In America, 80 million people in America have an arrest record. That’s 1 in 3 working age Americans.

Most people want to work and thrive in America. Yet a conviction background carries thousands of collateral consequences that create massive barriers to equal employment and participation in society. 

Millions of people carry this scarlet letter through life each day, facing a “civil death” that inhibits their ability to contribute to the economy and society. Collectively these factors form one of the leading civil & human rights issues of our time.

America has invested in a structural and cultural system that relies on punishment. What if we invested in people not punishment?

In BACKGROUND, we learn about how we got to the current crisis point, and meet a diverse group of people who are leading the fair chance movement to transform the future of work.

We meet business leaders, policymakers, and justice-impacted advocates who are disrupting conscious biases and outdated practices to create new narratives, opportunities and models for success.

Our guide through this exploration of the fair chance movement is Ken Oliver - who served nearly 24 years of a life sentence in California and is now a business leader in San Francisco. Ken leads us behind the decisions and motivations that each person has faced in order to create a more equitable workplace and community.

Ken offers us a part of a blueprint for how to change the system, narrative and mindsets around the future of work for the country.

Ultimately, the project reminds us of the core American values of redemption, that each person’s life is valuable and that we all carry a responsibility to give people an equal chance.