallen apart, helping them reinvent themselves.

⚖️ After serving 14 months in prison, Rev. Jeff Grant became the co-founder of Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., as well as a private general counsel serving families, the white collar justice community, pro bono clients and more. He’s helped hundreds of men and women find new beginnings post-incarceration.

Raw, real and uncut – join us on Tha Yard this week for another episode of epic conversations, untold stories and good times.
Join us: Thursday, 6/17
5pm PST/8pm EST

Link to register: www.bit.ly/ThaYard

February 3 2021

USA Today: Ex-offenders Struggle to Find Jobs Amid Pandemic, feat. Our Friends Bill Livolsi & Richard Bronson

Jeff Grant Blog 70millionjobs.com, bill livolsi, commissary.club, crime, criminal justice, Federal prison, fraud, incarceration, JEFF GRANT, prisonist.org, progressive prison ministries, richard bronson, USA Today, white collar, white collar week, white collar week podcast, white collar week with jeff grant, white-collar crime, white-collar support group

Congratulations to our friends Bill Livolsi and Richard Bronson on being featured in this article in USA Today. Bill is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets on Monday evenings. Richard was a recent guest on our podcast, White Collar Week. PS Nice “mug shot” Bill! – Jeff

“You just want to … have a chance.”

Reprinted from USA Today, by Charisse Jones, Feb. 3, 2021

Back in 2015, Bill Livolsi Jr. had no trouble finding work even though he’d been convicted of wire fraud and was upfront with potential employers about his crime.

But that was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am applying to jobs left, right and sideways, ” says Livolsi, who has been looking for work since April when he was released from federal prison after serving a 13-month sentence for the crime. “It is extremely difficult … They’re picking the cream of the crop when there are opportunities.”

Almost 1 in 3 adults in the United States has a criminal record, and finding a job when you have a past arrest or conviction has never been easy. But it’s become even more difficult in the midst of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 health crisis that has left millions of Americans unemployed and significantly increased the competition for jobs, public policy experts say.

“Because of COVID-19 … everybody is having a harder time, and that would be exacerbated for people who are being released from prison,” says Kristen Broady, policy director for the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, which focuses on economic policy.

Low-wage positions, a lifeline for those with limited prospects, are in high demand and short supply. Restaurants and other industries that offer lower-paying jobs have struggled amid shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. And with a national unemployment rate of 6.7%, employers who have their pick of applicants may be less inclined to hire someone with a record, Broady and others say.

The hiring dip threatens to slow the progress led by a growing number of states and municipalities to restore the rights of ex-offenders. They are passing laws that wipe criminal records clean, allow some who’ve committed felonies to vote, and bar employers from asking about criminal histories early in the hiring process.

Most urgently, the hiring slowdown may make it harder for the 620,000 men and women released from prison each year to get a fresh start and contribute to their communities, advocates and ex-offenders say.

“Meaningful employment is crucial,” says Livolsi, 61, who lives in Owasso, Oklahoma. “It’s crucial to rebuild your self-esteem, to rebuild your ties with your family, and just to be able to put food on the table.’’

COVID makes hiring harder

The jobless rate for those who’ve been incarcerated has typically been much higher than the general population. A Brookings report published in March 2018 found that 45% of those released from prison did not have any reported pay in the first calendar year after they returned home.

The current jobless rate for those who’ve been incarcerated is unclear, but placement services that work with ex-offenders believe it’s risen during a pandemic that has caused unemployment to soar across the board.

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), which provides transitional employment, coaching and job placement for those released from prison, made 368 placements in April 2019. But in April 2020, near the start of the COVID-19 health crisis, only 140 of its applicants were able to find work.

Similarly, for the period between July 1 and December 31, 2019, CEO found jobs for 1,793 of its applicants, but placements dropped by half, to 900, during that same period last year.

“We already know that in hiring, people with convictions face tremendous hurdles and I think COVID has just exacerbated those situations,” says Chris Watler, CEO’s chief external affairs officer.

70 Million Jobs, an employment agency for those with criminal records, says it was particularly successful in finding former offenders jobs in shipping, warehouses and food processing plants. But as the pandemic took hold, “business dropped almost overnight, by 90%,” says its founder Richard Bronson.

“We were doing very well and then we were virtually out of business,” says Bronson, a former financial services executive who started the agency after he served time in prison.

