Televerde Foundation Launches To Give More Incarcerated Women A Path To Employment—And Issues Invitation For Companies To Collaborate With Them

Televerde is an incredible social enterprise that I’ve had the privilege of covering in this column before. As one of the leading B2B demand generation companies in the world (working with companies such as SAP, Adobe, Microsoft and Dell) they have generated more than $12 billion in revenue for their customers.

What makes the company so unique is its focus on hiring women who are currently incarcerated, giving them sales training, education and jobs which help them transition to life outside.

I caught up with the incredible Michelle Cirocco, Televerde’s Chief Responsibility Officer to find out more about the launch of the Televerde Foundation and how companies can get involved.

Afdhel Aziz: Michelle, welcome. We’ve had the pleasure of covering the amazing success of Televerde in this column before. What’s the latest on how the company is doing? 

Michelle Cirocco: We started 2020 really strong, announcing the results from the Arizona State University’s Seidman Research Institute that showed the economic, social, and fiscal impact of our prison workforce development program on individuals, families, and the state of Arizona. At a high level, the results reveal that graduates of our program go on to attain employment, earnings, and education at higher rates and reoffend at significantly lower rates than other formerly incarcerated females in the United States. One of the more validating numbers is the three-year recidivism rate, which for our graduates is 5.4%. This is 91% lower than the national three-year recidivism rate. The report was very well received and validated the return on purpose for our clients and our commitment to providing 10,000 life changing opportunities by 2030. 

Michelle Cirocco, Chief Social Responsibility Officer at Televerde

Michelle Cirocco, Chief Social Responsibility Officer at Televerde

Aziz: That is terrifically encouraging, congratulations. Please tell us more about the Televerde Foundation?

Cirocco: Our results led to last year’s decision to create the Televerde Foundation, a non-profit organization that would provide robust reentry support and personal and professional development programs so that could enable even more women to successfully transition back into society. By the middle of April, we began delivering a program that incorporates personal wellness, workplace readiness, employment, financial literacy, lifelong learning, and mentoring to the women of Televerde. We call this our PATHS Program: Prepare, Achieve and Transform for Healthy Success. 

Although Televerde’s expansion timelines were impacted by Covid, we were still able to open our newest engagement center inside the Homestead Correctional Institution in Florida. This expansion marks the third U.S. state in which Televerde has prison-run operations.

Aziz: And you’ve also expanded to the U.K., correct?

Cirocco: On June 21st, we expanded our prison workforce development program internationally to Her Majesty’s Prison Styal in England. HMP Styal is our first European engagement center staffed entirely by female prisoners and our ninth prison-run center globally. With this new European-based engagement center, Televerde will expand its outbound and inbound sales and marketing solutions across Europe.

The women employed by Televerde whether at HMP Styal, Florida, Indiana or Arizona partner with and directly support some of the most recognizable global names in business today, building both experience and a professional network that will increase their marketability and provide a clear advantage over others in the hiring process when they are released from prison. The added bonus is full access to Televerde Foundation suite of programs and services.

Aziz: Why was the Televerde Foundation created? What is the objective?

Cirocco: Televerde’s commitment to changing the lives of 10,000 disempowered people by 2030 was a big driver for launching the Televerde Foundation.  Our mission is to provide currently and formerly incarcerated women with the personal and professional development needed to successfully join and advance in the global workforce. Our vision is a world with opportunities for all to be successful in the global workforce.

The objective of the foundation is to leverage our 26 years of success in training and developing incarcerated women for professional careers to help solve the issues of mass incarceration and recidivism. We are doing this by providing comprehensive reentry programs and by creating prison to workforce pipelines for companies in need of professional customer service, sales, marketing, and computer tech talent.    

Aziz: What has been the reaction from the women in the program?

Cirocco: I’ll let our women tell you!

