Flagger Force is committed to cultivating a diverse and thriving workforce. As a fair-chance employer, we recruit and hire people from all backgrounds and experience levels, including individuals with criminal records and those reentering the workforce after an absence or change. By considering candidates for their capabilities first, we provide employment opportunities without the undue scrutiny these individuals often experience. Through our fair-chance hiring initiatives, we are helping to address labor shortages, reduce recidivism, aid in economic growth, and keep our communities moving.
As an advocate for inclusive hiring and justice system reform, Flagger Force has built a strong network of partners who share our passion for breaking down barriers to success, including nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups, and reentry training programs. The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) is an organization we are honored to advocate alongside to advance justice system reform and inclusive hiring efforts and make meaningful changes across our communities. Recently, we had the opportunity to speak with Maggie O’Donnell, RBIJ’s director of policy and advocacy, to learn more about critical issues within our nation’s criminal justice system, current legislative efforts the organization is working on, why it is important for businesses to take a stance on social issues, and more.
Maggie is responsible for managing and providing guidance to team members, developing legislative strategies that can help advance change, collaborating with local, state, federal, and national partners on relevant issues, and developing appropriate engagement opportunities for businesses to plug into.
Read what Maggie shared during our recent conversation to learn more about RBIJ’s critical efforts to reform justice systems, reframe narratives, and strengthen our communities.
Why was the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice founded?
Maggie: The idea for RBIJ grew through diverse collaboration with partners in the justice and workforce development spaces. RBIJ’s founder, Celia Ouellette, had conversations with lawyers who had seen firsthand the destructive cycles of poverty and incarceration, government leaders who were interested in advancing human rights policies but needed support, and an increasing number of businesses who wanted to speak out on social issues but did not know the best approach. These insights and needs led Celia to establish RBIJ in 2017. Over the past few years, RBIJ has experienced significant growth and has expanded our efforts internationally. To date, we have 16 full-time staff members. We are a small but mighty team with a lot of grit!
What is the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice’s mission?
Maggie: At RBIJ, we believe everybody is entitled to respect, equality, and fairness under our country’s justice systems. Often, people get stuck in cycles of poverty and punishment, and we believe that is wrong. To address these issues, we collaborate with businesses of all sizes to help them champion efforts that promote public safety, deliver justice, and strengthen communities through policy, hiring, and narrative-building work. We have a network of over 600 business partners, including Flagger Force.
What are some of the main issues with the criminal justice system in the United States?
Maggie: At the macro level, one of the main issues is that the impact of our criminal justice system is far too wide in scope. Individuals are often astounded to learn that between 70 and 100 million people, or one in three US adults, have some form of a record. Think about the individuals in your life or those you interact with daily, including family members, friends, colleagues, or someone you stand next to in line at the grocery store. One in three has some form of record, which is a lot of people. This statistic also means that almost half of all US children have a parent who has a record.
Despite the number of people in the US with a criminal record, many justice-involved individuals are met with harmful and incorrect stigmas and lack of meaningful support. This is especially true for people reentering society post-incarceration; experts estimate there are around 40,000 barriers to successful reentry, including obstacles to securing a job, permanent housing, education, occupational license, and more. Some people cannot vote, volunteer, or visit their children’s schools. The impacts of having a record can be lifelong and often are passed from generation to generation. We see instances where a parent has a record, and it is difficult for their children and family members, which can create a cycle of poverty, recidivism, and unemployment. I think the wide scope of our criminal justice system is partially to blame, but also the stigmas and lack of real support these individuals have during critical moments.
What are the primary issues the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice is actively involved with at this time?
Maggie: We have three focus areas. The first is reforming systems, which is our policy work. We partner with businesses, leveraging their power and influence, to help create meaningful changes specific to workforce and justice issues and criminal justice reform. This can include RBIJ helping businesses engage publicly or privately on issues across several different policy areas – anything from automatic record-sealing legislation (also known as “Clean Slate”) to occupational licensing reform. We always work with local partners to guide us on which policies to support and then tap into our business partners to help advance the campaigns.
The second area is more internal to companies – we help them look inward at their own hiring practices and advise them on how to become more inclusive in their recruitment and support their fair-chance or second-chance hiring initiatives. This includes highlighting ways they can be more vocal about how they decided to become a fair-chance or second-chance employer and what successes they have had, so that more companies are encouraged to implement similar practices.
The last area is focused on building the narrative that companies care about criminal justice reform, but also that it is good for business to be engaged on these issues. Having a more diverse talent pool and helping to advance change in our justice system benefits businesses.