Will they commit more crimes?

Job seekers who are ex-offenders have to overcome stigma and suspicions that they can’t be trusted and may be prone to commit another crime, Bronson says. But historically low unemployment rates before the pandemic, which left tens of thousands of jobs unfilled, made employers more receptive to applicants who’d been incarcerated.

The need for workers also boosted efforts by organizations like the Society for Human Resource Management to get employers to commit to giving qualified applicants with a criminal record an equal chance to be hired.

But barriers to employment have remained steep. A majority of employers still check to see if job applicants have past convictions, and a host of laws prohibit people convicted of a felony from getting licenses necessary to work in various higher-paying fields such as health care or cosmetology.

Those obstacles have ramifications for not only the individuals who struggle to find work, but the economy as a whole, social justice experts say. ·

“There is a public safety angle if people can’t find jobs when released from prison,” says Ames Grawert, senior counsel for the Justice Program at New York University Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice. “It’s more likely they’ll return to crime which no one wants. And there’s research that homelessness is more likely and deep poverty… Even those who do find jobs earn shockingly less than their peers.”

The economy suffers

The broader labor market suffers as well. When those with felony convictions or who’ve been incarcerated struggle to find jobs, the economy loses out on roughly 1.7 to 1.9 million workers, and between $78 billion and $87 billion in gross domestic product, according to a paper by the Center for Economic and Policy research (CEPR), released in June, 2016, that examined 2014 data.

Having a job can help reduce the chance ex-offenders will commit new crimes, though the quality of the position and the ability to earn higher wages is key to success as well, research shows

Getting Out And Staying Out (GOSO), a New York area re-entry program, says that recidivism rates for its participants who’ve gone to school, undergone training, received mentorship or gotten jobs in the previous 90 days are 15% or lower, compared with 67% for young men in a similar age group nationwide. The recidivism rates for its participants dropped as low as 10% early on in the pandemic, says Sonya Shields, GOSO’s Chief Operating Officer.

Eager to use new skills in jobs

Chauncey Floyd, who returned home last year after serving nearly 16 years in prison, says that like him, many former offenders just want to move on from their pasts and provide for themselves and their families.

Floyd says he was eager to find a job using the computer programming skills he learned while incarcerated. But conversations with potential employers usually end when he tells them he has a record.

“I was … trying to find a career, not necessarily trying to grab a job just to have one,’’ says Floyd, 46, who is living with family members in South Carolina.

He’s now looking for more manual positions and hopes to eventually start his own business. “You just want to basically have a chance,’’ Floyd says. “Me, going to prison, I don’t want to pay for it for the rest of my life … Some people actually just want to do better.’’

Don’t ask about criminal records in job interviews

While hiring has slowed, larger efforts to give ex-offenders more opportunities continue, advocates and public policy experts say.

Twenty-six states and Washington D.C. have passed legislation that bar employers in the public or private sectors from asking early in the hiring process if an applicant has a criminal record, says Michael Hartman of the National Conference of State Legislature’s Civil & Criminal Justice Program.

And several states, including Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina, and Utah, have passed or are considering “clean slate” laws that automatically clear the records of some offenders after a certain amount of time, according to a compilation of research on reentry hurdles and initiatives by the Center for American Progress, National Employment Law Project and Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.

On the federal level, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the “Clean Slate Act” in December which would automatically seal the federal records of those arrested for simple drug possession. Those convicted of such offenses would have their records sealed after they finish their sentence. And the legislation would also create a framework for ex-offenders to request the sealing of records for other nonviolent crimes.

“That was a real breakthrough,” Grawert said of the bipartisan bill, which if passed will make it easier for people who’ve been arrested or convicted to find work without answering questions about their past.

Promises after George Floyd death

Promises by many businesses to address systemic racism in the wake of the protests that followed the killings of George Floyd and other African Americans could also open up opportunities for the formerly incarcerated, who are disproportionately Black and Latino, advocates say.

“I’m hopeful because I see in the job seekers that I work with a real passion to work, to contribute, to grow,” says Watler. “And increasingly I’m seeing employers … waking up to the fact that their practices have to evolve.”