“The Televerde Foundation curriculum is relevant and has helped me to look at current situations and past events in a new way. I have resources now and people that care about my success and my future. That’s more than I’ve ever had before.” - Charity F

“Being a part of Televerde and the Televerde Foundation has given me a sense of hope, belonging, and purpose to leave prison a better person than what I was before. The classes have given me the confidence, skills and support I need to successfully reenter society.” — Amy F., Arizona State Prison Complex - Perryville

“I am prepared for my reentry and I am no longer alone. Thanks to Televerde and the Televerde Foundation I have the necessary knowledge, tools and support I need to put my best foot forward upon my release both professionally and emotionally.” — Meghan D., Arizona State Prison Complex – Perryville

Aziz: That is so inspiring, thank you for sharing! Please tell us about the types of programs and partners you have?

Cirocco: Our partners are the cornerstone of our success. We’ve formed tremendous partnerships with W. P. Carey School of Business – Arizona State University, LinkedIn, Cisco’s Networking Academy, SV Academy, The Change Companies and Money Experience to deliver our world-class reentry and career development programs. In addition, we have support from community partners to help the women in our program post-release, including Dress for Success Phoenix, Harvest Compassion Center, Delta Dental and The Society St. Vincent de Paul of Arizona - Phoenix to name a few. We have also built an incredible list of volunteers to help support our programs, including professionals who participate in our virtual mock interviews held quarterly, as well as an exceptionally talented team of individuals that make up our hard-working Advisory Board. 

Our three programs are focused on creating career PATHS for currently and formerly incarcerated women, enabling them to Prepare, Achieve and Transform for Healthy Success. 

• PATHS Reentry is our 6-month Reentry & Professional Development program that covers personal growth and self-reflection through The Change Companies “Getting It Right” series; financial literacy from the Money Experience, and professional development delivered by second-year MBA students at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business.

• Career PATHS is our 6-month Workforce Development program that includes the PATHS reentry curriculum, along with course-work through which the participants earn LinkedIn’s Customer Service certification, a certificate from Arizona State University in Business Fundamentals & Communication and either Sales Development Representative certification from SV Academy or Computer Technician certification from Cisco’s Networking Academy.

• PATHS 2 Success is our 2-year post-reentry program that includes peer mentorship for the first year, professional mentorship for the second year, monthly workshops and scholarships for continued education and professional certifications.

Aziz: Where do you want to expand the program to?

Cirocco: With joblessness being the No. 1 predictor for recidivism, and unemployment rates for formerly incarcerated people at 5 times the national average, it is no surprise that over the last 40 years there has been over a 500% increase in the jail and prison population. Prisons need to provide workforce development opportunities so that people leave prison with skills they can apply to professional career opportunities, ending the cycle of incarceration. Upskilling currently incarcerated has shown to reduce recidivism by 91%. 

Televerde Foundation is taking the first step in making this a reality for more people. We recently opened our first workforce development center, Career PATHS, in Arizona. The center will provide opportunities for 60 women per year. With 80,000 women being released from prison in the U.S. annually, we need to be able to make a bigger impact. Our goal is to open at least five more centers in prisons across the country by 2023. We are in conversations with multiple states including CO, MO, and IN, but the beauty of the model is that we’ve designed it to be easily implemented and supported so that we can ultimately provide workforce development programs serving thousands of women in prisons all across the country.  

Aziz: Finally, how can companies get involved? 

Cirocco: We are on a mission to enable as many women as possible to successfully join and advance in the global workforce. That starts at the corporate level. In order for women who go through our program to have opportunities upon release, we need companies to embrace true diversity and inclusion hiring practices. That is the first step.  

Companies can also get involved by partnering with us to develop a workforce development program that provides a steady pipeline of trained, skilled, qualified candidates for some of their most hard to fill positions.  

Then of course, donations. Whether this be in-kind donations, sponsorships, grants, or corporate match programs, we would use these funds to build more workforce development centers, which would in turn help more women. 

The incarcerated community is one of the most stigmatized populations in the world–wrongly so. These are human beings who deserve a chance to become more than their worst mistake.

You can visit our website here for a breakdown of how to get involved.