Why is it critical that businesses support criminal justice reform?
Maggie: I always tell businesses that issues within our criminal justice system do not exist “on the side.” A broken system impacts how a business operates, their ability to build a skilled talent pool, how employees show up to work, and the customers they serve. As community members, we work for businesses and patronize businesses. They are a vital part of our communities. We also know that having significant gaps in our criminal justice system and the adjacent areas related to services and employment reentry negatively impacts our economy. Every year, the US loses $87 billion in gross domestic product (GDP) by under-employing the vast population of people with records. It is a lot of money. Mixing all this information together demonstrates why it is important for businesses to have a role in criminal justice reform. Businesses are a part of our communities, and our communities have issues that need to be fixed.
At RBIJ, we strongly believe that businesses have the power to create change, and we want to give them a seat at the table if they are willing to take it. When companies are willing to speak about criminal justice reform, injustices they see with policy, and improvements they are making to their internal practices we see a positive impact. When businesses challenge the status quo, others will do the same.
Could you please discuss the shift/increase in more consumers looking for businesses to take a stand on social issues?
Maggie: Over the past decade or so, there has been a huge increase in the number of companies who are willing to take a stand on social issues. This is partially due to the expectations of consumers and employees who believe companies should be corporate leaders. Six in 10 Americans say it is no longer acceptable for companies to be silent on social justice issues, and more than half of employees say their employer needs to be held to a higher standard than other companies when it comes to addressing those issues. In many instances, employees will consider leaving their company if the leaders do not take action to advance social change or implement inclusive hiring practices.
Many companies find these social issues important and are willing to speak out about them. In fact, a survey from Bain & Company collected insights from about 300 CEOs and executives. The results showed that 85% of these leaders viewed social issues as urgent concerns for their own companies. When asked what their primary role was within their business, 60% said that it is either creating positive outcomes for society or balancing the needs of their stakeholders. Across the board, top executives, employers, employees, and consumers seem to find these issues very important.
What current legislative efforts are the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice and their business partners advocating for?
Maggie: Our policy work is divided into two main categories: workforce and justice issues and ending extreme sentencing. The latter includes our ongoing efforts to end the death penalty, an issue that is central to RBIJ’s history and mission.
Most of our policy efforts, however, fall under what we call workforce and justice issues. This includes expungement-related work and Clean Slate, which is a huge priority for us in the new year. RBIJ works across the country on Clean Slate, which is legislation that automatically seals or expunges qualifying criminal records if a person stays crime free for a period of time. To date, Clean Slate has passed in a dozen states, so we are hopeful that we will see more wins throughout 2025.
Our organization also works on other workforce and justice issues, including driver’s license reform, access to identification efforts, and expanding access to occupational licensing. We are currently working to end debt-based driver’s license suspensions for unpaid fines and fees. At RBIJ, we believe that if an individual has an unpaid fine or fee, like a parking ticket, they should not have their driver’s license revoked. Not having a driver’s license can be a huge setback and contribute to the cycle of poverty and incarceration. The other common-sense issue we are advocating for is access to identification. Post-release, many individuals do not have any form of identification. In many states, there is a movement to ensure formerly incarcerated people are set up for success when it comes to securing a government-issued ID or Social Security card. Another big effort is expanding access to occupational licensing so that individuals with records are not barred from work. Nearly one in every four jobs across the labor force requires an occupational license but many people with a criminal record are completely barred from obtaining one. Helping justice-involved individuals gain access to occupational licensing would open doors and positively impact a lot of people.
Can you share some background on the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice’s Unlock Potential program?
Maggie: Unlock Potential is an intentional hiring program that RBIJ launched in partnership with the Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity. The goal of the program is to disrupt the poverty-to-prison pipeline by providing meaningful career opportunities to emerging adults who are most at risk of justice system involvement, thus diverting them from incarceration altogether. The program focuses on 16- to 24-year-olds who have faced challenges such as foster care, human trafficking, juvenile justice involvement, and parental incarceration. In practice, RBIJ acts as a bridge between employers and community-based organizations. Businesses who participate in Unlock Potential are paired with community-based organizations who help connect the employers to this new talent pool and provide wraparound services to the youth who are seeking these career opportunities. Along the way, RBIJ works with both organizations to ensure everyone’s goals are met.
Do you have any real-life stories or data to share that highlight how the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice and its business partners are creating a positive impact across communities?