February 3 2021

USA Today: Ex-offenders Struggle to Find Jobs Amid Pandemic, feat. Our Friends Bill Livolsi & Richard Bronson

Congratulations to our friends Bill Livolsi and Richard Bronson on being featured in this article in USA Today. Bill is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets on Monday evenings. Richard was a recent guest on our podcast, White Collar Week. PS Nice “mug shot” Bill! – Jeff

“You just want to … have a chance.”

Reprinted from USA Today, by Charisse Jones, Feb. 3, 2021

Back in 2015, Bill Livolsi Jr. had no trouble finding work even though he’d been convicted of wire fraud and was upfront with potential employers about his crime.

But that was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am applying to jobs left, right and sideways, ” says Livolsi, who has been looking for work since April when he was released from federal prison after serving a 13-month sentence for the crime. “It is extremely difficult … They’re picking the cream of the crop when there are opportunities.”

Almost 1 in 3 adults in the United States has a criminal record, and finding a job when you have a past arrest or conviction has never been easy. But it’s become even more difficult in the midst of the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 health crisis that has left millions of Americans unemployed and significantly increased the competition for jobs, public policy experts say.

“Because of COVID-19 … everybody is having a harder time, and that would be exacerbated for people who are being released from prison,” says Kristen Broady, policy director for the Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution, which focuses on economic policy.

Low-wage positions, a lifeline for those with limited prospects, are in high demand and short supply. Restaurants and other industries that offer lower-paying jobs have struggled amid shutdowns aimed at slowing the spread of the virus. And with a national unemployment rate of 6.7%, employers who have their pick of applicants may be less inclined to hire someone with a record, Broady and others say.

The hiring dip threatens to slow the progress led by a growing number of states and municipalities to restore the rights of ex-offenders. They are passing laws that wipe criminal records clean, allow some who’ve committed felonies to vote, and bar employers from asking about criminal histories early in the hiring process.

Most urgently, the hiring slowdown may make it harder for the 620,000 men and women released from prison each year to get a fresh start and contribute to their communities, advocates and ex-offenders say.

“Meaningful employment is crucial,” says Livolsi, 61, who lives in Owasso, Oklahoma. “It’s crucial to rebuild your self-esteem, to rebuild your ties with your family, and just to be able to put food on the table.’’

COVID makes hiring harder

The jobless rate for those who’ve been incarcerated has typically been much higher than the general population. A Brookings report published in March 2018 found that 45% of those released from prison did not have any reported pay in the first calendar year after they returned home.

The current jobless rate for those who’ve been incarcerated is unclear, but placement services that work with ex-offenders believe it’s risen during a pandemic that has caused unemployment to soar across the board.

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), which provides transitional employment, coaching and job placement for those released from prison, made 368 placements in April 2019. But in April 2020, near the start of the COVID-19 health crisis, only 140 of its applicants were able to find work.

Similarly, for the period between July 1 and December 31, 2019, CEO found jobs for 1,793 of its applicants, but placements dropped by half, to 900, during that same period last year.

“We already know that in hiring, people with convictions face tremendous hurdles and I think COVID has just exacerbated those situations,” says Chris Watler, CEO’s chief external affairs officer.

70 Million Jobs, an employment agency for those with criminal records, says it was particularly successful in finding former offenders jobs in shipping, warehouses and food processing plants. But as the pandemic took hold, “business dropped almost overnight, by 90%,” says its founder Richard Bronson.

“We were doing very well and then we were virtually out of business,” says Bronson, a former financial services executive who started the agency after he served time in prison.

Will they commit more crimes?

Job seekers who are ex-offenders have to overcome stigma and suspicions that they can’t be trusted and may be prone to commit another crime, Bronson says. But historically low unemployment rates before the pandemic, which left tens of thousands of jobs unfilled, made employers more receptive to applicants who’d been incarcerated.

The need for workers also boosted efforts by organizations like the Society for Human Resource Management to get employers to commit to giving qualified applicants with a criminal record an equal chance to be hired.

But barriers to employment have remained steep. A majority of employers still check to see if job applicants have past convictions, and a host of laws prohibit people convicted of a felony from getting licenses necessary to work in various higher-paying fields such as health care or cosmetology.

Those obstacles have ramifications for not only the individuals who struggle to find work, but the economy as a whole, social justice experts say. ·

“There is a public safety angle if people can’t find jobs when released from prison,” says Ames Grawert, senior counsel for the Justice Program at New York University Law School’s Brennan Center for Justice. “It’s more likely they’ll return to crime which no one wants. And there’s research that homelessness is more likely and deep poverty… Even those who do find jobs earn shockingly less than their peers.”

