People’s past mistakes shouldn’t preclude their future successes.
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Coming of age in the 1960s shaped my perspective. I lived through some of the defining events of the 20th century: the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr., the civil rights movement, the Beatles, Vietnam, Richard Nixon, the anti-war movement, Watergate, and Neil Armstrong’s walk on the moon. Against this backdrop, I graduated from Cornell University with a degree in industrial and labor relations and entered the world of HR. I’ve witnessed a great deal of change since then.
Throughout my career, I’ve had an opportunity to compare notes with lots of HR professionals. We all work hard to learn about best practices, do what’s right and accomplish meaningful things. Many have asked me about the work I’ve done on applicant tracking and mass hiring, the paperless systems I’ve created, and the landmark collective bargaining agreements I’ve negotiated. Ultimately, however, the thing they seem to be most interested in is how and why I became so passionate about hiring people with criminal backgrounds.
Supporting Those Left Behind
It all started when I was working with Steve Wynn in the 1980s to open casinos that employed thousands of employees. I had always been mindful about recruiting a diverse staff, but in this job it was a mandate. Our Atlantic City gaming licenses required us to meet hiring quotas for women and minorities. There were also recommended targets for inner-city residents in other jurisdictions where we sought to expand.
Around this time, I met the Rev. DeForest “Buster” Soaries, then-pastor of the largest Baptist church in New Jersey. He introduced me to faith-based initiatives that were designed to help hire and support minorities, women and others who had been left behind. He defined diversity in economic terms and encouraged local businesses to recruit individuals who were both unemployed and underemployed.
Soaries went on to become New Jersey’s secretary of state, and he helped to shape the federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998, which promoted workforce diversity through a variety of state and local initiatives. Meanwhile, I became the first chairman of Nevada’s Workforce Investment Board. It was in that capacity that I began to understand the needs of those who have been left behind in the employment market due to a criminal past.
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