Maggie: By nature, policy is a bit removed from the individuals it impacts. But I have one interesting story that highlights the effect business leaders can have on advancing a particular issue. A few years ago, RBIJ was recruiting business leaders to help call for an end to Juvenile Life Without Parole (JLWOP) in a state. There was one specific legislator who had opposed the bill previously and that person was important in getting the bill through. We talked to a business leader in the state about the policy area and asked if they would be willing to call the legislator and advocate for the bill. Our team provided talking points and encouraged our partner to focus on why the bill was important to them as a business leader and a community member. The business leader had their call with the legislator and thought it went well, but it is hard to sense in real-time if our efforts are effective. Soon after, the bill went to committee, and the legislator who had previously voted in opposition to the same bill the previous year voted and testified in favor of it. That same legislator called the business leader immediately after the vote to let them know that their conversation had an impact. We know today that the bill passed! This story demonstrates the power businesses have and proves that when leaders are given the resources and take a little bit of time to execute policy and advocacy efforts, it can be successful.
The other story I have relates to our Unlock Potential program and inclusive hiring. Two young individuals secured employment with a major national retailer and started working at one of their facilities. They were doing well at their jobs, so their employer flew them out to the company’s headquarters and surprised them with a company-wide announcement that they were being promoted, which was a lovely moment. This is not RBIJ’s success story, it is the success story of the youth for being great at their jobs. But by serving as a bridge for community-based organizations and employers willing to hire emerging adults at risk of incarceration, we are helping to create meaningful change and allowing these individuals to shine. As part of our Unlock Potential program, 52 youth have secured employment across several businesses this past year. If not for Unlock Potential, these individuals may not have had the opportunities they have now, which will hopefully open more doors for them in the future.
Could you please discuss the purpose and goals of the organization’s Workforce & Justice Summits?
Maggie: RBIJ’s Workforce & Justice Summits are an opportunity for businesses, policy experts, justice reformers, and a network of peers to come together, collaborate, and learn from each other. Businesses have the opportunity to hear what their peers are doing and there is an emphasis on sharing best practices and how to overcome challenges. Other topics covered during discussions and panels include how justice impacts the vibrancy of the workforce and how advancing justice leads to a more prosperous business, economy, and community. We also look at how attendees can help reshape the narrative around people who have a record or how they can incorporate inclusive hiring practices, so across the spectrum, there are a bunch of learning and networking opportunities at our Workforce & Justice Summits. Typically, each event has between 200 to 250 attendees. In 2022, our Workforce & Justice Summit was held in Atlanta, and last year, it was in New York. In fall 2024, we had our first-ever event in London, which was exciting!
Most of the work RBIJ does in the United States is at the state and federal level, but we also do some work in the United Kingdom. There is a lot of work to do when it comes to criminal justice reform in the UK. Businesses in the US are quite ahead of the curve in terms of how they think about engaging in policy and inclusive hiring efforts compared to other places in the world. During our Workforce & Justice Summit in London, we invited American business leaders to talk about lessons learned and collaborate with UK business leaders to address the specific challenges and opportunities they are seeing. The idea is to help advance this work by bringing business leaders together. When more people come together and share ideas, we can create more positive change.
How can businesses get involved with the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice or support criminal justice reform in general?
Maggie: Speaking with champions in the space, like Flagger Force, can be beneficial. Gaining insights from other companies about what their processes look like, the challenges they have faced, and how they have overcome them is one of the best ways to learn more about inclusive hiring and ways to help advance justice reform.
At RBIJ, our ultimate goal across all our work is to make it easy for businesses to weigh in on the issues that matter most. If it feels big or overwhelming for a business, we strive to lower the barrier to entry and meet them wherever they are. There are ways to engage in this work that do not require a significant amount of effort but can have a huge impact. Whether overhauling hiring practices to be more inclusive or taking a stand on social issues, we can help. If a business is interested in this work and getting involved with RBIJ, they can visit our website or email maggie@rbij.org. It is free to partner with RBIJ and we are happy to chat with folks and develop a plan that works best for them. All we need is a little bit of your time and interest!
Flagger Force would like to thank the Responsible Business Initiative for Justice for all their hard work to reform justice systems, reframe narratives about formerly incarcerated people, promote inclusive hiring, and much more. We thank Maggie O’Donnell for participating in this insightful discussion and sharing details about RBIJ’s current efforts and programs. At Flagger Force, we are honored to partner with professionals and organizations that share our commitment to removing barriers to employment and strengthening the communities where we live, work, and play.