The economy suffers

The broader labor market suffers as well. When those with felony convictions or who’ve been incarcerated struggle to find jobs, the economy loses out on roughly 1.7 to 1.9 million workers, and between $78 billion and $87 billion in gross domestic product, according to a paper by the Center for Economic and Policy research (CEPR), released in June, 2016, that examined 2014 data.

Having a job can help reduce the chance ex-offenders will commit new crimes, though the quality of the position and the ability to earn higher wages is key to success as well, research shows

Getting Out And Staying Out (GOSO), a New York area re-entry program, says that recidivism rates for its participants who’ve gone to school, undergone training, received mentorship or gotten jobs in the previous 90 days are 15% or lower, compared with 67% for young men in a similar age group nationwide. The recidivism rates for its participants dropped as low as 10% early on in the pandemic, says Sonya Shields, GOSO’s Chief Operating Officer.

Eager to use new skills in jobs

Chauncey Floyd, who returned home last year after serving nearly 16 years in prison, says that like him, many former offenders just want to move on from their pasts and provide for themselves and their families.

Floyd says he was eager to find a job using the computer programming skills he learned while incarcerated. But conversations with potential employers usually end when he tells them he has a record.

“I was … trying to find a career, not necessarily trying to grab a job just to have one,’’ says Floyd, 46, who is living with family members in South Carolina.

He’s now looking for more manual positions and hopes to eventually start his own business. “You just want to basically have a chance,’’ Floyd says. “Me, going to prison, I don’t want to pay for it for the rest of my life … Some people actually just want to do better.’’

Don’t ask about criminal records in job interviews

While hiring has slowed, larger efforts to give ex-offenders more opportunities continue, advocates and public policy experts say.

Twenty-six states and Washington D.C. have passed legislation that bar employers in the public or private sectors from asking early in the hiring process if an applicant has a criminal record, says Michael Hartman of the National Conference of State Legislature’s Civil & Criminal Justice Program.

And several states, including Pennsylvania, California, North Carolina, and Utah, have passed or are considering “clean slate” laws that automatically clear the records of some offenders after a certain amount of time, according to a compilation of research on reentry hurdles and initiatives by the Center for American Progress, National Employment Law Project and Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.

On the federal level, U.S. Senators Bob Casey (D-PA) and Joni Ernst (R-IA) introduced the “Clean Slate Act” in December which would automatically seal the federal records of those arrested for simple drug possession. Those convicted of such offenses would have their records sealed after they finish their sentence. And the legislation would also create a framework for ex-offenders to request the sealing of records for other nonviolent crimes.

“That was a real breakthrough,” Grawert said of the bipartisan bill, which if passed will make it easier for people who’ve been arrested or convicted to find work without answering questions about their past.

Promises after George Floyd death

Promises by many businesses to address systemic racism in the wake of the protests that followed the killings of George Floyd and other African Americans could also open up opportunities for the formerly incarcerated, who are disproportionately Black and Latino, advocates say.

“I’m hopeful because I see in the job seekers that I work with a real passion to work, to contribute, to grow,” says Watler. “And increasingly I’m seeing employers … waking up to the fact that their practices have to evolve.”

December 4 2020

White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison

Jeff Grant Media, Podcasts, Recent/Upcoming Events & Appearances, Videos 70millionjobs.com, business podcast, commissary.club, criminal justice, criminal justice reform, defy ventures, entrereneurship, Federal prison, fortune society, GEM Trainers, Gen Real Estate, glenn e. martin, glenn martin, incarceration, justleadershipUSA, legal podcast, podcast, prison, prisonist.org, progressive prison ministries, reinventing yourself, richard bronson, second chance, white collar, white collar week, white collar week podcast, white collar week with jeff grant, white-collar crime, white-collar support group

White Collar Week with Jeff Grant

It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.

Link to home page here.

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Podcast Ep. 20, Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison

Today on the podcast we have two of my favorite people, Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson, talking about how they each reinvented themselves after prison. They are both incredibly generous and reveal their struggles, disappointments, and frailties as well as their successes and service in helping others.

