Saint Louis University Transformative Workforce Academy

Transformative Workforce Academy (TWA) is part of a Saint Louis University interdepartmental collaboration designed to support those most at risk of incarceration in living fruitful, prison-free lives. SLU’s initiatives engage the whole lifespan, including prevention, in-prison, and reentry services. Through research, information-sharing, and direct services in areas such as education, legal defense, life skills training, and employment placement, SLU seeks to address the root causes of crime by providing support and resources to those who all too often see no alternative. TWA’s focus is helping those who are justice-involved, especially those recently coming out of prison, find and retain meaningful employment. TWA began its efforts in April 2018 by partnering with the federal and state level Probation & Parole offices to sponsor the inaugural Second Chance Job Fair at Chaifetz Arena. These efforts continued in 2019, when the Second Chance Job Fair drew 1,000 attendees, including 77 employers committed to looking at candidates holistically, beyond just their criminal record. That same year, TWA expanded on the success of these job fairs by beginning to provide year-round job search assistance to justice-involved individuals. Since 2020, TWA has been adapting to the digitization of the job search process accelerated by the pandemic. TWA now hosts bi-annual virtual Second Chance Job Fairs, works with jobseekers referred by community partners between fairs, and trains employers on best practices for second chance employment and retention. In 2022, 201 jobseekers and 82 employers participated in TWA job fairs, with over 100 jobseekers referred between fairs. In 2023, SLU TWA expanded again and now provides pre-release services to participants in five Missouri Department of Corrections institutions, preparing for their release to and connecting them with employment opportunities in St. Louis.