Unlocked Opportunities
Unlocked Futures Cohort Shares Their Insights with John Legend
In November, we partnered with John Legend’s freeamerica and Jobs for the Future to host Unlocked Opportunities, an intimate gathering of funders, nonprofits, and corporate leaders working at the intersection of criminal justice and economic opportunity. The event focused on what it means to dismantle barriers to work and open pathways to economic mobility for people impacted by mass incarceration, including learnings from the visionary social entrepreneurs in our Unlocked Futures Catalyze cohort.
When asked what funders should do in this moment, John Legend’s answer was unequivocal: “Work with New Profit.”
The fourth Unlocked Futures cohort includes social entrepreneurs from eleven organizations doing powerful work increasing visibility of, removing barriers to capital for, and collaborating with communities who have been impacted by the American legal system. These organizations include: Building Freedom Ohio, Freedom Community Center, Formerly Incarcerated College Graduates Network (FICGN), Home is Here NOLA, Legendary Legacies, Life After Release, Nation Outside, Next Chapter, Recidivism Reduction Educational Programs Services, Inc. (RREPS), Transformational Prison Project, We Are Better Together Warren Daniel Hairston Project (WAB2G). Hear from the social entrepreneurs leading these innovative organizations in the short videos below as they share why they do the work, the urgency of this moment, and what philanthropy can do to support justice-impacted communities:
About New Profit
New Profit is a venture philanthropy organization that catalyzes the impact of social entrepreneurs who are expanding access and opportunity in America. We provide capital, capacity, and community to a portfolio of organizations to increase their impact, scale, and sustainability. And we partner with social entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and cross-sector leaders to shift how the philanthropic sector pursues social change and ensures that everyone in America can thrive. Since 1998, New Profit has invested over $350M in 275+ high-impact organizations serving more than 35 million people in all 50 states.
About Freeamerica
Engaging advocates and experts, freeamerica is amplifying the voices of people impacted by America’s criminal legal system and highlighting the work of those working to change it. We want to dramatically decrease the number of people needlessly trapped in this system; and transform it into one that is fair, accountable, and rooted in rehabilitation and support. Those rejoining society should do so with dignity, armed with real opportunities – because when they thrive, our families and neighborhoods thrive too.