Glenn talks about his journey from armed robber, to prison, to nonprofit executive, to founding JustLeadershipUSA, to entrepreneur, executive coach, and investor with Gem Trainers and Gem Real Estate.

Richard discusses his Wall Street life, including at Stratton Oakmont (made famous in the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street”), Federal prison, and then founding two companies to lift up returning citizens, 70millionjobs.com and his latest, Commissary Club.

So coming up, Glenn Martin & Richard Bronson. Reinventing Yourself After Prison. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff

Listen on Apple Podcasts:

Listen on Spotify:

Listen on SoundCloud:

Watch on YouTube:

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If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.

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Guests on this Episode:

Glenn E. Martin

For two decades, Glenn E. Martin successfully conceptualized, created and directed a handful of national multi-million dollar organizations in the non-profit sector. Glenn has occupied the important leadership role of “visionary”, while developing a strong track record in the more pragmatic aspects of building and running successful organizations, including fundraising, operations, administration and communications.

Before launching both GEMrealestate and GEMtrainers, multi-state real estate investment company and a successful non-profit consultancy, respectively, Glenn founded and served as President of JustLeadershipUSA for three years, an organization he built as a tribute to his son Joshua, dedicated to cutting the U.S. correctional population in half by 2030. For almost 20 years, since leaving prison, he’s been a part of the vanguard of successful reform advocates in America.

His leadership has been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2016 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the 2017 Brooke Astor Award, and the 2014 Echoing Green Fellowship. He is also a Founding Member of the Council on Criminal Justice.

Prior to founding JustLeadershipUSA, Glenn was the Vice President of The Fortune Society, where he founded and led the David Rothenberg Center for Public Policy. He also served as the Co-Director of the National HIRE Network at the Legal Action Center, and co-founded the Education from the Inside Out Coalition. He’s also the founder and visionary behind the #CLOSErikers campaign in NYC.

Glenn has served as a public speaker and has been a media guest appearing on national news outlets such as NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, Al Jazeera and CSPAN. You can follow him at @glennEmartin on Twitter

Richard Bronson

“Y Combinator-backed employment platform 70 Million Jobs is launching a new social network geared toward helping formerly incarcerated individuals connect with each other. While 70 Million Jobs focuses on helping people with criminal records find jobs, Commissary Club wants to serve as a place for folks to find community.

‘Folks with [criminal] records have always, since prisons were first built, lived in the shadows,’ 70 Million Jobs founder Richard Bronson told TechCrunch. ‘They’ve lived in fear and in shame — afraid to emerge with this terrible stigma, being treated as second-class citizens in every single way.’

Through Commissary Club, folks can find community through topic-specific clubs, explore education courses and find mentors, jobs and housing. […]

The plan with the social network is to take an ad-based approach, along with referral fees for things like online classes and wellness services. Commissary Club also plans to partner with brands and host events for the community.

‘The population we serve is really desperately in need of help,’ Bronson said. ‘But we’re not in position to provide all of it. We’re going to be a concierge for folks.’

But there’s an obvious risk with bringing formerly incarcerated people together and serving them on a platter to advertisers, given that some are notoriously predatory.

‘I feel incredibly protective of our clients because there are bad actors,’ Bronson said. ‘We’ve seen people try to come to our job business and gain access for their less than positive ends. So we’ve gotten smart and also sensitive to the fact that this could go on. We make damn sure that whoever we’re working with is operating with integrity and honesty. We’ve been in this space for a long time and we know the good lawyers and bad ones, the good education platforms and bad ones and many other verticals with good actors and bad actors.’

Commissary Club launched a few days ago in beta and currently has thousands on the wait list. But the service is doing a slow rollout because, Bronson said, ‘we want to get it right.’

