A criminal record can be difficult to overcome. Despite their best efforts at demonstrating redeemability and reform, people with criminal records can find they become an insurmountable barrier to employment and housing.

At the Odette School of Business, professor Kemi Anazodo has been collaborating with the Centre of Research and Policy at the John Howard Society of Ontario to study, unpack, and tear down barriers to employment for people with criminal records.

Together with colleagues and research assistants, Dr. Anazodo helped to develop EMPower, a pre-employment program to promote employment and social participation among marginalized communities. The program ultimately helped connect job seekers who have been justice-involved with employers who are open to hiring them. Delivered in three Ontario cities, it lined up jobs for many participants before they had even completed the full curriculum.

“While research is a big part of our partnership, we have a much wider mandate to translate and disseminate knowledge,” Anazodo says. “It’s about having a real impact on people’s lives. Fair chance employment matters, and we miss out as a society when we don’t give people an opportunity.”

Learn more in the full article, “Breaking down barriers to employment,” published in the Research and Innovation in Action report.