WIP Stan Ball

A criminal record shouldn’t be a life sentence

A conversation with Stan Ball, VP and chief litigation counsel, Eaton
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In this episode of Work in Progress, Stan Ball, vice president and chief litigation counsel for Eaton Corporation, and I discuss tearing down barriers to employment for people with a criminal record.

There are more than 80 million people in the U.S. – one in three Americans – has some type of criminal record. Even when it includes only a misdemeanor arrest or conviction, that record poses a significant barrier to employment.

Research from Harvard shows that more than 80% of employers require job applicants to undergo a background check, and a criminal record can reduce the chances of a second interview by 50%. 

The typical unemployment rate for justice-involved individuals is between 24% and 27% and formerly-incarcerated people who are Black have a five-times higher jobless rate compared to the general population.

The Second Chance Business Coalition

The Second Chance Business Coalition (SCBC) is an organization of 42 large companies that are committed to expanding second chance hiring and advancement within in their companies to justice-involved individuals.

The group was co-founded in April of 2021 by JPMorgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon and Eaton chairman and CEO Craig Arnold. SCBC was inspired by the Business Roundtable decision to form a committee on racial equity and justice to eliminate racial disparities in economic opportunities.

Both groups believe that second-chance policies have the potential to expand economic and life opportunities for individuals who have paid their debt to society.   

Ball is an Eaton executive who often speaks on behalf of SCBC.

“If we believe in our justice system with all of its faults – when someone is convicted and they are given a sentence – with the time served it should be done. It should be over with. That should be the end of it.

“But if our practices in terms of looking at potential employees is to say, ‘Well, you’ve got this on your record. We really don’t care whether or not you’ve paid your debt to society or not. We’re still going to attach the stigma to you.’ That’s the equivalent of a life sentence when it comes to finding meaningful employment,” says Ball.

And with the documented needs for workers, he adds, it is time to work to ensure that this pool of talent is not left out of the hiring.

“It’s unfortunate that in America we have gotten into this culture of sidelining talent in massive numbers and this is a great time for us in our history to pivot, to pull people off the sidelines and get them back in the game,” says Ball.

In our conversation, we talk about some of the steps SCBC members are incorporating to make this a reality. We also examine some of the progress being made.

You can listen to the podcast here, or download it whereever you get your podcasts.

Episode 240: Stan Ball: VP and Chief Litigation Counsel, Eaton Corporation
Host & Executive Producer: Ramona Schindelheim, Editor-in-Chief, WorkingNation
Producer: Larry Buhl
Executive Producers: Joan Lynch and Melissa Panzer
Theme Music: Composed by Lee Rosevere and licensed under CC by 4.0
Download the transcript for this podcast here.
You can check out all the other podcasts at this link: Work in Progress podcasts

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.