To date, parent company 70 Million Jobs has raised $1.6 million from investors and is seeking an additional $2 million in funding.” – Taken from TechCrunch

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You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Information About our White Collar Support Group…

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Louis Reed/Babz Rawls Ivy PSA:

Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff

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All Episodes, Season One:

Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison

Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee

Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix

Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola

Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim

Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood

Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott

Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni

Link here to Podcast Ep. 12: The Truth Tellers, with Guests: Holli Coulman & Larry Levine

Link here to Podcast Ep. 11: The Blank Canvas, with Guest: Craig Stanland

Link here to Podcast Ep. 10: The Ministers, with Guests: Father Joe Ciccone & Father Rix Thorsell

Link here to Podcast Ep. 09: Small Business Edition, with Guest: Taxgirl Kelly Phillips Erb

Link here to Podcast Ep. 08: The Academics, with Guests: Cathryn Lavery, Jessica Henry, Jay Kennedy & Erin Harbinson

Link here to Podcast Ep. 07: White Collar Wives. with Guests: Lynn Springer, Cassie Monaco & Julie Bennett. Special Guest: Skylar Cluett

Link here to Podcast Ep. 06: Madoff Talks, with Guest: Jim Campbell

Link here to Podcast Ep. 05: Trauma and Healing when Mom goes to Prison, with Guests: Jacqueline Polverari and Her Daughters, Alexa & Maria

Link here to Podcast Ep. 04: One-on-One with Tipper X: Tom Hardin

Link here to Podcast Ep. 03: Compassionate Lawyering: Guests, Chris Poulos, Corey Brinson, Bob Herbst & George Hritz

Link here to Podcast Ep. 02: Substance Abuse & Recovery During COVID-19: Guests, Trevor Shevin & Joshua Cagney

Link here to Podcast Ep. 01: Prison & Reentry in the Age of COVID-19: An Evening with Our White Collar Support Group.

Link here to Podcast Ep. 00: White Collar Week with Jeff Grant: What is White Collar Week?

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Jeff Grant

What is the White Collar Justice Community?

Welcome to White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, a podcast serving the white collar justice community. It’s the isolation that destroys us. The solution is in community.

If you are interested in this podcast, then you are probably already a member of the white collar justice community – even if you don’t quite know it yet. Our community is certainly made up of people being prosecuted, or who have already been prosecuted, for white collar crimes. But it is also made up of the spouses, children and families of those prosecuted for white collar crimes – these are the first victims of white collar crime. And the community also consists of the other victims, both direct and indirect, and those in the wider white collar ecosystem like friends, colleagues, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, law enforcement, academics, researchers. Investigators, mitigation experts, parole & probation officers, corrections officers, reentry professionals, mental health care professionals, drug and alcohol counselors, – and ministers, chaplains and advocates for criminal and social justice reform. The list goes on and on…

Our mission is to introduce you to other members of the white collar justice community, to hear their very personal stories, and hopefully gain a broader perspective of what this is really all about. Maybe this will inspire some deeper thoughts and introspection? Maybe it will inspire some empathy and compassion for people you might otherwise resent or dismiss? And maybe it will help lift us all out of our own isolation and into community, so we can learn to live again in the sunshine of the spirit.

Along the way, I’ll share with you some of the things I’ve learned in my own journey from successful lawyer, to prescription opioid addict, white collar crime, suicide attempt, disbarment, destruction of my marriage, and the almost 14 months I served in a Federal prison. And also my recovery, love story I share with my wife Lynn Springer, after prison earning a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary in NYC, pastoring in an inner city church in Bridgeport CT, and then co-founding with Lynn in Greenwich CT, Progressive Prison Ministries, the world’s first ministry serving the white collar justice community. It’s been quite a ride, but I firmly believe that the best is yet to come.

So I invite you to come along with me as we experience something new, and bold, and different – a podcast that serves the entire white collar justice community. I hope you will join me.

Blessings, לשלום

Jeff

Rev. Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div. (he, him, his)
Co-founder, Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc., Greenwich CT & Nationwide
Co-host, The Criminal Justice Insider Podcast
Host, White Collar Week
Mailing: P.O. Box 1, Woodbury, CT 06798
Website: prisonist.org
Email: jgrant@prisonist.org
Office: 203-405-6249
Donations (501c3): http://bit.ly/donate35T9kMZ
Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/jeff-grant-woodbury-ct/731344
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/revjeffgrant
not a prison coach, not a prison consultant

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Thank you for listening to White Collar Week.

Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast if you loved it – it helps others suffering in silence find us if they need us!

_________________________

Follow White Collar Week on Social:

Web: https://prisonist.org/white-collar-week

Facebook: https://facebook.com/whitecollarweek

Twitter: https://twitter.com/whitecollarweek

Instagram: https://instagram.com/whitecollarweek

LinkedIn: https://linkedin/whitecollarweek

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Follow Jeff Grant on Social:

Web: https://prisonist.org

Facebook: https://Facebook.com/revjeffgrant

Twitter: https://twitter.com/revjeffgrant

Instagram: https://instagram.com/revjeffgrant

LinkedIn: https://linkedin/revjeffgrant

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Want to be a guest on the Show? Have a connection you’d like to make?

