Ricky Hamilton

“When I was 17, I was in a gang. On the first day of my senior year, I got in a confrontation with a rival gang that started chasing me. A friend of mine saw this and fired at them and hit an innocent bystander.”

“By the theory of accountability, I was convicted of first-degree murder.”

“I was in prison for 23 years. For years, I focused all my energy on fighting for my freedom. After your first appeal, you lose the right to counsel, so I was doing it by myself, a person that never finished high school against lawyers and judges.”

“Eventually, I gave up hope in the legal system. But that point for me was actually a decision. I stopped focusing on trying to be free and started focusing on who I wanted to be when I was free. By this time, I was 26 or 27 years old.”

“I started to educate myself and analyze about the mindset that contributed to the position I was in. Because while I might have been innocent of the crime I was charged and convicted of, I wouldn’t say that I was necessarily innocent.”

“Before this, I had actually been a good student, above-average grades. I started looking, not just at the mindset but individual choices I had made. From that, while I was still in prison, I began to develop an idea for a youth program. I wanted to show kids life is determined by the choices we make, not just by chance.”

“That mindset, I believe, led to the opportunity I had to transfer to Kewanee Life Skills and Reentry Center.”

“That was a brand-new facility, the first of its kind. It was the state’s first try at a facility that would be specifically for those who were near going home, to teach them life skills, behavioral skills, work skills. I was thirsty for that opportunity.”

“That’s where I met Michael Cannon, and we had a chance to work together on a lot of projects while we were inside. But our most important ideas were about how we were going to help create better communities upon our return.”

“There were always employers touring Kewanee because it was the first facility of its kind. We were used to everybody saying no one wants to hire anybody with a criminal background; yet look at all these employers coming out.”

“It struck us. There’s a need – both for employers and for people coming out of prison.”

“Today, Got Jobs America is one of the only for-profit agencies focused on improving employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people in the way that we do.”

“The problem is after a person has been in prison for a long time, there are a whole host of hurdles and barriers that may affect their success in a new work environment. That doesn’t mean they can’t be good employees.”

“One of the things we do at Got Jobs America is we take a holistic approach. In addition to focusing on employment, we understand the need to support them in areas such as transportation, mental health, family reunification. All of these areas must be supported to ensure a successful reintegration in the workforce.”

“There are quite a number of training programs in prison and out in the community, but too often they are what we call ‘train-to-nowhere’ programs. That is, they may provide basic skills improvement and temporary financial benefit, but they lack real full-time employment opportunities.”

“This lack of opportunities is a great driver of the cycle of recidivism so prevalent in our communities.”

“Our goal is to create a better workforce development and reentry system for justice-impacted jobseekers. To do that, we are providing solutions, services and consulting for the entire ecosystem.”

“What drives our approach is developing relationships with employers and connecting them to incentives to scale hiring and provide all parties that extra support to ensure success of hire.”

“Our company is built out of firsthand personal and professional experience, our successes and failures, but most importantly ‘this system.’”

“Our goal is economic opportunity and upward mobility for our community through gainful employment. This is done by creating win-win situations for all stakeholders involved. We need everyone’s help for that!”

Ricky Hamilton
Co-founder, Got Jobs America
Chicago Heights, Illinois