Email us! info@prisonist.org

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Credits:

Host: Jeff Grant, J.D., M.Div.

Production: Chloe Coppola

Audio Engineering: George Antonios: https://georgeantonios.com

Video Engineering: Todd Nixon

Art Direction: Greyskye Marketing, LLC: https://greyskye.com

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It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.

Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is the world’s first ministry supporting the white collar justice community. Founded by husband and wife, Jeff Grant and Lynn Springer in Greenwich CT in 2012, we incorporated as a nonprofit in Connecticut in 2014, and received 501(c)(3) status in 2015. Jeff has over three decades of experience in crisis management, business, law (former), reentry, recovery (clean & sober 17+ years), and executive and religious leadership. As Jeff was incarcerated for a white-collar crime he committed in 2001, he and Lynn have a first-hand perspective on the trials and tribulations that white-collar families have to endure as they navigate the criminal justice system and life beyond.

Progressive Prison Ministries, Inc. is nonsectarian, serving those of all faiths, or no faith whatsoever. To date we have helped over three hundred fifty (350) individuals, and their families, to accept responsibility for their actions and to acknowledge the pain they have caused to others. In accordance with our commitment to restorative justice, we counsel our members to make amends as a first step in changing their lives and moving towards a new spiritual way of living centered on hope, care, compassion, tolerance, empathy and service to others. Our team has grown to over ten people, most with advanced degrees, all of whom are currently volunteering their time and resources.

Progressive Prison Ministries’ goal is to provide spiritual solutions and emotional support to those who are feeling alone, isolated, and hopeless. We have found that these individuals are suffering from a void but are stuck, and don’t know what to do about it. Our objective is to help them find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what may seem like insurmountable problems. Many of those we counsel are in a place where their previous lives have come to an end due to their transgressions. In many cases their legal problems have led to divorce, estrangement from their children, families, friends and support communities, and loss of a career. The toll this takes on individuals and families is emotionally devastating. White-collar crimes are often precipitated by other issues in the offenders’ lives such as alcohol or drug abuse, and/or a physical or mental illness that lead to financial issues that overwhelms their ability to be present for themselves and their families and cause poor decision making. We recognize that life often presents us with such circumstances, sometimes which lead us to make mistakes in violation of the law.

All conversations and communications between our ordained ministry, and licensed clinical relationships, and those we serve fall under state privilege laws. This is one reason that attorneys often allow and encourage their clients to maintain relationships with us while in active prosecution or litigation situations.

If you, a friend, family member, colleague or client are suffering from a white collar criminal justice issue or are experiencing some other traumatic or life-altering event, and would like to find a path to a healthy, spirit-filled place on the other side of what seems like insurmountable problems, please contact us to schedule an initial call or appointment.

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Fellow Travelers Jeff Grant & Craig Stanland will be guests on Tha Yard Weekly Hangout, Thurs., June 17, 2021, 8 pm ET, 5 pm PT

Reinvention doesn’t happen overnight. But if you want to learn where to start, meet Craig Stanland and Jeff Grant, powerhouses of new beginnings:

📖 Craig Stanland served 2 years in prison, and upon release, was 100% dedicated to transforming himself (and helping others do the same) – now a coach and bestselling author, he specializes in working with people whose lives have fallen apart, helping them reinvent themselves.

Raw, real and uncut – join us on Tha Yard this week for another episode of epic conversations, untold stories and good times. Join us: Thursday, 6/17 5pm PST/8pm EST

Link to register: www.bit.ly/ThaYard

USA Today: Ex-offenders Struggle to Find Jobs Amid Pandemic, feat. Our Friends Bill Livolsi & Richard Bronson

Congratulations to our friends Bill Livolsi and Richard Bronson on being featured in this article in USA Today. Bill is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets on Monday evenings. Richard was a recent guest on our podcast, White Collar Week. PS Nice “mug shot” Bill! – Jeff

USA Today: Ex-offenders Struggle to Find Jobs Amid Pandemic, feat. Our Friends Bill Livolsi & Richard Bronson

Congratulations to our friends Bill Livolsi and Richard Bronson on being featured in this article in USA Today. Bill is a member of our White Collar Support Group that meets on Monday evenings. Richard was a recent guest on our podcast, White Collar Week. PS Nice “mug shot” Bill! – Jeff

White Collar Week with Jeff Grant, Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison

White Collar Week with Jeff Grant

It’s the Isolation that Destroys Us. The Solution is in Community.

Podcast Ep. 20, Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison

Glenn talks about his journey from armed robber, to prison, to nonprofit executive, to founding JustLeadershipUSA, to entrepreneur, executive coach, and investor with Gem Trainers and Gem Real Estate.

Richard discusses his Wall Street life, including at Stratton Oakmont (made famous in the movie “The Wolf of Wall Street”), Federal prison, and then founding two companies to lift up returning citizens, 70millionjobs.com and his latest, Commissary Club.

So coming up, Glenn Martin & Richard Bronson. Reinventing Yourself After Prison. On White Collar Week. I hope you will join us. – Jeff

Listen on Apple Podcasts:

Listen on Spotify:

Listen on SoundCloud:

Watch on YouTube:

If you have a friend, family member, colleague or client with a white collar justice issue, please forward this email; they can reach us anytime – day or night! Our contact info: http://prisonist.org/contact-us.

Guests on this Episode:

Glenn E. Martin

His leadership has been recognized with multiple honors, including the 2016 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, the 2017 Brooke Astor Award, and the 2014 Echoing Green Fellowship. He is also a Founding Member of the Council on Criminal Justice.

Glenn has served as a public speaker and has been a media guest appearing on national news outlets such as NPR, MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, Al Jazeera and CSPAN. You can follow him at @glennEmartin on Twitter

Richard Bronson

Through Commissary Club, folks can find community through topic-specific clubs, explore education courses and find mentors, jobs and housing. […]

The plan with the social network is to take an ad-based approach, along with referral fees for things like online classes and wellness services. Commissary Club also plans to partner with brands and host events for the community.

‘The population we serve is really desperately in need of help,’ Bronson said. ‘But we’re not in position to provide all of it. We’re going to be a concierge for folks.’

But there’s an obvious risk with bringing formerly incarcerated people together and serving them on a platter to advertisers, given that some are notoriously predatory.

Commissary Club launched a few days ago in beta and currently has thousands on the wait list. But the service is doing a slow rollout because, Bronson said, ‘we want to get it right.’

To date, parent company 70 Million Jobs has raised $1.6 million from investors and is seeking an additional $2 million in funding.” – Taken from TechCrunch

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You can find all episodes of our podcast “White Collar Week with Jeff Grant” on our website prisonist.org, our Facebook page, Podbean, YouTube (video), SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Information About our White Collar Support Group…

Louis Reed/Babz Rawls Ivy PSA:

Some very kind words from my dear friends Louis L. Reed and Babz Rawls Ivy in this brief PSA. Thank you Louis and Babz! – Jeff

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All Episodes, Season One:

Link here to Podcast Ep. 20: Glenn E. Martin & Richard Bronson: Reinventing Yourself After Prison

Link here to Podcast Ep. 19: Insider Trading Charges Dismissed, with Guest Richard Lee

Link here to Podcast Ep. 18: Is Your Life a Movie? The Producers, with Guests: Lydia B. Smith, Bethany Jones & Will Nix

Link here to Podcast Ep. 17: #TruthHeals: Systemic Abuse & Institutional Reform with Vanessa Osage, feat. Guest Co-Host Chloe Coppola

Link here to Podcast Ep. 16: Politicians, Prison & Penitence, with Guest: Bridgeport, CT Mayor Joseph Ganim

Link here to Podcast Ep. 15: A Brave Talk About Suicide, with Guests Bob Flanagan, Elizabeth Kelley, & Meredith Atwood

Link here to Podcast Ep. 14: Recovery & Neighborhood, with Guest: TNP’s Tom Scott

Link here to Podcast Ep. 13: Everything but Bridgegate, with Guest: Bill Baroni

Raw, real and uncut – join us on Tha Yard this week for another episode of epic conversations, untold stories and good times.
Join us: Thursday, 6/17
5pm PST/8pm EST